"Mommy, I want that!" Every mother has probably heard this plea--more than likely they hear it every day. Your child sees a great new toy on a TV commercial, or maybe all his pals has it, and all of a sudden he needs it. So you decide to buy it. But what if the store doesn't have the particular model you're looking for, or what if they're sold out? This happens a lot, especially around the holidays. The solution is to buy toys online.

If you know how to use a search engine, it's not difficult to find a particular toy listed online. Just fire up Google, Alta Vista, or another search engine, type in the name of the toy, and browse the different search results. However, it's easiest if you can go straight to an online retailer that sells toys.

The best places for buying toys online include Amazon, eBay, Quincy Shop, Mattel, and Hasbro. However, it depends on what you're looking for. Amazon will have a wide variety of general toys for sale, and usually the price will be much cheaper than what it would be if you bought the same toy at a brick-and-mortar store, whereas eBay is good if you're looking for an especially hard-to-find toy, or perhaps a toy that is no longer being manufactured. The Quincy Shop is devoted to baby and toddler toys. Mattel is great if you're looking for Mattel-specific toys, such as Barbie, American Girl Dolls, and Hot Wheels. The Hasbro website is a logical choice if you're looking for toys made by Hasbro, such as My Little Pony, Littlest Pet Shop, or Lite-Bright.

Those are just a few places to begin your online search for toys. Don't be afraid to investigate other online retailers either, such as Overstock or eToys.com.