Maybe the Bountiis should break down the prices into product and shipping when they display them...
Everyone would be amazed if they knew just how often the major shopping engines showed them incorrect data, especially for tax and shipping.
I did the same search on froogle http://www.google.com/products?q=50%22+plasma&btnG=Searc... and found this: http://www.jepago.com/store/view-item.php?p=834.6&src=F3... and thought "Well, 834 sure beats 999" I did see the hefty shipping charge but I didn't see the zip code option until you mentioned it. It seems obvious enough once you see it but I think the results are too eye grabbing to get everyone noticing it by accident.
Overall I think Bountii had much better results once I got past all the mounts and brackets and stands. Relative to froogle bountii does a much better job of sticking to results that actually matter (froogle had a nice price for a plasma in Yorkshire and for one that didn't turn on).
My experience was I clicked on the 1000-7000 filter and got nine clean results and great prices from reliable vendors (at least in the sense that newegg >> jepago?) but i just wasn't sure that i wasn't missing out on a TV at 930 without doing some more less pleasant digging. I did figure out pretty quickly I could do a price highest to lowest search on < 1000 and make sure it was just false positives below but maybe there's a way to make that a little more intuitive.
I think it's really important to get the users clear on the shipping taxes thing so here's my proposed solution. On the front page immediately to the left of the search box put a two item checkbox labeled "with shipping" and "without shipping" with "without shipping" pre-checked. Then everyone knows 1. the prices don't include shipping 2. the prices could include shipping if you want. If the user clicks the "with shipping box" it expands to be the zip code text box. This way 1 and 2 get done but it still only takes typing+enter to get to the results if you don't want shipping. It avoids asking for the zipcode on the front page which might come off as creepy unless you know what it's for.
"nine clean results and great prices from reliable vendors"... This is exactly the experience we want people to have when they use Bountii. Shoppers shouldn't have to spend 12 hours figuring out whether to give nearly $1000 to a vendor like Jepago (2/10 rating on resellerratings.com), when they can pay the same amount or less for the same product from a top retailer like Newegg.
Based on your feedback and others, we are working to make ZIP code entry more prominent, as it's something everyone should be using everytime they visit Bountii.
-John