Comparison-shopping prices at different retailers online can be a way to uncover bargains, especially with consumer electronics products. Savvy buyers, especially those who prefer online shopping to brick-and-morter stores, may be excited to learn that Apple’s iPad is now available from Amazon.com (News - Alert) -- fuelingspeculation that Wal-Mart may be next.

In this case, though, choice doesn’t necessarily mean a better price; the 64GB WiFi (News - Alert) + 3G model, as an example, is available from Apple (News - Alert) for $829 with free shipping, while Amazon issellingitfor $939 plus $6 shipping. Comparison with other stores doesn’t uncover much by way of bargains: $850 with shipping from Newegg.com, $830 from Best Buy (News - Alert), and $970 from Buy.com.

Amazon didn’t make much fanfare over its introduction of the iPad, probably because the product partially competes with its own Kindle e-book reader. 

Other retailers, including Target (announcedSunday), are much more vocal about the news, and with good reason; the list of authorized resellers is growing slowly. It now also includes Best Buy and Target, both of which only offer the product in stores. And, not all retailers offer all models of the iPad. At Buy.com, for example, theonlytwomodelslisted are the 16GB and 32GB WiFi versions. (Some models of the iPad, including the 64GB WiFi + 3G, are apparently only available online from Apple or Amazon.)

The slow but steady expansion of retailers offering the iPad is a sure sign that Apple and other stores are gearing up for what could be a lucrative holiday shopping season. iSuppli predicts that the iPad will maintain dominance in the tablet market though 2012, so if consumers loosen their wallets despite the economy, this particular gadget -- pricey though it may be -- could turn out to be a popular gift item, especially now that supply short-fallings seem to be a thing of the past.