Who out there is looking for online deals? I can already see a few hands up and I am with you 100%. Nowadays, online shopping has been taking over many brick and mortar stores and they have perfected the art of getting us to spend more than we need to. Here i will share with you my 11 ways that I save money while shopping online so that you will never pay full price again (well, almost never).
We all know that it is wise to google coupons for whichever retailer you are thinking of purchasing from, but my tips go well beyond your typical couponing hacks. So grab a note pad, some popcorn and enjoy!
1. Always get cash back
Let’s talk about my newest obsession, Ebates! I have been using this app and browser add-on nonstop for the past 3 months and I current have received $71.56 in cash back! If I did my grocery shopping online this amount would be significantly higher. How it works: shop through ebates at your favorite websites, earn cash back on the purchase, then receive the money as “a fat check” or direct deposit into your PayPal account. Simple. Use my link here to sign up, and trust me, you will be glad you did. It is basically free money back for items you were going to be buying anyway. (Compatible with Chrome, Safari, Firefox, iOS and android)
2. Coupons, Coupons, Coupons
Honey is another browser add-on that I think is a must-have if you shop online. With Honey, coupons are automatically added to your order at checkout and will save you time from searching the internet for coupons and save you money. Click here to sign up. (Compatible with Chrome, Safari, and Firefox)
3. Avoid the Dynamic Price Trap by going Incognito
The dynamic price trap is a strategy used by online retailers to offer different prices to different consumers based on their location, demand, browsing patterns, spending habits, and so on. Have you ever been shopping online, then return to the page to find the prices seem a little (or a lot) higher? This, my friends, is one of my pet peeves. I am sure many of you have experienced this when shopping for airline tickets or hotel rates. If your browser cookies reveal that you have been frequenting an item or reservation, it can mark up the price by the time you get ready to purchase.
Ways to get around this:
- Clear your browser and cookies history
- Go into incognito mode or private mode
- Log out of accounts like emails, Facebook, etc
- Use less developed countries as your home setting to get better prices when searching for things like airfare
4. Leave your Shopping Cart Behind
After filling your online cart with your goodies, leave it and walk away. Sounds crazy? Trust me, this has worked for me a number of times. What this does is get merchants to try to draw you back in to make the sale. You may shortly get an email reminding you that you have items in your cart with a coupon code attached. Or you may get a pop-up with a coupon code as you try to exit the window.
5. Compare Prices
Use PriceBlink browser add-on to do smart comparison checks. PriceBlink pulls prices for the same item from a number of retailers which allows you to compare prices without doing all the work yourself. It will also organize the data in a smart chart and notify you when there are coupons available. (Compatible with Chrome, Safari and Firefox)
6. Organize your Inbox
Organize your emails by sending all promotional emails to one folder. This way you have one location to find all of your coupons and promotions. You can then use keyword searches within that folder to quickly find the most up-to-date promotions without cluttering your more important mail.
7. Price Adjustments are not Only for In-store Sales
Paribus, an email add-on, will scan your inbox for shopping receipts, confirmation codes, etc and stores them for future use. It compares the prices that you paid for your items with current promotions. Many retailers offer price matching where if you buy something and the price goes down, you can get back the difference. The catch with that is that you would have to keep track of that yourself and I don’t know about you but I am not going to research each item I purchase daily for weeks after my order. Paribus would do the dirty work for you and get you a refund if the price should drop.
8. Follow on Social Media
A ton of retailers offer early sale promotions and coupon codes to those enrolled in email updates and those who follow their social media accounts. I suggest that you follow your favorite retailers on Instagram, Facebook and/or Twitter to get the early bird deals before your particular item gets sold out.
9. Shop refurbished items
I know many do not like the idea of buying someone else’s rejected items but you have to change your way of thinking to see the real perks of refurbished items. Let’s look at it this way: when an item is refurbished, it goes back to the factory to get repaired and triple checked to make sure that the product is working 110%. Since it costs the company money to repair the item and send it back into the world for a second time, they want to make sure that they do not loose money on this sale again. Refurbished merchandise go through inspections and quality assurance more times than its non-refurbished counterparts so it is more likely to be working in tip top shape. So do not be a stranger to the refurbished isle in the electronic departments! It’s worth the look.
10. Do Not Forget about the Typical Discounts
Not a student but still have a student ID and email account? Well you can still use your outdated account to score student discounts on many websites, if your conscious does not keep you up all night over it. It is worth a shot!
Also many retailers send out coupons during your birthday month so sign up for those free rewards programs to your favorite stores for an added goodie on your special day.
You can also sign up for multiple promotions with your multiple email accounts, again, that is if your conscious allows you.
11. In-store Pickups
If a retailer does not have free shipping and they have a store near you, you can have your items sent to the store and you pick it up when it arrives. Many retailers may not offer this option but Zara and other do.
These are some of the tricks I take advantage of or will be taking advantage of in the near future. This post does contain affiliate links. Images courtesy of Stocksnap. Please leave a comment with your favorite online shopping tips, tricks and secrets! I would love to hear what you think of this list. And as always, I hope you get something valuable out of this post and I will speak to you next time!
With love,
CoCo
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