Introduction
When I go shopping, I love to shop online. It’s so much easier than driving around to various stores and wasting gas. But I’ve found that sometimes the best deals are hiding in plain sight—and you can snag them if you know how to look. Below are seven sneaky tricks that will help you save money when shopping online.
Save Money Shopping Online
It’s possible to save money shopping online, but it does take some work. That being said, with these tips and tricks for saving money when shopping online in mind, you should be able to find a great deal on whatever it is you need!
Don’t underestimate the lengths you must go to in order to save money shopping online. While finding good deals and saving money is obviously possible, there are many things to keep in mind in order to make it into reality. But if your an avid user of websites like Amazon and Walmart, then these tips should help you out. I know that they have helped me from spending too much money online.
Make the most of free shipping.
You can save a lot of money by shopping online, but if you don’t pay attention to how much you’re spending and how long it will take to get your items, it can also be a huge waste of cash. One way to avoid this is by taking advantage of free shipping on orders over a certain amount.
Most stores offer this option, but make sure they actually do ship to where you live before ordering anything. It’s also important to check whether or not the retailer ships internationally; otherwise your package will spend weeks getting lost in customs before finally arriving at your door step (and charging you extra).
Do your research and comparison shop.
It’s a good idea to do your research and comparison shop before you buy. Check out the prices at different sites, including Amazon, Walmart, Target, and other big-box retailers. See if there are coupons or discounts available for the items you want to buy.
Consider paying with cashback rewards cards that offer discounts on purchases at specific online stores. There are also sites like Camelcamelcamel that automatically track the price history of any product you’re interested in buying—you can set up alerts so that when an item goes down below a certain price threshold (say $40), it will notify you via email or text message.
Online reviews from customers can be really helpful in determining whether or not an item is worth buying. You’ll see if people were satisfied with their purchase experience and if they encountered any issues with shipping or returns after making their purchase.
Review sites like Yelp give businesses ratings based on how many positive reviews they’ve gotten compared to negative ones; this way, shoppers know which stores they should spend more time shopping at versus those whose products aren’t worth checking out further
Use 3rd-party coupon stores
The next time you’re planning to buy something online, be sure to check out third-party coupon stores. These sites are packed with coupons and discounts for countless retailers and brands.
Go to RetailMeNot or Coupon It Now (or any other reputable 3rd party coupon store) and search for your desired item. You’ll usually see several options for where you can save money on that item, whether it’s through a percentage off or dollar amount off coupon code or promo code.
If there’s no specific retailer listed as the one with which the discount is associated (like Target), then it means that this is just a general savings promotion that applies across all merchants in their network of retailers (such as Amazon).
Copy down your favorite deals so that next time when they come up again—and they will—you’ll already have them ready!
Check if your favorite stores price match.
Sometimes, the best way to save money is through price matching. Price matching is when a store will match the price of a competitor’s product. Some stores will only match the lowest price, while others will match prices from other stores in their own store or even prices from Amazon and other retailers. If you’re shopping around for something and find that it’s cheaper at another store, be sure to ask if they’ll honor that lower price.
Consider a store credit card for savings.
If you’ve never had a store credit card before, it may seem like a bad idea. After all, what good is that when you could just pay with cash or your bank account?
But consider this: most major retailers offer some kind of rewards program for using their store credit card. These can be as simple as percentage off discounts on purchases, but often they include access to special deals and discounts only available to people with the card. Some even have extra perks like free shipping or return guarantees when you use the card in certain circumstances.
So if you plan on shopping at that store anyway (and most people do), then going for the reward could be worth it—especially if there are specific items on your list that wouldn’t be possible without one!
Also Read: Advantages and disadvantages of online shopping
Take advantage of rewards programs.
Rewards programs are a great way to save money at your favorite stores. Many retailers offer rewards programs that give you discounts, free shipping and other benefits just for shopping with them. You can often sign up for these free, no-obligation programs right when you make a purchase.
For example, if you’re buying something online or in-store at Amazon and click the “Join Prime” button during checkout, they’ll give you a 30-day free trial of their membership card program (which includes streaming video and music service).
If the reward program is already available on a website at which you’ve already registered an account (e.g., Amazon), there’s no need to apply again—just click through! If not, simply enter your email address when prompted during checkout to receive information about how to enroll in the plan by email later as well as tips on how best get started using it from within your inboxes’ inboxes & folders inboxes folder(s).
Use a coupon code finder like Honey.
Honey is a website that lets you search for coupons on any website. Just go to honey.com and type in the store you want to shop on, like Amazon or Best Buy. You can also search for specific categories, products and brands.
Honey finds coupon codes for you by looking at where other people have found them before and then searching through those websites’ code archives themselves. For example: if someone else has used the coupon code “10OFF” at ThinkGeek before, Honey will find it there too (and tell you how much money it saved).
Tips To Save Money Shopping Online: Conclusion
There are all kinds of ways to save some money, depending on your situation, when shopping online. Before you click the buy button, make sure you research the best deal possible. Don’t assume that the first link you see is always going to be the best price.
Other than checking multiple retailers and comparing prices (most sites have similar items but at different costs), do some searching through coupon websites and find a discount code. Also, remember shipping costs so this can also vary widely in price.
