9 Online Shopping Tricks To Help You Save Big This Holiday Season
‘Tis the season for shopping, and the pocket books will be feeling it!
If you’re like me, you want to make every dollar count.
Before you break out the hammer and attack your piggy bank for some extra spending power, use these online shopping tricks to stretch your budget as far as possible!
1. Follow Brands And Stores On Social Media
Almost all of your favorite places to shop have social media! Follow your store on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and quite often you will see promotional codes and discount alerts flooding your feed. Plus it is a great excuse to check your social media!
2. Check In With Yelp
Most of us turn to Yelp reviews to see what the good word is; however, we rarely go any further than the Yelp search engine. This is hardly ever advertised, but often times retail stores will offer a promo code or special offer your first time checking in with them. You do not physically have be at the location you are checking in to, so before you online shop, grab your phone and check in!
3. Get On Their Email List
No one likes their emails to be saturated with promotional offers; however, opting in a retail store’s email list can score you some big discounts. But to keep things from getting messy, create an organized system in which you receive these specific emails. Try filtering retail store emails to a separate file so that your discounts do not get lost in the bleak shuffle that is your inbox. Also, compare emails to see if the “great deal” that just arrived in your inbox is really their best deal.
4. Leave It In The Cart…And Leave
Photo Credit: Magento
As odd as this sounds, before completing your order, leave it in the cart for a day or two. You will find that in doing this, you will “magically” receive an even bigger discount via email or the website will automatically apply it to your order. Retail stores often do this to close the sale. In all honesty this sounds silly right? Nope, it’s a real thing. So take a deep breath and practice patience when ordering online, it is worth the wait!
5. Watch For Lower Prices After Your Purchase
Don’t you hate it when you buy something and then see two days later that it went on sale?! What you may not know is that just about every retailer will refund you the difference in what you overpaid if you just ask. Lucky for you, apps like Paribus will keep an eye out and alert you when prices have decreased. In many cases they’ll even automatically get the refund for you!
Try: Paribus
6. Always Do A Coupon Search
Photo Credit: Paul Swansen
This is the oldest trick in the book but it works every time. Before placing your order, open up a new web browser window and simply Google search: [name of retail store]+coupon. There will be a lot of different website options for online coupons, however with some trial and error you can usually find a discount code that is valid and works for your order. At the very least, you can always find a free shipping promotion code.
Even better, sign up for Honey and it will automatically search for discounts for you as you’re shopping!
Try: honey, retailmenot.com, couponcraze.com or couponmom.com
7. Window Shop
In most cases, the items you are purchasing are sold through multiple retailers at different prices or with different shipping costs. Take a few extra minutes to compare online prices, ensuring that you receive the best deal!
Try: bizrate.com, mysimon.com or google.com/shopping
8. Strategize Your Discounts
Photo Credit: John mary
Most stores will only allow you to use one coupon at a time. If you have multiple coupons, be sure to strategize to make sure you are using the bigger ones during you larger purchases. Easy enough right?
9. Single Use Codes
If a promotion code is a one-time use per costumer, then use multiple email addresses to benefit from the same discount. Sometimes websites try to outsmart you and will not allow you to receive a code when ordering from the same IP address as a previous purchase. In this case, place your order from a different computer, heck you can even online shop from your smartphone!
Try: RetailMeNot
Happy shopping!
