The urge of online shopping is calling–from a new computer to a stylish new handbag, the internet puts all of the world’s best shopping right in our living rooms. However, it can be easy to overspend when shopping online.
Before you know it, you’ve paid too much and your credit card bill isn’t going to be pretty.
How can you find good deals when shopping online, or even visiting your local mall? If you know a few tips, you can become a savvy shopper and save plenty of money each year.
To learn more, keep reading to find some of the best shopping hacks, helping you save money on just about everything!
Shop Sales
If you’re an experienced bargain hunter, you know one of the easiest ways to get a good deal is shopping sales. Every online or physical business will have a sale at some point—they want to reduce their stock, so they lower prices. Score!
Sales are often tied to public holidays, so if you’re considering making a big purchase, it might be worth waiting until the next holiday to see what the sales offer. A few of the best shopping days for sales include Presidents Day, Cyber Monday, and Easter.
While not a holiday, Amazon Prime Day is also an awesome chance to find online deals.
One thing to note with sales is that not all of a store’s items are likely to be included in the sale, so you may need to shop around.
Check If You’re Eligible for Any Special Discounts
Here’s a hot tip that not many shoppers know about—you may qualify for a discount without knowing it! Often, stores will offer a small discount to certain groups of people, like veterans or first responders, as a way to thank them for their service.
This might not be advertised, but it’s always ok to ask! This brings to our next tip:
Ask for a Discount
It certainly takes some courage, but did you know you can always ask for a discount? Sure, you might not get it, but it never hurts to ask.
You’ll increase your odds of success by being polite and respectful–salespeople are always more willing to help someone who’s nice to them. You can also ask to speak to management, since not all retail staff would have the authority to give discounts.
While not all pricing is flexible, you’re more likely to get a discount when buying certain types of items, such as furniture, clothing, and even your monthly cable bill!
Remember, the worst they can do is say no! Businesses want to close the sale, especially on expensive items, so they’ll often be willing to negotiate to some extent.
Shop Around
Searching for the best deals online or at the mall? Either way, be sure you shop around!
You never want to buy an item from the first store or website you come across, as prices can vary massively. Yes, it takes longer, but you’ll save money in the long run.
This works best if you know what specific make and model of the product you want to buy, such as a new laptop from Lenovo—note the product number then search from all of the top websites.
Price Matching
Do you know about price matching? While it’s often not advertised and isn’t as common as it used to be, it’s still an effective way to save.
Here’s how it works—if a store is willing to price match, this means they’ll offer an item at the same price as one of their competitors. So, if you find an item for a lower price than the store you’d rather buy it from, ask if they’d be willing to price match.
You can ask for price matching online too—just email the retailer with proof of the price that the other store is offering. This could be a photo or a sales advertisement PDF.
Price matching is great if you’re set on buying from a certain store, which is a store where you have a loyalty card or a discount coupon.
Use Coupons
Does anyone still do extreme couponing? Yes!
However, couponing is different than it used to be. While you can still find coupons in your local newspaper, coupons are more commonly digital these days.
There are plenty of websites where you can download coupons, including aggregators that will collect all of the best coupons and share them with members.
Coupons these days are often in the form of discount codes for online purchases, allowing you to save when buying online. However, if you find a fantastic discount code, it’s better to use it sooner rather than later.
This is because websites will often only give amazing deals for a few weeks, or even days. If you don’t use the coupon before it expires, you miss out.
You can also find browser extensions that you download, such as Honey or Rakuten. When you’re about to buy something online, these tools automatically scan the web to see if any discounts are available.
If so, it’ll automatically deduct the discount, leaving you with a more affordable purchase! All frequent online shoppers should use a tool like this if they want to save time.
Subscribe to Retail Mailing Lists
Many online sites and businesses will offer sales to their loyal customers before opening up to the general public. This is an easy way to thank them for their patronage.
How can you find out about these sales? The best way is by subscribing to email marketing from your favorite retailers.
As long as you don’t mind getting a few extra emails, this is the best way to find out about upcoming discounts. Often, retailers will even give a small bonus, like a discount code, to all new subscribers as a way of saying thanks.
If you’re worried about getting too many emails, you can easily set up a separate folder in your email account, so you can compile them together and only look at them when needed.
Pay Attention to Shipping Costs
Before you hit ‘buy now’ on your online deals, be sure to check the fine print. By this, we mean shipping and handling costs.
While some online retailers offer free shipping, others have high postage costs. Paying an additional cost for postage means your ‘deal’ might not be as good of a deal as you think.
Avoid this by adding up the entire cost before buying.
Clear Your Browser
Here’s a dirty secret online retailers don’t want you to know—not everyone is shown the same price for all items. Websites have a sophisticated way of knowing all sorts of details about you, including where you live, what other websites you frequent, and personal data.
Often, this means people living in higher socioeconomic areas are shown higher prices than others. Yes, it’s definitely unfair, but many websites collect ‘cookies’ from users, giving them access to some of your data.
It’s recommended that you clear your browser history, known as a cache, before shopping online. This essentially gives you a clean slate, so the retailer doesn’t know who you are.
Another way around this is to use a VPN, or virtual private network. This blocks your geolocation and makes it harder for retailers to know where you’re based.
Shop Refurbished
One last tip—think about buying refurbished or second-hand items. You often find very high quality goods that are like-new, barely used by their previous owners.
This can lead to substantial savings, compared to buying new. You can often find new or gently-used second-hand clothing, books, and furniture at thrift stores.
For electronics, there are plenty of reputable websites that sell refurbished electronics, complete with a warranty.
Before You Pull Out Your Wallet, Learn How to Find Good Deals With This Guide
Ready to find some good deals? If so, start by familiarizing yourself with the tips above.
Whether you’re a new or an experienced shopper, make sure you consider all of the tips above—especially if you’re about to buy a big-ticket item. With a bit of research and preparation, you can save thousands of dollars throughout the year.
Put that extra money towards your savings, paying off bills, or even an amazing vacation—you’ve earned it!
Did you find this article helpful? If so, please read on to find more amazing blog posts.
