Online shopping is great. You go online. You add stuff to your cart. You confirm the order and checkout. And then, the guilt begins. You see, the thing with online shopping is that it is easier to get carried away. You end up buying 5 things when you went online to buy 5. Should you stop shopping? Absolutely not! Just try these tips to save money online.
Save Money Online
Reward Websites
Are you good at multi-tasking? You can earn some cash online while doing other things. Ho cool is that? Swagbucks is one such online service which gives you reward points, called SwagBucks, if you fill surveys, or go to links from their search engine. You get SwagBucks when you complete a task. You can then go on to redeem gift cards from well-known retailers such as Target, Lowe’s, Amazon, Starbucks, and Walmart. You can also ask for a PayPal gift card. The average time for most surveys is 5 minutes. This can sometimes go up to 20 minutes.
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Use Coupons To Save Money Online
Do you toss out coupons? Does the mere mention of coupons make ou roll your eyes? Cutting out coupons fro newspapers might seem like a bit of a task. Thankfully, this process is easy online. Just go to websites such as RetailMeNot or CouponCodes, to get access to discounts on products of daily use. These codes can be used at a lot of retailers, including Macy’s, Target, Sears, and Walmart. When you are checking out, you will have an option to enter the promo code. Just enter your promo code there, or copy paste it. You can get a lot of good deals and discount this way. Amazon has a section which is for coupons. You can find discounts for categories like electronics, office supplies, groceries, etc. Prime Members get even better deals.
Strategy
If a site lets you use different coupons and promo codes together at the checkout, ensure you use them strategically. The order matters. Apply the coupon with the bigger discount first to get more price cuts. So if you have a 5 % coupon and a 10 % & coupon, use the 10 % one first to get 10 % off on the price, and then use the 5 % one. Do not do it the other way round.
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Social Media
Follow the Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts of your favorite brands to stay updated about their sales and discounts. Some brands even advertise flash sales. Some brands also host giveaways on their pages.
Mobile Phone Data
We can do so much with our mobile phones now. And we do just that. We constantly use our phone to check Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and what not. As much as we enjoy doing all this, our mobile data is sacrificed. If your data plan is not unlimited, reckless use can make you run out of data pretty soon. And, as we all know, a smartphone is nearly useless without the internet. Buying mobile data is not cheap, if I may say so. If you are a heavy internet user, buy an unlimited plan. If you cannot do that, turn off data when you are not using it. Keep a track of the data usage so you can adjust your use accordingly.
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Subscribe to E-mail Alerts
Ever missed a sale because you did not know it was happening? How frustrating and sad is that? Make sure it never happens again, sign up for email alerts. A website called CamelCamelCamel tracks Amazon prices. You can also go on PricePin and PriceBlink to see where is an item sold for the lowest price. A lot of retailers give you discount if you register for their newsletter. Newsletters also have news about sales. If you do not want these alerts and newsletters to clog your inbox, sign up for a new email account especially for this purpose.
Wait For Upgrades
Yes, new phones are released every now or then. Every new phone has exciting features. When a new phone is released in the market, it is hard to not thin about buying it. But, you cannot save money online like this. New phones are very expensive. If you are reading this article, I am assuming money does not grow on trees for you. If your phone is working alright, and you don’t really need a new one, no need to upgrade your phone.
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Buy A Modem/Router
A lot of people rent the router and modem from their internet service provider. Rental fees might seem nominal, but in the long run, it adds up. Buy a router from Amazon or Best Buy. You can get a good one for around $100. Buy a router that suits your needs. All routers are not alike. Some routers are really fast, while some are really secure. Some internet service providers only let you use their router. If you buy your router, you will have to install it too. Not many people know how to do that.
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In-Store Pick Up
Shop from your home, but do not opt for the delivery. Instead, pick up the delivery yourself. This will save you the shipping costs. Moreover, you will not be lured into buying things you do not need to buy this way. Because of the increase in this trend, many stores now have a special desk for online customers to pick up their deliveries. This is a very smart tip to save money online.
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Redeem Rebates
Rebates can be too much of a work. Most shoppers today do not even know the difference between a coupon and a rebate. You coupons when you are buying something to get a discount. You can redeem rebates after making the purchase, at full price. Rebates have now been made easier. Amazon has a section where you can check if something you purchased can get a rebate. Mail-in rebates are used by wireless service providers, merchants, and manufacturers on Amazon.com to give you a good price on new things. Note down your order number somewhere. Keep the packing slip with you when the order is delivered. This information, along with your email address, is needed to fill the rebate form. The process can take anywhere between 12 to 15 weeks. Rebates are a great way to get some cash back.
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Buy Gift Cards
If you on websites like giftcardnanny.com, you can get gift cards at a cheaper price and can also swap your gift card. This website allows you to choose the merchant of your card and then compare it with 15 reseller websites like cardpool.com, giftcards.com, and raise.com. Doing so will let you see which one offers you the highest proportion of your cad’s worth. They keep a small percentage in return. If you are looking for a gift card that can be used at many stores, you can also visit raise.com. Keep in mind that most of the gift cards can only be used online because they are e-gift cards. You can also get paid via PayPal, check, or ACH direct deposit.
Dynamic Pricing
Dynamic pricing is a strategy used by online merchants to show different prices to different customers based on their location, browsing habits, spending patterns, and the product’s current demand. This technique is getting better day by day (for the retailers, of course). They know your range and show you prices accordingly. They may charge you more than someone who they think will pay a lower price. To get out of this trap, always clear your browsing history and cookies. Make sure you log out of your accounts like Facebook, Instagram, Gmail etc. Use the incognito mode to browse or browse anonymously. Choose local versions of the website you intend to shop from. Choose third world countries as your company to get better deals on airfare. 
Save Money Online By Shopping On The Right Day
Even though you are free on the weekends, do not shop on Sundays and Saturdays. Most stores offer discounts on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Sunday is the best day to buy cheap airline tickets and Monday is the most expensive. Tuesday is an ideal day to buy laptop and desktop computers because most big retailers such as Dell and Hewlett-Packard roll out coupons on Tuesdays. Saturdays are great for book lovers because Amazon and Barnes & Noble offer discounts on Saturday. They try to target people who like to spend their weekends with a book.
Ring Up Customer Service
Just realized your coupon expired yesterday? How frustrating! Don’t give up. Call the customer service and request the representative to extend your coupon. Most representatives would be happy to comply. They will either extend your coupon or give you a new one. Although this may not work every time, it is surely worth a try. Another strategy is to contact the customer service representatives on the website’s live chat option. You can ask them if there is any discount available on the products you are interested in. A lot of times they issue you special coupons that are usually not available.
Save Money Online With Price Comparision
Who wouldn’t like to get the best deal and avoid overpaying? Install the PriceBlink browser extension (available onMozilla, Chrome, Safari). You will save a lot of time as this browser will get the price of the products you are interested in from lots of retailers, and organize them for you. Sometimes it even tells you even any coupons are available. You can also install Pricegrabber application which basically does the same thing. It can even scan bar codes and give you bottom-line prices which include shipping, taxes, and other additional expenses.
Price Reduction Refunds
Isn’t it so annoying when you buy something, only to see the price drop the next day. Some companies refund that amount if you contact them within a certain time frame. For example, Amazon gives you a refund if you tell them about it within 7 days of the delivery. You can go to camelcamelcamel.com to stay up to date about price changes on Amazon. Some credit cards give you price protection too. So, if you shop somewhere, and the price drops soon afterward, you will get the difference as a refund.
Do Not Checkout
Instead of checking out, leave some products in your cart and sign out. Do not check back for some days. This will let you assess your shopping, and remove items that you bought on an impulse. Moreover, most retailers wouldn’t want you to leave like that. They do not want unclosed deals. So they will make you an offer. They might give you a coupon or some price reduction. Some stores that do that are Macy’s, JC Penney, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Office Max. However, keep in mind that this trick will only work if you are a registered member of that website. You must also remain logged in.
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Make the most of your online shopping spree by following these tips and tricks. Although sometimes discounts may seem little, remember they add up over time. Even if you are getting 5% off every time you shop, it is very significant if you shop online a lot. Save money online and shop smartly.
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What are some of your tried and tested tips and tricks to save money online? Share with us in the comments below!
