guide to saving money by buying online

Guide to Saving Moneyby Buying Online

2 | Guide to Saving Money by Buying Online

Shopping online can be a huge money-saver for consumers these days. Buying online provides benefits such as comfort and convenience, and a way for people to find what they want quickly without taking too much time out of their busy lifestyles and schedules.

Saving money online can be tricky for shoppers. We’re constantly hit with advertisements and recommendations for buying quickly ‘before time runs out’, with many websites claiming to offer the best price, but unfortunately carrying unwarranted guarantees in the process.

These days, however, there is no shortage of ways to shop on the Internet. The amount of money spent online is rising every year, as more people are accepting the affordability and convenience of online shopping and gaining more confidence in its safety.

Guide to Saving Money by Buying Online


Businesses that sell online have no choice but to offer attractive rates, mainly because the online competition is stiff. The nature of the Internet makes it easy for consumers to comparison shop, so in order to remain competitive, companies must always keep their prices to a minimum.

With online shopping becoming more and more affordable and secure, it’s no wonder that consumers are continually taking advantage. With so many bargains and such a wide selection of products available, it’s never been more convenient or easy for shoppers to buy online.

In the next article, we’ll discuss the affordability and benefits of shopping online, and show you how you can take advantage and not miss out for yourself.

Guide to Saving Money by Buying Online


Always search for coupons before making a purchase online. One of the best options for finding online coupons is retailmenot.com, which has codes for more than 65,000 online merchants. And sites like coupons.com and others have many coupon codes for all types of companies, from small online vendors to large chain stores.

Most online coupon services offer printable coupons, but they also offer other convenient services such as price comparison lists and promotional codes for online shopping. They can additionally provide big discount opportunities for larger purchases such as travel, electronics, and appliances. The services of these sites vary. Some offer printable coupons for groceries, and others provide online coupon codes that you can use while shopping online. Of course, many coupon sites are not legitimate and will lead you nowhere, but if you can find and discover the coupon codes that work, it will save you time and energy as well as money.

Search for Coupons

Online MarketplacesTake advantage whenever you can of goods and services sites. Online marketplaces enable you to buy almost any kind of service – ranging from high-quality, professional services to gigs that are just for fun.

Goods and services sites give buyers a cost-effective way of buying things they need, without making any monthly commitments or having to pay too much. You can use online communities to do anything from learning new skills or buying birthday gifts, to having someone review and edit your resume. Just ensure that when using these sites, you look for listings with high ratings and the turnaround time you need. Contact the seller providing the service also, to explain what you want and to make sure they can do the job for you.



One ‘trick’ you can use to save money online is to fill up your shopping cart on any retail site and start the checkout process, by first filling out your shipping information and email address, but by holding off on actually entering the payment information.

If you then leave the site and wait, you’ll see that most of the time, the retailer will email you some kind of reminder to come back – usually with a coupon, free shipping, or other enticement. For example, you may receive an email that says ‘We noticed you left XYZ product on the shelf today. As a one-time offer, we’re offering you a voucher code to receive 30% off your next order’.Keep in mind that for this ‘trick’ to work, you will need to have an account set up at the retailer’s site, and be logged in when you abandon your cart. But with online stores today tracking consumers’ every move, they will know when you visit their site, add things to your cart, and abandon your cart even seconds before you make a purchase.

Abandon Your Shopping Cart


Most people don’t think of using social media when it comes to saving money online. But many smaller vendors – don’t appear on aggregators or cashback sites. In cases like these, you can search a store’s social media accounts for posts with codes that might still be valid. You may or may not have to follow and like the companies you want to purchase from, but it could pay off to do so in order to take advantage when their promo codes hit your feed.

With social media, companies also often engage both potential and existing customers in contests where they can win coupons, products, or cash prizes. These contests are a great way for you to shop online and save money.

As detailed here, you can use social media and save money in other ways too, such as by taking advantage of hashtags for Twitter, ‘Insta-Sales’ on Instagram, and more.

Use Social Media


Retailers also know what time of the day most people shop online. Many businesses will lower and raise prices during the day accordingly. To make sure you’re getting the best prices, you can check out websites such as ShopAdvisor, to alert you when the products you’re looking for are at their lowest prices. You can also set up price drop alerts on major online retailers such as eBay and Amazon, to keep track of the goods you want and find out when the product you want gets to the price you can afford.

Online businesses generally know when consumers make the most purchases, and they adjust their prices accordingly. Many people shop on Sundays, for example, so prices usually go up as the weekend nears.The best deals occur earlier in the week, so it’s best to purchase things on those days in order to get the best deal.

Shop at the Right Times


Online sellers often offer rebates after items are purchased. In a society where now is always better than later, it’s easy to overlook rebates and the opportunity to receive an instant discount.

Rebates can come in the form of online/instant rebates, or as mail-in rebates. You can shop online at thousands of name brand national and local retailers, and receive cash rebates from them to help save money. So if you spend $100 a week on supplies and groceries and get a $5 rebate each time, you can save more than $250 a year. Saving that amount of money starts to really add up; any smart online shopper should consider rebates carefully, because the money you get back may be more than you will save otherwise.

Look for Rebates


Sites like Ebates are one great way to take advantage of rebates. Ebates is a ‘cash-back website’ that lets you log in before making a purchase with an online retailer, and then earn a rebate on what you’ve purchased. The cashback amount varies by retailer and may be restricted to certain products or categories. However, there are often double cash back offers, which you can find out about through email alerts. The Ebates site actually lists special offers for each merchant itself, making it kind of a one-stop-shop to get the best deal you can. Ebates has agreements with more than 1,500 stores, including Target and many more.

Look for Rebates


If you are placing a large order or buying an expensive item, try to take advantage of the many free shipping offers available today. Many retailers will include free shipping if you spend a certain amount on your purchase. Taking advantage of these free shipping offers will save you money in general, but will help you even more if you’re ordering something expensive to ship because of the size or weight. And if you fall short of a required minimum, think about other items you may need that you can purchase ahead of time.

Many online retailers offer free shipping options. Some require the usage of free shipping codes, and others are automatically calculated when you check out. There are some restrictions involved; for example, not

Take Advantage of Free Shipping


all offer free shipping outside of the continental U.S. But if you’re in the market for new electronics or trendy clothes, you might be able to find what you’re looking for from the store you want, and have it shipped for free.

Many sites like Amazon include free shipping and offer a number of different items from various categories, which can allow you to save money on shipping and also save time by doing all of your shopping on one site.

If you shop online at multiple sites, you can also sign up for a shipping service such as ShopRunner, which offers free two-day shipping on all of your purchases from dozens of online retailers, including Newegg, Drugstore.com, Lord and Taylor, Toys R’ Us, and more. Utilizing services like these enables you to get many of the features of a service like Amazon Prime, only this way it’s across dozens of sites instead of just one.

Take Advantage of Free Shipping


Group buying on daily deal sites is growing quickly, and there are lots of new sites bringing you deals every day. Relatively speaking, daily deal sites haven’t been around for very long. But they’ve caught on quickly, and more and more sites are coming into the market all the time. Once you learn how to pick out the best sites among the many in the market, you’ll be rewarded with huge savings on your favorite products and services.

The most well-known of the daily deal sites is Groupon. According to their website, Groupon’s mission is to connect local commerce, increasing consumer buying power while driving more business to local merchants through price and discovery.

Daily Deal Websites


Groupon enables you to buy just about anything you can imagine, and they also offer discounted gift certificates usable at local or national companies.

Another popular daily deal site is LivingSocial. LivingSocial, based in Washington D.C., is a local marketplace designed to help consumers find great deals on activities and stores in their local area. The site offers unique and diverse offerings each day, with everything from weekend excursions to exclusive gourmet dinners and more.

Daily Deal Websites


Although they can sometimes be annoying, email lists from retailers can offer many good deals that can’t be found anywhere else. Stores often send out coupon codes via email that have special codes for members, who in this case are the consumers on their mailing list. Many retailers will also send you special offers or discounts, just for signing up.

Signing up for special offer e-newsletters and emails from travel planning sites, airlines, and credit card companies can also help you save big. And if you’re an existing customer and a retailer you’re signed up with is having a sale, they’ll often email coupons to consumers like you who’ve shopped with them before.Before you buy something at your favorite retailer, however, check to see if they offer any kind of discounts before you give them your email address. And if you don’t want to see your inbox flooded with sales ads and similar clutter, you might consider getting a dedicated free email address on the side to receive only emails such as these.

Sign up for an Email List

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