The majority of emails that land in my inbox from readers have to do with coupons. How to use them, how to stack them and how to obtain them. Another question I get asked quite often is in regards to online shopping. It seems there is still quite a bit of wariness about making purchases on the internet.
I totally understand! I still am squeamish about purchasing clothing for myself online. I know I’m tough to fit and things that look nice on models, don’t necessarily look very nice on me!
However, sometimes you can get out of this world bargains online, so it’s definitely something I think we all need to start getting comfortable with!
Here are my tips for getting the best bargains online:
- If you like a store, sign up for their email newsletter. They ALL have one. Nine times out of ten, if you see a deal here…it originated in my inbox! Sure I go a few steps farther to find what is worthwhile to purchase and what coupon codes to use, but you all have the power to know about the sales that I do…as soon as I do! (Okay, that’s not totally true. I am an affiliate for many sites, so I do get *some* advance notice, but I can’t share it with you until the sale starts anyway!)
- Sign up for daily deals sites. Love ’em or hate ’em, they can really be your best friend. In just the past two weeks we’ve had an awesome Old Navy Groupon, an out of this world Living Social Fandango sale and several great deals from Cents of Style and Jane.com. Also, be sure that you are signed up to receive emails from all the mama daily deals sites if you have little ones (like Zulily, MyHabit, etc). Check out the post on My Favorite Daily Deals sites to make sure you are signed up for all the movers and shakers!
- Follow blogs. Obviously my blog should be #1 on your reading list *bats eyelashes*. I’m just one mama though, with two very cuddly kiddos. I can’t possibly grab every deal for you! I don’t recommend following more then 6 bargain blogs though. You’ll find yourself overwhelmed and wondering where all your friends and family disappeared to on Facebook!
- Always look for a coupon code: Usually, if there is a coupon code available for a deal, I provide it for you. If you are off shopping on your own though, hit up the coupon code database on FFF. Be sure to bookmark this page!
- When all else fails…hit Amazon. With the invention of the subscribe and save program and Amazon Prime/Mom/Student…Amazon is often your absolute lowest price option for many things. It used to be that shipping was what prevented online shopping from being the frugal choice over going to your local mall. With Amazon offering free shipping on almost 75% of all purchases (I have no idea if that statistic is correct, it seems to ring true for me though!) when you sign up for their Prime accounts, they are fast becoming a major influence on the online shopping industry as a whole!
Shopping online is a great way to bargain shop. Utilizing all 5 of the above tips ensures that you will get the best of the best deals online!
What are your suggestions for shopping online?
Be sure to check out the ENTIRE Strategic Shopping Series today!
*You might notice I do not promote cash back sites any longer. The reason for this is simple…there is not a single cash back shopping site that doesn’t download spyware/viruses onto your computer anymore. I simply cannot in good conscience promote these sites!
There is almost always a coupon somewhere. If I haven’t been emailed one, I check out RetailMeNot.com or Upromise.com to see if they have anything for the store that I am looking for.
I am sorry you aren’t a fan of the cash back sites! They are my favorite way to save even more online!
You know, I used to. I really did! And I recommended them. One in particular was my FAVE and I encouraged all of my readers to sign up with them. And then I got email, after email, after email…my readers were having computer problems. Some of them had to completely replace their computers. So I did some research and I learned some things that really made me feel like I could not in good conscience promote these companies any longer. You see, these companies use affiliate links (I do too…nothing wrong with that) to get paid when you go through their links. This is not a bad thing. They are helping you, so in turn, you help them be giving them a bit of a kickback when you go through their links. Nothing wrong with this (and it’s how this blog operates as well). Where we part company though is with the methods they use to try to make sure that their cookie sticks in your browser no matter what. They insert code into your browsers, have you download invasive toolbars that are so easily hacked that a jr high student could drop a virus into it. The day I noticed 32 ads on my site AND double underline text link ads on MY blog (which I knew I did not place there and that linked to pornographic material!) I turned my back on cash back sites for good. Just not worth it. Plus I would rather support bloggers over corporations.
I understand though if it works for you and you haven’t had issues though. I’m not saying no one should use them, but I won’t recommend them and I won’t use them. If I find out about a deal from a blogger that I am interested in, I try to support the blogger instead. And am much happier for it! (and my computer is too, LOL)
Wow, I had no idea about the cash back sites! Thanks for the heads up. Now that I think about it, my own blog had some of the same things. And my browser was a mess. I love Amazon by the way! Usually the best deal can be found there!