Shopping online is only becoming more and more popular, and a new normal that is here to stay. With that said, how do you take advantage of getting good deals from your online shopping?
Most traditional shoppers may be used to coupon cutting, rewards programs at their favorite retailers (which in some cases also apply to online shopping as well), and visiting local stores when big sales are promoted.
However, there are multiple ways that you can save money shopping online, you just need to know where to look!
Here are 10 ways to save money shopping online.
1. Get The Best Prices With Honey
Honey is a company who’s focus is making sure that you get the best price available when shopping online. Their program is free and scans the internet to find the best price available for everyday products.
You can even use their savings finder extension to find the internet’s best promo codes and have them automatically applied to your purchases.
They let you build a list of products that you are keeping your eye on, called a “Droplist,” so you can get notifications when the price drops of your favorite products.
Honey also gives you the ability to find the best prices available for products when shopping on Amazon.
2. Get Free Gift Cards
Many websites allow you to get free gift cards by completing online activities like shopping, playing games online, or even completing surveys.
MyPoints
MyPoints lets you earn free rewards points by shopping at your favorite stores you already love. Once you create a free account, as a member you can get up to 40% back with every purchase you make at over 2,000 retails nationwide.
As you earn points from shopping online, you can redeem those points for free gift cards at your favorite stores.
Some of their top retailers include Walmart, Target, Best Buy, The Home Depot and many more. MyPoints offers you a free $10 gift card just for signing up!
Swagbucks
Swagbucks is a free website that pays its members to complete activities online. Activities include anything from watching videos, playing games, and even shopping online.
Each activity you complete, they pay you in “Swagbucks” which can be turned in to redeem gift cards at your favorite retailers.
3. Take Advantage Of Coupon Sites
Rather than clipping coupons out of your local newspaper, when shopping online you can use coupon websites who provide you with a coupon code to enter when checking out.
Shopper's Voice
Shopper’s Voice is unique in that it provides you access to awesome deals and rewards at the retailers that you like the most.
All you have to do is complete their basic survey to share your opinions on different products and services, then they will send you tailored coupon codes and even samples of things related to your answers in the survey.
You can even search for coupons available in your zip code to find deals at local stores near you. Shopper’s Voice is free to use, and only takes a few minutes to fill out their survey to give you custom coupons.
Coupons.com
Coupons.com is a popular website to find coupons for almost any store and almost any product available online.
They have both in store coupons that you can print out, and digital coupons that have coupon codes to submit in your shopping cart when checking out.
Their digital coupons section even includes other options to receive free cashback on partnered retailers, similar to the cashback deals discussed here (further below).
4. Get Great Deals On Auction Websites
Auction websites let you purchase popular items online by bidding on them. The highest bidder gets the item at the stated bidding price. Auction sites can be great options to get expensive products for large discounts.
Deal Dash
Deal Dash is a shopping auction website that premiers popular products that can often be purchased for pennies on the dollar. They even give you rewards for having more time as the “highest bidder” that can be used towards more purchases.
You can bid on anything from a brand-new Toyota Tacoma to an acoustic guitar. Anything and everything can be found on Deal Dash, and auctions are going all the time. Each time someone bids a higher price, it adds another few seconds to the timer.
If you want to get a great steal on nearly any item available for purchase on the internet, one of the easiest ways to save is to check DealDash.com first.
eBay
eBay is perhaps the pioneer of auction websites online. It's similar to Amazon.com, but primarily provides products for sale by auction. You can bid on your favorite products, and receive notifications when others out bid you so you can decide whether to keep bidding higher or not.
QuiBids.com
QuiBids is unique because it offers thousands of items on auction that go to the highest bidder, but only adds a few seconds to the auction timer each time someone bids higher.
In many cases, the timer is no more than 10 seconds left until the bid is over, requiring people to stay on their toes lest they lose out on a great purchase.
In fact, while writing this, I just saw a $50 target gift card get sold for just under $5!
5. Shop On Amazon Through Rebaid
Rebaid is a free rebate program designed specifically for those looking for discounts on Amazon products. They even have offers that can be purchase for up to 100% off.
How does it work? Rebaid partners with thousands of retailers who sell on Amazon who also want to get their products and services known. The retailers selling on Amazon offer limited number of deals with Rebaid to get more people to discover their products.
As a shopper, you can go to Rebaid.com and begin shopping the site for popular Amazon offers. When you see an offer you like, simply click on it which will take you to the Amazon page where it is sold so you can purchase it.
Rebaid will then direct deposit the stated rebate amount to your account in as little as just 3 days.
6. Get Free Money With Cashback Websites
Cashback websites are a must when it comes to saving money while shopping online. They give you free cashback for shopping at stores you already love!
TopCashback
TopCashback is a cashback website that guarantees to give you the highest cashback rewards among any cashback program. By setting up a free account, you can browse thousands of retailers that partner with TopCashback and get access to exclusive cashback offers.
When you see an offer that you like at a store you love, simply click through to that retailer website, and do your shopping. Once you make a purchase, the partnered retailer pays TopCashback a commission for referring you, and they then share that commission with you in the form of cash back.
Their mobile app also lets you use coupons for in store purchases and instant access to available deals with their partnered retailers.
Mr. Rebates
Mr. Rebates is a popular cashback website that lets you get free cashback when shopping at their partnered retailers online. They also have a weekly deals section that have featured promotions with great deals on popular products.
They even have a “store of the week” where they feature a popular store with a major promotion for cashback when shopping there. They partner with thousands of stores, including Walmart, Macy’s eBay, Hotels.com and even Groupon.
Dollar Dig
Dollar Dig is another popular cashback store that will pay you cashback when shopping at stores you already shop at. When you make a purchase at their partner stores, they get paid a commission which they then pass on to you in the form of cash back.
They even have exclusive coupon deals that are only available through DollarDig.com. They partner with over 3,000 retailers including Adidas, Disney, CVS Pharmacy, and thousands of other related stores.
Some of the cashback offers on Dollar Dig are even as high as 75% off or more. It’s free to join and only takes a few seconds to sign up.
Panda Cash Back
Panda Cash Back is another popular cash back program that offers free cashback for online purchases through their partnered stores.
To get free cash back with Panda Cash Back, all you have to do is create a free account, shop at your favorite retailers, choose your shipping (whether picking it up in store or sent to your home) then get cashback for your purchase.
They also have options to get “double cash back” with different stores promoting new deals.
Panda Cash Back also lets you get coupons with a discount code for items that can only be bought at a discount with a coupon code.
7. Investing Apps With Cashback Programs
If you're not already investing in the stock market, be sure to read “10 reasons why you should be investing in stocks.”
With that said, there are many investing apps available today that offer exclusive cashback programs. Some companies offer cashback offers that get deposited right to your investing account when shopping at their partnered retailers.
Popular investing apps that have cashback programs include…
Acorns
Acorns lets anyone invest in the stock market by linking their bank account and rounding up their daily purchases to the next whole dollar.
The change is then invested into the stock market automatically. Acorns offers “Found Money” which is their cashback program for shopping at partnered retailers.
Cash App
Cash App is a peer to peer payment platform like PayPal or Venmo. It's owned by the popular company, Square. Cash App lets you both transfer money, use a debit card for everyday purchases, and even invest in stocks.
Their debit card has options to select different cashback offers available, also called “Boosts.” When shopping at the promoted boost offer, you get cashback for free.
Stash
Stash is a great investing app that also has options to open a checking account for everyday purchases. Their cashback program is called “Stock Back” and gives you cashback in the form of stock of the company you made a purchase at.
If a retailer isn't a publicly traded company, they give you stock back in the form of an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) comprised of hundreds of US companies.
8. Leave Items In Your Cart & Wait
Most people don't notice, but when you leave an item in your shopping cart and then leave that retailers website, you will get email notifications attempting to have you finish checking out.
These are emails that are sent to you often offering a discount on your shopping cart items in attempts to winning your business.
So, the trick is to fill add items to your shopping cart at an online retailer and exit the website so you get their discounts emailed to you in attempts of getting you to finish checking out!
9. Check Out Items On Clearance
Clearance items are often compartmentalized with flawed or outdated products, which isn't always the case. Most companies simply have a clearance rack because they have too much inventory, have quotas to sell certain amounts of product, or newer models of that product have been released.
Be sure to check each website you shop at if they have a clearance page with a list of the products on clearance.
10. Shop On Wholesale Websites Like AliExpress
A wholesaler is the company that major retailers like Walmart and Amazon purchase the product in bulk from. They buy it at a lower price, and then sell it to you and me at a higher price.
Companies like AliExpress are websites that are available to the general public that offer items at wholesale prices. AliExpress is a Chinese company, so the downside is it takes extra time for shipping, but the products available are essentially the same as what you can get at a local retailer like Walmart.
