5 Easy Ways To Save Money When Shopping Online

We all know that internet businesses have lower costs than physical ones, and as a result it’s easily possible to save money when shopping online for things you need.

However when you know what you’re doing it’s actually possible to save even more money than the average internet shopper.

Follow these five sneaky tricks for saving money when shopping online and let me know in the comments if you’ve got any extra tips to add to the list!

Shop Around

Just as in the “bricks and mortar” world, different websites often charge different prices for the same product. So the first money-saving tip here is to shop around in order to find the best price going.

Whilst you can do this manually, visiting one shopping site after another, there arguably is a far easier way. And that involves letting technology do the hard work for you.

Whenever you’re considering making a purchase online, Invisible Hand will search through dozens of other online retailers to see who offers the best price. Then, if it finds savings elsewhere, you’ll find a little yellow box appears at the top of your browser telling you exactly where you should buy the specific product from for the very best price online.

Use Coupons

Never buy anything at full price unless you have to. Normally a few minutes of hunting around online can reveal a coupon code you can use at the checkout to save yourself some unnecessary spending.

But you don’t have to do all the coupon-searching yourself if you don’t want to. The free Coupons At Checkout browser add-on keeps tabs on hundreds of existing coupon codes and automatically adds them for you as you’re shopping – meaning instant savings without the hassle.

Get Free Shipping

Many internet retailers offer free shipping, if you spend over a certain amount.

As many people have found, adding one or two low-cost items to their order (that they’ll use in the future) can be an easy way to “tip” your order value into free shipping territory and save a surprising amount of money.

Take a look at the free Amazon Filler Item Finder tool for low-cost items you can add onto your order to reach the magic free shipping theshold to save yourself money.

Timing Is Everything

Prices aren’t static and over time you can find that the cost of a certain product goes down or up.

By planning your purchases well in advance it’s possible to make full use of this fact and purchase things when they drop in price.

Possibly the easiest way to leverage this strategy is to plan big expenses like birthdays and Christmas some months in advance. Amazon is arguably the best online retailer for this purpose. Simply add all the various items you’re considering purchasing into your shopping cart but don’t click the “checkout” button.

Instead, sit and wait. Each week, log into your Amazon shopping cart where you should find that a number of your saved items have actually gone down in price. Carefully pick and choose those items from your list that have gone down in price and enjoy making savings each week!

Cash-Back Credit Cards

Many budget-conscious individuals shun the use of credit cards because of the inherent risks involved. We’re hard-wired to think that debt = bad. And in general I’d agree with you. But as long as you pay off your credit card in full every month – meaning no interest payments – then it’s possible to save even more money by earning money back every time you spend.

If you needed a further incentive to investigate money-back credit cards, consider the additional protection that shopping with a credit card rather than a debit card offers. Often, if there are any problems with your purchase you’ll find that your credit card company is more than willing to help you sort the problem out.

Just ensure you choose your card wisely and are aware of any and all costs involved before signing on the dotted line.

How do you save money when shopping online? Please leave a comment with your tips below…