Online shopping is something we all do. It’s convenient, quick, and often cheaper than buying those same or similar items in a store. Yet just because things are potentially cheaper, that doesn’t mean they are cheap, and it can still cost a lot of money to buy online. In fact, in the end, it can actually cost you more than it would if you were shopping at brick-and-mortar stores purely due to the fact that everything is so convenient – you can easily overspend, and you’ll often buy things you don’t need.
Putting aside that consideration for the moment, we’re going to focus on how you can save money when you shop online. There are many ways to do it, and once you know the tricks, you’ll be able to enjoy the process much more. Read on for some useful advice.
Find Discount Codes and Coupons
Although there might not be a discount or promo code for everything you want to buy, there will be enough of them to make a difference overall in the items you purchase. Make it a habit to search for a promo code or coupon before you checkout every time. You might not find anything, but those few minutes of searching could help you come up with something wonderful, like the Zenni Optical promo code for when you need new eyeglasses.
On top of that, another benefit of giving yourself some time to find these codes is that you might realize you don’t actually need the item you were about to buy or that it can wait a little longer. Not buying things is the ultimate way to save money, after all!
Abandon Your Cart
There is a very simple trick you can try if you have patience and don’t need to purchase something immediately; you simply abandon your shopping cart. This means that you fill your virtual cart or basket with whatever it is you want to buy, but you don’t checkout. You might click through to the checkout page, but then you leave.
In most cases, this will trigger something in the site you went to. You might receive an email telling you that you’ve forgotten something in your basket (assuming you’ve logged in, of course), for example. If you ignore things for as long as you can, when you return to your basket, you will often find the price has been reduced. The store wants you to finalize your purchase, and they’ll offer these incentives for you to do so.
Look at Credit Card Offers
You might think that getting a credit card is a bad idea, and in some cases, it can be. It’s usually best to only spend the money you can actually afford rather than putting a lot on credit. However, in some situations, a credit card can save you a lot of money.
If you were to open a credit card that had a special cashback offer or that was affiliated with a certain online store, you could use it to buy whatever it was you wanted and enjoy the discounts or gifts that come with it. The key to this working out for you is to pay off the card immediately, so it means you’ll need the money in your account. If you can do this, it could work out much cheaper when shopping online.