Now that the holiday shopping season is in full swing, it’s time to search the Internet for the best prices on gifts. Here’s ten tips to save money while shopping. Combine the best price, cashback, and an online coupon and you can easily take 10% or more off the price! Here’s the strategies I like to use:
- Use Cashback Programs. Most of the programs have minimum amounts before you can cashout. We limit the number of programs we use to keep the checks coming. Our favorites are Upromise, Fatwallet, Little Grad, Big Crumbs, and Ebates. You can also Join MyPoints for additional rewards.
- Maximize the cashback. Each store uses different programs, the cashback amounts vary, and the programs change over time. That’s where evrewards comes in handy! Search the store you are shopping at to determine the best program currently offered for each retailer. For example, save 10% at Target with Jellyfish or Cashbaq.
- Locate the best Internet price. Use Froogle to search for your item by price. Watch out for shipping though. Many times you need to actually go to the site, or place the item in your cart to find out the exact shipping cost.
- Use a rebate credit card. Use one that earns rebates to make your purchase.
- Find sales and coupons. Use Naughty codes to check for current offers by store. There’s many other forums and websites that maintain coupons, but naughty codes is fast and easy to use.
- Ship the gift directly. Send directly to the recipient to avoid paying to ship it again or travel with gifts. Many places offer gift-wrap, eliminating another step.
- Request a price adjustment. Watch the prices after you purchase and get an adjustment if the prices go down. Gather Little by Little first turned me onto Price Protectr, which even does it for you! It will email you if the price drops.
- Utilize deal sites. To find rock bottom prices try slickdeals, Ben’s Bargains, and Fatwallet.
- Use a one-time use credit card number. If your company offers it, like FIA does, generate a one-time use number if you are concerned about purchasing items online.
- Watch your time. You could spend all day searching to make sure you get the very best price on each item on your list. Realistically, sometimes you just need to actually purchase the items and move on to other things on your list!
If you have more tips for getting great deals shopping online, feel free to post them in the comments!
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I can vouch for MyPoints. I’ve snared gift certificates from them without having to spend a dime. Great service!
p.s. - just don’t use their “online games” service
Modern WorkerDecember 13th, 2007 at 9:48 am
December 13th, 2007 at 9:02 pm