Online shopping is great and all but the convenience of buying anything with just a click can seriously hurt our savings. So, we rounded up 8 online shopping hacks to help keep your bank account happy and avoid buyers remorse!
1. Know Your Measurements
If you haven't done so recently, you should measure yourself and record the numbers for reference whenever you're shopping online. This way, you don't have to always guess your size and risk making a purchase on an item of the wrong size. Although sizes vary from store to store, they almost always have a size guide for you to refer to and compare your own measurements with.
2. Make a Wishlist
I use an app called addwish which allows me to make a wishlist of any items i'm eyeing. This lets me revisit my wishlist with fresh eyes a couple of weeks later and see if I actually like it and think it is worth my money. Not only that, there's been many times where i've revisited my wishlist and realized that their list price has dropped!
Another hack is to add products into your wishlist on the retailer's website itself. Some stores use abandoned cards as triggers for an email marketing campaign and automatically send you a coupon code as a way to encourage a purchase.
3. Set Alerts
If I come across something that I really like but haven't been able to justify it's price, I often set a price alert for myself. I tag the item I'm interested in buying and sign up for notifications when the price drops. A convenient Chrome extension for this is Shoptagr.
Another one is CamelCamelCamel which is great for those that are avid Amazon shoppers.
4. Buy it only if you need it
If you are going online shopping with an item in mind, aim to only get that item and nothing else. Easier said than done, I know. I've also found that many stores don't offer free shipping until you meet a certain total.
In these cases, if:
S = Shipping costs
D = Cart minimum for free shipping – my current cart total
I will only add an additional item to get free shipping if D is less than S. This means only buying that extra item if it costs less than the cost of shipping. However, it's not all the time that I only need a couple of dollars to qualify for free shipping. So, I often ask my friends and neighbours if they're looking to purchase anything that can help us qualify for free shipping or at least to share the extra shipping fees. If all fails, i'll buy an extra item to qualify for free shipping and return the extra item in stores. With this, you have to make sure the item is refundable and confirm that there is a location near you to make this transaction.
5. Look for coupon codes
Always, always, always look for coupon codes!I use Honey, another Chrome extension that automatically scans the internet for the best discount codes for the site you are on.
6. Get cash back
It might seem like a little but every bit counts! Rakuten and Honey can save you over $100 in the form of Amazon gift cards or even Paypal. Services like these will offer anywhere from 2-15% cash back depending on the retailer.
Honey’s cash back feature is called Honey Gold. They offer rewards for your purchase information in the form of Amazon gift cards. Here’s the kicker, though: even though each will partner with different retailers, sometimes they’ll overlap, and you can get both the Ebates rewards and Honey Gold for the same purchase.
7. Use gift cards
Ready to make a purchase? Try Gift Card Granny! They offer available gift cards from different sites and make it searchable by percent saved, total value, or even just whether it’s a physical gift card or something you can use online. This can save you anywhere from 3-25%, depending on the cards available. Combined with the coupon codes and cash back, that's one hell of a deal!
8. Returns
So you made that purchase but no one can guarantee that your new purchase is going to fit perfectly or live up to your expectations. This is why you should always make sure that there’s a no-hassle return policy, so you can ship your item(s) back for free.
Also, whenever I make a purchase, I always think about how many uses I can get out of it. If I can't picture myself wearing it enough times to justify the cost, it's not worth it to me. So, i'll often hold onto a new purchase for a couple of days and decide if I really love it. If I realize I won't wear it or love it after those couple of times, it's a sign I should return it.
That's it for these online shopping hacks! I hope you'll use some of these before your next purchase and hopefully it'll save you some money and is worth the extra 5-10 minutes.
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