How to Save Money When Shopping Online: 8 Top Tips

Experts estimate that the total amount of shopping done online in 2020 will equate to $690 billion. 

Coupling the increasing interest in online stores with the global covid-19 pandemic has resulted in even more savvy shoppers taking to the internet for their spending habits. Fortunately, the increase in online shoppers has elevated the amount of incentives companies offer for their digital sales.

This means there are even more opportunities to save money when shopping online. But sticking to these sales isn’t the only way to save, in fact, there are many techniques to mastering the art of online thrifting. 

Want in on the money-saving secrets? Follow along to learn our 8 favorite tips to save money when purchasing from online retail stores.

1. Leave Items In Your Cart

When shopping on your favorite sites, add the items you love to your cart and leave them there for a few days. This may feel like a tease to your tempted shopping fingers, but this technique can actually set you up for sneaky deals. 

Shopping sites are set up with intelligent systems that brands use to draw shoppers through the sales funnel. One of these techniques is offering incentives to purchase the items that shoppers didn’t follow through on purchasing. 

Once you’re aware of this marketing tactic, you can use the company’s approach to land better deals on the items you’ve saved.

2. Get Money Back

You’ve likely heard of sites like Ebates before, but if you aren’t familiar with these programs, you need to be. Shopping apps like Ebates and other rebate paying programs pay you money to complete your purchases through their stores. 

With many popular brand options, the app receives a commission for driving sales on the respective company’s site and shares the commission with you in the form of a rebate. 

In addition, you’ll receive exclusive offers and coupons that you can stack up before you finalize your order and maximize your bargain shopping.

3. The Shopping Cart Trick

Brands that offer store credit cards often have exclusive programs and offers associated with the membership. Without these cards, you won’t have access to discounts and special sales, but landing these store credit cards can be tricky if you don’t have the best credit rating.

That’s where the shopping cart trick comes in. You can use this method to motivate online stores to grant you access to the store cards even if your credit isn’t perfect. 

By allowing the system to do a ‘soft check’ on your credit rating, you’ll gain exclusive store credit cards to brands that use Comenity bank. This includes stores such as:

• Abercrombie & Fitch
• Home Shopping Network
• LOFT
• Pier 1
• Pottery Barn 
• Victoria’s Secret
• And many more

Once you’re in, you’ll reap the benefits through loyalty points and amazing exclusive sales.

4. Use Coupon Sites

Rebate apps may not have access to some discount codes and coupons that other services have exclusive rights to. This is where coupon sites like Groupon come into play. 

Check through the popular extreme couponing sites and keep an eye out for stackable offers. You can even set up alerts for industries of interest and have the coupon sites send you relevant matches for your shopping history.

5. Shop Returns

When companies have returns come back that are still sellable, they will blow these products out at rock bottom prices to reduce lost sales margins. This often means 50-70% off the regular price just because another shopper sent it back. 

To find these items, use the search bar on sites like Overstock or Amazon’s Wearhouse. Type in ‘as is’ as your keyword search and browse the items that are up for grabs in their current state.

This can save you some serious cash on big brand purchases, but be sure to check through the description to discover the return reason before you commit. The item may have a small flaw that is easily fixed or even just an open box. However, some companies may try to get away with selling broken or unusable items in this area.

6. Price Compare

Use price comparison sites or even Google’s shopping page to compare the prices of your desired item before buying. This will help you track down sales from site to site and even utilize price match options. 

If you find the item you wish to purchase on a competitor site, you can often leverage this to bring a more reputable site down to the same price. This ensures you can rely on the online store without paying the premium for the brand’s reputation.

7. Shop Seasonal Changes

As the weather changes, any leftover stock that is specific to the passing season will go on clearance to reduce stale stock. If possible, wait to buy your large ticket items until this time to save money on the sale. 

For example, purchasing new patio furniture may not be usable for the winter season, but once summer rolls around again, you’ll have a fresh, amazingly priced set to enjoy.

8. Loyalty Clubs and Email Offers

Every store has some kind of email list they’d like you to join. While this may fill your inbox up with daily promos, some of these programs can be valuable for savings. 

If you prefer to keep your primary email free of promotional emails and loyalty card notifications, create a separate email address for this purpose and check in on it before you shop. For a sneaky double up, you can submit multiple email addresses and receive extra coupons. 

Don’t forget to give your birthdate so you can reap the benefits of exclusive birthday offers too!

Save Money When Shopping Online

From coupon sites to sneaky double offers, now you know the secrets to save money when shopping online. It’s time to ditch those full-price shopping carts and try out extreme couponing for your deal online retail browsing. 

Want more tips and tricks for all your shopping needs? Visit our other articles to learn everything you need to know about fashion, shopping, and all the accessories in between.