Ways to Save on Retail
Want to save some extra money this year! There are a TON of ways to save every time you make a purchase. It only takes a few minutes of your time to save sometimes a significant amount on everyday purchases. Here are my tips on ways to save on retail.
Let someone else save for you!
Use a Shopping Watchdog– Paribus is a shopping watchdog. It’s a free app that uses patent pending technology to sync with your email to scan for receipts. When the program detects a receipt from a supported store such as Amazon and Macy’s, it checks for price decreases as well as any coupons or promo codes. When a drop is detected, Paribus automatically writes the retailer and submits a refund request. The company takes a 25 percent cut of the refund when it’s received. Getting a refund, like how I show you here on Amazon takes time and a bit of effort. If you don’t want to hassle with it, Paribus does it for you. I have to admit, I was hesitant letting Paribus into my email account. I’ve been using it for 2 months now with absolutely no issues AND they’ve said me over $40! Not bad!
Ways to Save on Your Own
Here are some other ways to save a few bucks every time you make a purchase.
Add items to a shopping cart and leave. Unless you need an item immediately, put a few days between the moment when you add it to your online shopping cart, and when you check out. You never know what sorts of carrots the retailers may use to lure you over the finish line. I recently did this buying a Fatboy for my son. I found one on sale, but I wasn’t ready to pull the trigger because the sale wasn’t big enough. Two days later they sent me an email for an additional 30% off. Bam…purchase made!
Follow a savings blog. There are hundreds of savings bloggers like MyDFWMommy who watch trends and share great deals. Sign up for their email list and check the blog daily to learn sales cycles and deals in your area.
Find online discount codes and mobile/printable coupons. At one time or another, most retailers will use discounts as an incentive to get you to buy. Take advantage of it! A simple google search will reveal tons of coupon codes to use. I also share codes and mobile/printable coupons on my site. Sites like RetailMeNot compile these codes, Because these codes constantly cycle in and out of activation, be sure to try a couple until you find one that gives you a decent deal (or at least free shipping).
Stack smart: Some retailers, Kohl’s, allow you to “stack” coupon codes, or use more than one. The key is to enter the codes in the proper order to maximize savings. So if you have two coupon codes—one for $10 off your purchase and another for 15 percent off— enter the 15 percent code first, then the $10 code. That way, you’ll get 15 percent off the full price of the item, before the $10 discount.
Ask for Price Drop Refunds. Say you’ve purchased an item yesterday, but when you checked the next day, it was now on sale. GRRRR! That’s why I now use Paribus. However, some companies will refund you the price difference if you contact them directly within a certain amount of days. For instance, Amazon will issue you a refund if you notify them within seven calendar days from the delivery date. Use Camelcamelcamel.com to monitor price changes at Amazon.
Buy off-season. Most big reduction sales occur at the end of the season. Stores need to get rid of all of their previous seasonal clothing to make room for the new trends of the upcoming season. A sale like this is the best time to stock up on items you use a lot.
Learn how to shop your favorite store. Know your favorite retailers, brands, regular prices, promotions and discounts — and always check the clearance area first to find a similar item on sale to avoid buying two of anything and spending more. Here are some great resources including Ways to Save at Kohl’s and Ways to Save at Target.
Take advantage of free shipping. Many online retailers will offer free shipping on occasion. This is a great time to make a large purchase so you aren’t left with the hefty shipping fee. Many stores also offer free shipping if you spend a certain amount. If you’re falling short of that minimum, think about other items you may need that you can purchase ahead of time.
Subscribe to Amazon. If can predict when you’ll need to re-up your supply of coffee or toilet paper, try using Amazon’s “Subscribe and Save” feature to automate the repurchasing process. It saves time and often you’ll get an additional discount off the price.
Look for a discounted gift card. There are websites, such as Raise.com, where you can buy and sell gift cards, and sometimes you can buy gift cards for less than the amount on the card. You can often buy a gift card from retailers, hotels and restaurants for 10 or even 20 percent less than the value of the card.
Use a cash back credit card. A cash back credit card will refund you a small percentage of specific types of purchases or even every purchase you make. I just use one that gives 2 percent back on everything.
Use cash back sites to get cash rebates. This strategy only works for online retailers, but the discounts can be worth it. Basically, you register with a cash back site such as ebates.com, click through to the online merchant and then the purchases you make there qualify you to get a cash rebate. It takes a few weeks to get your rebate, but the discounts typically range from 1 to 5 percent and sometimes even top 10 percent.
Comparison shop. Before buying, do some comparison shopping online. Simply just Google the product name. There are also tons of mobile apps and online resources to help you! Use price-comparison and product-search sites like bizrate.com and froogle.com to compare the prices of items at various online and local merchants
Mobile apps. Some apps offer you to redeem special bonuses for doing certain actions. You can earn kicks by doing paid online surveys or merely browsing around product catalogs with ShopKick that can be exchanged to gift cards or special discounts. Ibotta is another great resource! Amazon nails it with Amazon Rewards Visa card with $50 sign up bonus and 3 points added for each dollar spent.
To avoid overpaying and scoring absolutely best deals online, install PriceBlink browser add-on (available for Chrome, Mozilla, Safari). It will save you tons of time by automatically pulling the prices for the same product from numerous merchants, organizing them in a smart chart and even notifying you if there are any coupons available.
Alternatively, you can try Pricegrabber app that does the same thing, plus can scan bar codes and provide “bottom line prices” that include taxes, shipping and other add-on expenses.
Become “friends” of your favorite retailers. Use social networking. Many merchants, including the Gap and Banana Republic, post special coupons or announce sales first on their Facebook pages.
Sign up for emails and use more emails addresses. Join the email lists of your favorite retailers so you can get coupons and other special offers delivered straight to your inbox. Some stores love sending huge single use coupons to a select group of customers. Sign up to their newsletter with multiple email accounts. You could save big with three 50% discount codes for one full-priced item purchase, instead of one.
Get rewarded: Join your favorite retailers’ loyalty programs, and don’t forget to enter your loyalty number each time you shop. You can earn money back on your purchases, plus other great deals.
Take advantage of special discounts including student discounts, teacher discounts and senior citizens discounts. Be proud of where your at and take advantage of the special savings. Click on the above links to find discounts for each category!
Shop the Right Day. Most stores roll out discounts and special deals on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. However, Sunday is the best day to score cheap airline tickets with Monday being the most expensive, according to Airlines Reporting Corporation who analyzed over 130 million domestic and international over the period of 19 months. Saturdays are bookworms’ specials as Amazon and Barnes & Noble launch numerous books on sale, targeting readers who love spending a weekend with a new fine read.
Be patient: If you don’t need an item right away, it pays to check back daily over a two-week period to see if a new coupon pops up or if an item goes on sale. And when you do see a good deal, jump on it—it often won’t last long!
