Want to pay less for online purchases? There are lots of ways you can do it, saving you as much as 35%. That's even if you can't find the item on sale anywhere online!
If you know what to do and where to look, you can save at least 10% off on most purchases. MoneyTalksNews.com has some amazing tips that will keep you from paying full price ever again.
Look for Discounted Gift Cards
I've done this a lot, but we should all be doing it a lot more. You used to just be able to score these on eBay, but now you can buy cards for less than the value on all kinds of sites. They're listed/sold by people who would rather have the cash than the card. Raise.com, Restaurant.com and Gift Card Granny are just a few examples where you can buy gift cards for up to 35% off.
Buy Through an Ebate Site
I started using the site, Honey, when I buy online and they usually find a coupon by scouring the internet for me, before I complete the purchase. Not only has this saved me as much 25% on some purchases, I've earned enough points for a $60 gift card from one of several stores, including Target and Walmart. The only downside is that Honey only works with desktop/laptop browsers at the moment. Hopefully, that will change.
Other cash back sites work a little differently. They offer an additional 3% or 4% off your purchases. You'll pay the full amount when you buy, but receive the discount back in the form of a rebate.
Ebates and Swagbucks are two examples. There's no catch with these sites. The whole deal is that they get a commission when you buy something through their site and then they give you back a little bit of what they make.
Abandon Your Shopping Cart Another thing to do that I forgot all about until I read a MoneyTalksNews article, abandon your shopping cart. You probably know by now that online retailers track your every move. In order to get this to work for you though, you need to take a couple steps. Pick the store and make sure you log in or join as a member. Place the items that you want in your cart and then exit out of the site. Chances are they will send you a coupon to buy what's in the cart within the next 24 to 48 hours.
Join Mailing Lists You can also join mailing lists to get discounts and deals. In order to get better prices this way, you will need to sign up to receive newsletters and updated information, so your inbox will see a lot more mail. However, they will also be sending VIP discounts right along with those emails. My suggestion is to open a new email address specifically for these newsletters and deals.
Use a Cash Back Credit Card Finally, another great way to cut costs is pay for all purchases with a good cash-back or rewards credit card. You will typically save from 1% to 5%, sometimes more. You will pay the full price for the items when you buy but receive the cash back 30 to 60 days later.
Plus, you need to pay off your credit balance immediately to avoid paying interest. Or else, that would just cancel out the whole purpose of using a cash back card credit .