Welcome to my second Money-Saving Monday! Today, I’m going to give you some tips for shopping Online.
I’ll admit, before children, I didn’t do very much shopping Online. I liked to browse the shopping malls, discount stores, and of course, Target. It’s always been something I’ve liked to do, and the best part is finding a great deal. I rarely, if ever, buy anything at full price, and my favorite shopping partner is my Mom. She’s taught me all her best secrets when it comes to shopping at actual stores.
Even when my oldest was born, shopping was still a pretty major activity. We actually had a party trick right when he learned to talk. He would see a symbol, like the Bullseye, and say, “Target,” or see a star and say, “Macy’s” In fact, during his preschool Mother’s Day celebration, when the teacher read his card about what his favorite thing to do with his mommy, he said, “We like to go to stores a lot.” OK. Maybe, I took him shopping a little too much.
Anyways, once the twins were born, we had their hospital stay, then a year or so of isolation, so I learned the secrets to shopping Online. Here are some of my favorite tips for when you just want to shop from the comfort of your own home.
Ebates The first thing I do before I do any shopping Online, is go to the Ebates website. What is Ebates? It’s a free site that has a bunch of coupon codes, free shipping codes, and other discounts for almost any Online store you can imagine. It’s simple to use. First, you look up the store you want to shop. They are listed alphabetically, by category, or you can spell it out in a search. Once you find the store, you will see the percentage of cash you get back from shopping and a list of valid coupon/discount codes. You click “shop now,” and it will take you to the store’s website. When you first sign up and make a purchase, you get a $10 gift card. Bonus! Basically, it’s getting cash back on purchases you would make anyways. I look at it like an extra discount. Since I signed up, I’ve gotten close to $400 cash back. They will send you a check once a quarter or you can opt for an Online gift card to one of their partners. To sign up, just click HERE. This is my referral link, so I will get a $5 bonus if you sign up.
Email Sign-ups Another important thing to do when shopping Online, is to sign up for your favorite store’s mailing lists. You usually get a first time subscriber discount, and they email you coupon codes, give you advance notice of sales, and tell you about their latest products. If you don’t want to clog up your personal email with a ton of store emails, make another account just for your Online shopping. Right now, I get emails from the Gap, Target, Gymboree, The Children’s Place….and I could go on and on. I rarely pay for shipping, they often send codes that can be used both Online and In store with your smart phone, and I’m always the first to know when the sales are going on. It’s like being an insider!
Shipping I hate to pay shipping charges. It seems to take the fun out of shopping Online for me. I know the shipping charges are worth every penny when I think about dragging my three boys out to the mall with me, but I still don’t like it. So, what do I do? Well, it depends on the store. I have a few store-branded credit cards (The Gap and Target,) and because of that, I don’t ever have to pay for shipping. For any other store, I wait patiently. Unless it’s something I must have right away (which is rare because I plan ahead when it comes to shopping,) I wait until I get a notification of a free shipping day in my email. That’s why it’s so important to subscribe to your favorite stores! Also, a lot of stores give you free shipping when you purchase a certain amount. I don’t purchase a ton of extra stuff just to get free shipping, but if it comes down to a couple of dollars, I’d rather buy a little something extra than just pay for the shipping.
Know the Rules Before you make any purchase Online, make sure to read the store’s return policy. As I mentioned before, I rarely pay for shipping, so I certainly don’t want to pay to return an item. I always make sure the items are returnable at the physical store or that return shipping is free.
Compare Prices In the Online shopping world, there a ton of those “Deal a Day” sites. Groupon, Zulily, and Gilt are just a few that I subscribe to. In order to make sure it really is a good “deal,” I always compare it with different sites. I either Google the item or just check to see what the same item is selling for on Amazon. That way I know if I’m getting something at a discount or not. It really helps control impulse purchases when you take a minute to shop around.
I hope these tips help you save a little money when shopping Online. Do you have any tips for me? I’d love to hear them!
Great tips! I do probably 98 percent of my shopping online (even groceries!), so this is super helpful. thanks!
You’re welcome! Thank you for reading! Is there anything I missed?
Thanks for the money saving tips. I have been meaning to check out Ebates. Thanks for the link.
You’re welcome! It really is an awesome site. Thanks for reading!
Shopping with kids is very hard. I ship our toilet paper to our door via Amazon’s Subscribe and Save just to keep us out of Walmart, lol. Great ideas for shopping online but it can still add up especially when everyone has outgrown all their socks and underwear and they see all the cool characters and choices online.
Yes, I definitely agree. I’m luckily still at the point where they don’t care about who’s on their underwear yet 😉
Great tips! I’ve learned to live shopping online too, and always check for coupons also. 😉
Thank you for stopping by!
These are such great tips! A majority of m purchases are all online and thanks to Amazon prime, my shipping is always free! I’ve also noticed that with a lot of products you’re able to get better deals in the sense of “bundle” items. 🙂
Yes! We have Amazon Prime and also do subscribe and save too.
This is a great post. I do nearly all of my shopping online (not groceries because they don’t offer that here, but if they did I would, lol). Similarly to you I had a preemie (just one, not twins) and learned to shop online during the whole isolation period. I still do it because, well… it’s easier and I can always compare prices 🙂
Yeah, groceries would be hard for me. I like to clip coupons too much to do that Online. Thanks for reading!
My love for Ebates knows no bounds. Thanks for this post! I totally second all your tips! I’ve started online shopping more and more, especially around the holidays because I don’t have the energy to deal with crazy folks at the mall.
Yes, and you really can get just as good, if not better deals online during the holidays too. I’m glad to hear you share my love for Ebates too! 🙂
Great tips- I love online shopping 🙂
I love shopping online now that I have a kiddo. It’s the best thing ever. Thanks for the great tips.
These are great tips! I hate paying for shipping and have made my purchasing decisions based on whether or not I have to pay for it.
Yes! Me too!
I have been meaning to do more online shopping to make my life a bit easier! Thanks for this!
Your welcome! I hope it helps!
Good tips! Its so important to do a bit of research when it comes to shopping online! I definitely agree with your advice. My mom swears by Ebates, she’s made a good chunk on it too!
Yes! Ebates is awesome!
Great list. I’m pretty good at comparing prices, maybe to a fault haha. But I like the suggestion of getting store credit cards to avoid shipping. I didn’t know that!
Thanks! Yes, it’s great having the store cards. Makes you feel like a VIP. 🙂
Wow, you know your stuff! I don’t really do a lot of online shopping. I did a bit whilst I was in hospital but it’s my husband that is the web buyer. I don’t think we have any coupon codes like the one you mentioned but we have a money saving expert site that tells us the latest best deals so I guess it’s similar. I’m always too scared with internet shopping that the product wont be right. One of our consumer tv shows that was on last night showed someone who had ordered a trowel and received a towel – no joke! It made me giggle! xx
That’s too funny! I’ve also heard of people buying things and not reading the dimensions and getting something super small. It hasn’t happened to me yet…knock on wood!
I love ebates! I signed up a long time ago but I would always forget to log into it BEFORE I went shopping.. then I would be so mad at myself!! ha! Now I almost always remember and it def makes a difference!
Yes!
My stepmother-in-law has been trying to get me to use Ebates for over a year now. I think I need to check it out! Great post, Shann!
Thank you! Ebates is the best! 🙂