Save Money by Shopping Online

With the current condition of our economy, people are looking for ways to reduce their spending. Shopping online can be an easy way to help your money go further. Besides simply being more convenient, the savings can really add up. After years of exhausting online “research,” here are a few of my favorite ways for saving money by shopping online.

It’s Cheaper Online

The first advantage of shopping online is definitely the price. You can almost always find an item cheaper online. Google has a great search function called “Google Product Search” (www.google.com/products). You type in the name or model number of an item and Google will search online to give you a list of stores with the item and allow you to compare to find the best price. For most merchants whose results they show, they can even tell you the tax and shipping amount so you get the true total price. They even provide seller ratings so you can feel more comfortable buying from a merchant you may not have heard of before.

Save on Sales Tax

The current laws do not require online stores to collect sales tax from customers if they do not have a physical presence in the customer’s state. While the days of tax-free online shopping may be ending in the near future, you can take advantage of it while it lasts. Combine the lower prices with the tax-free purchase, and it can add up to hundreds of dollars in savings on a larger item such as a TV. If you are unsure if an online retailer charges sales tax in your state, you can usually look in their “customer service” or “help” section on their website, or simply give them a call.

Coupons

Most online retailers offer various coupon codes to be used when shopping at their sites. The coupons offered vary, but often they are for free shipping or dollars off when spending a certain amount. The best way to find a coupon is simply to Google it. Type in the name of the merchant and the word “coupon” and press the search button. For example, if you type “Dell coupon” into Google, it will return 5,280,000 results. Don’t worry; you don’t need to go through every one. Usually if you click through results on the first page, you’ll find what you are looking for. Another great site you can check is RetailMeNot.com. According to its website, it has “coupon and discount codes for 20,000 online stores.” It has even recently added a printable coupon section for using in-store.

Cash Back

Cash-back programs are one of my other favorite ways to save while shopping online. These sites will give you a certain percentage of your total sale back. Sites such as FatWallet.com or Ebates.com will give you an amount back in cash, while others such as Upromise.com will put an amount back into a college savings account. The percentage back and participating merchants vary from program to program, so you will want to check into the details of each. While the money back is not instant — you have to wait a set period of time for it to become eligible, as well as accumulate a certain amount before getting a payment — the total amount can add up. Once signed up for a program, log onto their site, find the merchant whose site you are planning on buying something at and click through to their website from the cash-back website. This step is key, as it allows the cash-back program to track the purchases you make on the merchant’s site. Doesn’t get much easier than this.

Deal Websites

There are many great websites whose sole purpose are for posting deals found online. These sites post deals on a wide variety of items, not only electronics. These are great sites to bookmark, and check out every once in a while (or every day as I prefer). Some of my personal favorites are HotDealsClub.com, Fatwallet.com and SlickDeals.net. Be warned, though, these sites might not always help you “save” money, as you might end up purchasing something because the deal was “just too good to pass up,” or at least that is what I tell my wife.
Shopping online can save you money even if you don’t follow any of these other tips. When you combine them all together – tax free, coupons and cash back — you’ll be amazed how the savings can add up. It’s a great way to continue “stimulating the economy” while saving you money at the same time.

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