Everyone likes to save money when they are shopping online. And thankfully, nowadays, there are numerous different ways that you can save those extra pounds, which you can then put towards other things throughout the year or put in your savings account for a rainy day. But if you’re not unsure where to start, then the process of finding these deals in the first place might seem daunting.
Don’t worry! Everyone has been in your shoes. To help with this, here’s a list of 8 clever hacks that you can use next time that you’re shopping online.
Sign Up Offers
One great way that you can save money online is by taking advantage of Sign Up Offers. Available on different third-party websites, as well as on the shops’ website itself, they can offer first-time customers discounts either in the form of a percentage off (i.e. 25%) or a specific monetary value (usually £5-£10).
Although you can only use these sign up offers once before they expire, they are a good way of saving money initially – especially if it’s for a shop that you’re looking to buy birthday or Christmas presents from. If you did want to benefit from the offers for longer, however, you could always ask others in your home to sign up too – just make sure to use different email addresses to register for them!
Online Promo Codes
Online promo codes and coupons have long been a useful resource when shopping online ever since retailers started utilising the internet. Simple and quick to use, many people still take advantage of these, no matter what the time of year.
Offering discounts on a variety of items – whether you’re looking to get a takeaway, a service or an item of clothing, you’ll be able to find a promo code to fit. A good way of remaining within your monthly budget, you won’t have to overspend on products of services that you’ve had your eye on for some time.
Similarly to if you use a sign up offer, promo codes are also ideal for buying gifts. Giving you the chance to purchase a gift for a loved one without a large price tag attached to it.
However, when opting for promo codes there are a few things that you need to keep in mind. Firstly, you might be encouraged to buy more than you have budgeted for. Even if it seems like a great deal at the time, you might be tempted to purchase items that you wouldn’t have if they were at full price. Secondly, they might be out of date or simply don’t work on the site.
And thirdly, they aren’t a particularly great saving. Many online promo codes will require you to spend a certain amount of money in order to access the deal in question. A clever technique that the companies use to draw customers in, you’ll end up realising that you’ve had to fork out a lot more than you initially thought or wanted to.
3) Leave Things in Your Shopping Cart
This is a little known secret, that when it works, can be very effective. If you’ve previously put your email address into the website, try filling your online cart and go through the checkout process. Then, right before you click to buy it, leave the website with the products still in the basket. Often, you’ll receive a discount code sent to your email which you can then copy and paste into the basket directly.
Just make sure that you’ve logged into your account/signed up for emails before you abandon your cart. Otherwise, they won’t know where to send the discount code too and your basket could be emptied automatically.
4) Subscribe to Emails
Often, when you go onto an online shop they will ask you if you want to subscribe to emails. And although you might initially click out of this as you don’t want to be spammed with emails, it can be a useful method of receiving discounts.
Regularly rewarding customers with 10-20% off coupons, it can be worth it for those looking to save some money here and there. When you don’t want the discounts any more or you simply don’t want the junk mail, then you can unsubscribe to them. Often an option at the bottom of the email or on their website, it prevents further emails from them finding their way into your inbox.
5) Join Loyalty Clubs
Similarly to when you subscribe to emails, some companies may ask you to join their loyalty clubs. And for the ones that offer this for free, it can prove to be beneficial in the long term. Not only online as they will give you promo codes for being a loyal customer that often visits the site, but they might also offer you discounts that you can use in-store if they have a physical retail space.
For example, if you sign up to be a Hard Rock member, you’ll receive discounts and free food items once you’ve racked up a certain number of visits to their restaurants or bars. Something that’s free to sign up for, you’ll only need to give the waitress your membership number each time to reap the benefits.
6) Shop on Specific Days
Another clever hack that you can use is to shop online on specific days of the week. All online retailers fluctuate their prices on different days and at different times – so it’s good to know when the best day to shop online is, in order to save some money.
Typically, the best prices are offered between Wednesday and Friday. Whereas in stores, sales and discounts are often added to products Friday lunchtime and Saturday lunchtime.
7) Cashback
You might have come across the term ‘cashback’ when on the internet or in shops but might not really be sure as to what it means. When a retailer offers a cashback reward program, it’s an incentive that’s operated by credit card companies to give card holders the chance to receive a percentage of the amount of money they have spent back.
8) Free Trials
Thousands of companies now offer customers free trials – from monthly video-streaming services to beer crates. An extraordinary way of testing out a product or service, it gives you a taster of what it would be like to have them permanently without having to splurge on the normal subscription price. From 1 week trials to 2 month trials, they tend to vary hugely depending on what they have to offer.
There is a word of caution when it comes to free trials however. Typically, the moment that the trial comes to an end you’ll be automatically made into a full-paying member. Often, the companies won’t even tell you before charging you the full amount – so make sure that you keep note of when you started the trial and that you cancel your subscription if you don’t want to be charged the full amount.
Final Thoughts
It’s clear that there are many benefits that come with using the above money-saving hacks. However, you must be sensible with this. Before you opt to use any promo codes, sign up offers, etc. you should read the terms and conditions of them to ensure that there aren’t any hidden extra costs associated with them.
With voucher codes, it’s also a good idea to read some of the reviews that are given by other customers on the sites, to make sure that they actually work and are in date.
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