Tips for online discount shopping

Tips for online discount shopping, where to find coupons, and using them to their fullest potential

Photo Credit: Leah-Anne Thompson
By Kevin VanGinkel

Discount shopping online is a great way to keep money in your checkbook and still be able to purchase a few luxuries. With so many stores competing for customers, many offer discounts in the form of daily deals, coupons, deep discount specials, clearance merchandise, and free shipping offers to lure customers in and keep them coming back.

Consider this scenario: You are currently looking to purchase a new computer. You have checked your local electronic and discount stores. Before making your final decision you visit several online merchants that regularly advertise computer sales. Two different stores online have the identical system you considered at a local merchant. Both online stores offer a price that is one hundred dollars less than your local store. Store A has a shipping charge that must be added to make a realistic price comparison. Store B not only offers free shipping, you do a quick search for coupons for that particular store and find not one, but two coupons. They are stackable, which means they can both be used at the same time. You not only saved the original one hundred dollars, you saved an additional ten percent plus a flat fifty-dollar discount.

The above is just a scenario, but actually quite accurate of a typical online shopping experience for someone willing to spend a small amount of time looking for discounts that can be applied to merchandise they are considering buying. By following a few tips, you too can save by searching for discounts when shopping online.

– Always conduct an online search for coupons in conjunction with any order you are considering placing. For instance, if you have a shopping cart of items at Amazon.com, head to your favorite search engine and type in Amazon Coupon to see if they are offering any current coupon promotions.
– See if the site you are shopping offers any instant coupons or discounts for signing up for their newsletter.
– Check online coupon and discount forums for coupon codes that others may have acquired but are not going to use themselves. People will often post the codes and related information so others may use them
– Online stores often offer instant win games that not only provide you with the chance to win something free, but the alleged losers are usually given a discount coupon for their time.
– For the same reason that large brick and mortar stores offer the best prices, so do the larger online stores offer the best discounts. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Overstock all offer deals and discounts that are hard to beat. Large stores geared toward specific products, such as Dell and Gateway, often have the best prices because of the sheer volume they deal in.
– Software can be purchased for a mere fraction of its original cost by purchasing past versions of titles when new titles are released. Stores that deal specifically with this type of software often sell programs for a few dollars over actual shipping charges. Do a search for discount software, or check out the popular Nothing but Software sight.

Discount shopping online is not only possible it is easily accomplished. You will be rewarded by both dollars saved and satisfaction in knowing you are able to get the best possible price for whatever you are looking to purchase.