Tips for Shopping Online Cheap

Many shoppers believe that shopping online cheap is as simple as going to a single website and buying items. Actually, there are many different ways you can optimize your potential to save more online. Shopping online has become a everyday trend for many people, these online shopping tips will help you cut through the risks and benefits of online shopping and provide you with useful tips you may not have known.

In the year 2011 alone over 70% of all internet users, ages 14+, bought something online that year. To sum it up, shopping online is no longer a fad, it has become a way of life for most.

Many online shopping websites have also made shopping much easier on their sites by offering more secure payment methods and securing their websites from potential risks.

Start Shopping Online Cheap

To start off, can you save money shopping online? The answer is undoubtedly yes you can. Like shopping anywhere you must research sales and find coupons to truly maximize your saving potential. This is no different when you shop online.

The only major difference with shopping online is that it allows you to search for the exact item you’re looking for, without having to drive or call around hoping for your item to be in-stock. There are even more benefits of online shopping.

Like many stores online stores also have advertised sales, such as Weekly, Monthly, Black Friday, Holiday and Summer Sales. Not to be left out, most major retailers have online stores as well, such as Walmart and Target.

Risks and Benefits of Online Shopping

Risks of Online Shopping:

Waiting for Shipping – Depending on your method of shipping it can take up to a week or so for your items to arrive. If you can wait then this wont be a issue.

Returning Items – Each online store has their own return policies, some of which can be annoying and time consuming.

Benefits of Online Shopping:

Convenience – Shopping from your home, can it get anymore convenient?

No Sales Tax – Most online stores (mainly online only stores, as in they don’t have stores that you can go to in person) are often sale tax free.

Item availability – Many online stores ship products directly from warehouses, this allows for increased item stocking and larger inventories.

Price Comparison – Its much easier to find the best deal on a item when you can easily compare the price on one site to another.

Save on Gasoline – Doing your Christmas, Birthday or Fathers-Day shopping online would prevent multiple trips and save you gas.

Last Resort – Some items you cannot find in stores or are hard to come by, online shopping would be the perfect place to start searching.

Here are our simple to follow online shopping tips:

– Research each site you buy from to confirm if they are safe or not.

– Before you buy a item always check other places first. I can’t count the times I’ve went to buy something on one site only to find it listed $5 or $10 cheaper on another.

– Make use of the “Advanced Search” option most sites have. It often allows you to narrow your searches and find better deals.

– Check for free shipping deals. Sites like Amazon offer free shipping on most orders over $25.

– Sign up for email deals. Some sites will email you unadvertised sales or even promo codes/coupons in their newsletters.

– Check for promo codes at places like retailmenot.com or techbargains.com.

– Always read the reviews people leave. They’ve bought the item, used it and are reviewing it, so why not get their firsthand review? Might save you money.

– If possible avoid buying items without reviews.

– When buying from another person read their seller reviews, if they have negative feedback as a seller it might be too risky to buy from them.

– Check where the item is being shipped from. You can often find things much cheaper when buying from overseas but it can take weeks to arrive.

Good Websites for Shopping Online

Amazon – Amazon is the largest online retailer. They have practically everything and often have the lowest prices. If you can get free shipping you’ll save even more.

eBay Shopping – Largest online auction site. You can also find anything on there, just note that in most cases you will be buying from other people (sometimes stores do sell their products on there too). If you like bidding or searching for things you can’t find anywhere else, eBay would be a great place to start.

Walmart Online – Walmart, just like their retail stores, is very competitive with online shopping and offers “ship-to-store” where you can have the item you want shipped to a store near you.

Target Online – Much like their rivalry in retail stores, both Walmart and Target are competitive online as well. Target offers similar deals and email specials.

Groupon – Groupon has tons of discounts on everything from electronics, food, household and local services.

Ebates – Ebates is great at getting more for your money, you can use Ebates to generate money on each item you buy and get money back.

Final Word: Tips for Shopping Online Cheap

Online shopping websites have drastically changed the way we shop, they have also opened the door for more potential savings. These online shopping tips can go a long way to not only save you money but also help you avoid being taken advantage of.

While there is the possibility of buyers remorse or you face the possibility of sending something back, avoiding that from the start is the often best method.

Merely doing your due diligence is no different here, by investing enough time into something important the outcome will likely be much more rewarding.

I can’t count the times I’ve stopped myself from buying something I wasn’t sure of and forced myself to do further research, only to change my order. The results of making those last minute inquiries have been predominately positive.

This results in avoiding a possible item return and the headaches that accompany.

Ultimately I’ve found that the benefits of mastering shopping online cheap can vastly outweigh the potential risk. Like in anything it feels amazing to know you’ve made the right choice and with these online shopping tips there are enough tools and options to, not only find amazing deals, also find to exactly what you’re searching for.