Nowadays, shopping in “brick and mortar” stores seems so backward, dated, and boring. Millions of people each year sit in their jammies while drinking wine and shop for clothes, household goods, gifts, and anything else imaginable.
One of many great rewards to shopping online are the numerous coupon, rebate and dollar-back programs available. If you click through a link, or use a coupon code, your savings can be significant. In addition, you get all the myriad advantages of shopping online – no children to drag through stores, no gas costs to get there and back, and no hassle of dealing with crowds.
Thus, as soon as you’re convinced to shop online, where can you find the savings? There are many ways to save money online. Let’s start with coupons.
Discount Coupons
This can be fairly standard. Go to one of many coupon websites and search for the store you need to shop with, or search by category, based on your needs. Make sure to click “apply” whenever you enter the coupon during checkout.
Even though in the early days of shopping online, bonus coupon codes were plentiful and generous (often you could discover $10 off a $10 purchase with free shipping), excellent coupons currently are difficult to find. Some stores (like Lands’ End) rarely offer coupons while others (L.L. Bean) often offer free shipping on any size order. When you order, or even if you don’t order, be sure to sign up with the website either by registering or signing up for coupons. These direct-email coupons are often some of the best you will ever find.
Here are a few excellent coupon websites to get you started:
MyBargainBuddy dot com, Here, a mom compiles good deals and coupon codes for you. Some of the best deals need no coupon at all, but if there’s a good deal and a coupon to go along with it, all the better.
FatWallet dot com, Tons of codes here along with active message boards where other deals can be found.
MyCoupons dot com, The most beneficial thing about this site are the message boards, which are alive with the sound of people saving money. Read the posts that have stickies on them in the beginning of each forum – there are often some good links to printable coupons here for favorites like Toys R Us and Chuck e Cheese.
One note: If you are looking for a code for a certain store, do not assume that if it’s not accessible at one website, it does not exist. There are different codes at different sites. Visit several coupon sites before giving up hope that a code does in fact exist for that store.
Rebates
Here is how the big daddy of online rebate programs works. Visit Ebates and sign up for an account. There is a sign up bonus of $5, so you already have a free $5 coming to you. Then, when you go shopping, check Ebates before heading directly to an online store. Even though you have a coupon from another site, click through the store link on the Ebates page for more savings.
For instance you choose a brand new jacket from Kohls and you have a $10 off a $75 purchase. Fantastic. Keeping the coupon code in hand, you head to Ebates and find Kohls the large choice of stores. This store offers 2% back, so you click through the Kohls link on the Ebates page, and make your purchase. You don’t only benefit from the coupon code you applied, but also got an extra 2% back on your purchase. Not a bad deal. Ebates will send money to your Paypal account or send you a check.
Points
Not everybody is aware about the various point programs available, but since you are able to earn points without doing any shopping, the points programs are worth knowing.
Stop by MyPoints and sign up for an account. My Points will send emails (sometimes daily, sometimes several in one day). You click a link in the mail and automatically get 5 points. Sign up for an offer or make a purchase through that link and earn even more points, from hundreds to thousands of points per offer.
My Points is most useful, nonetheless, when you are shopping online. It’s like Ebates in that you click through a link on the My Points site, and you get points for your purchase. Most stores offer a certain number of points (2 to 4 on average) per dollar spent. Once you have at least 1,000 points, you can redeem the points for gift cards for restaurants, gasoline, traveling and clothing.
You cannot use Ebates and My Points in the same purchase, therefore if a store is linked through both Ebates and My Points, you need to determine which is the better deal for you. Whenever you can, attempt to combine a promotional code with the My Points or Ebates offer.
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