Shopping on the internet is fun and can be a frugal pursuit. Do you know how to save money with online shopping? If not, this is the perfect article for you as it details many different tips and tricks which will help you get the bottom dollar price for all that you buy.
Avoid shopping on sites that aren’t familiar or have no online user reviews. No matter how much you might want to order their merchandise or how low their prices are, you just don’t know what you’re getting into. Reserve your online shopping dollars for the well-known and trusted sites that keep your info safe.
Don’t provide any online site with a social security number. No website should need that kind of information when you’re making purchases. It’s a scam if they want your SSN. Take off and find a better store to buy from.
Find out the online store’s return policy. If you are considering making a purchase on an item that you may want to return, be sure you find out if returning the item is an option. Sometimes when you shop online, items can not be returned and you do not want to be stuck with an unwanted item.
Be wary of any emails you receive, even if they appear to be from a retailer you trust. Never click on a link that directs you to a site other than the one you shopped on. If you do, you may become vulnerable to a scam. Rather than clicking on an email hyperlink, just go up to your browser and type in the web site you want to go to. It is much safer that way.
Keep an eye on your bank and credit card accounts. If you are shopping online, don’t wait for the end of the month to review your finances. Check your account online periodically to make sure that there are no extra charges. If you notice anything amiss, get in contact with your bank or credit card company as soon as possible.
Don’t supply too much information. It should be no surprise that a shopping site will need your credit card information in order to bill you, and your address so that you can receive your items. However, use caution if more information is asked. No shopping site should ever need your social security number, and even your birth date may be too much information. Those pieces of information, combined with your credit card number can be used by an identity thief to wreak havoc.
You will find many interesting deals around Black Friday. Some online store actually offer deals every day of the week following Black Friday. If you need to purchase an expensive item such as a new laptop, wait until Black Friday to get the product you need at a discounted price.
Check out eBay. Still the best and most respected auction site out there, eBay offrs thousands of products of all kinds. Even if you want something high end, give eBay a shot before you go and pay full price unnecessarily. You might even want to browse, to see what products you like that you would not have thought to look for.
Overpaying for expedited shipping is no way to shop online. Instead, be more patient. It’s shocking how fast these items will come with standard shipping. The money saved on choosing standard shipping instead of expedited shipping may well be worth the wait.
Keep your boxes for what you buy online for 30 days after purchasing any item. This includes the shipping boxes they came in. If something goes wrong in the initial purchase period (for most items 14 to 30 days), you may need to ship the item back in its original packaging. It’s nice then too to have the original shipping box as well since you know it will fit.
Register for the newsletters of the online retailers you frequently purchase from. If you shop frequently, subscribing to these newsletters can help you see inside information on deals and products that non-subscribers don’t know about yet. You will know about new products before others and may be able to snap them up before they’re gone.
When you find what you want to buy at a merchant that you have never heard of, do some background checking. Search the web for any shopper reviews to make sure that there are no prior complaints about this merchant. You need to do this in order to avoid any scam artists out there.
Train yourself to check your browser’s address bar for the HTTPS extension before you plug any personal or financial data into an online shopping site. The “s” stands for secure encryption. Shopping sites should also display a padlock icon at the bottom of the page to show you that their site is secure.
Always search various websites to compare the price of a particular item before you purchase it. When doing this do not forget to consider the shipping costs as part of the overall cost of the item. Since there are so many options available you should be sure to use them.
After buying an item online, quickly check your bank account. Ensure that the amount you were charged is what you thought you’d spent. If there are more charges than you were expecting, call customer service right away. Also, call your credit card company and report any suspicious charges immediately.
When you are able to start saving money by shopping online, thanks to reading these tips, you will feel amazing. The ability to get what you want for less brings a rush with it like no other. Just put these tips to use and you will be saving in no time!
