One of the most effective ways to save money on your holiday shopping is to use the Internet. Online shopping can provide you with access to good deals, as well as help you earn rebates and take advantage of coupons and promotions.
As you get ready to finish up (or even start) your online shopping, consider these tips for using the Internet to save on holiday shopping:
Daily Deals, Lightning Deals, and Aggregators
Daily deal sites are rolling out their promotions, and it can be a great way to get a discount on gifts for others. You can also get discounted gift certificates to provide as gifts. At Amazon, you can look ahead for “Lightning Deals,” often saving between 30% and 75% on special items. We actually purchase a lot of our son’s movies this way, since much of what he’s interested in shows up cheap.
It is also worth checking into aggregators from Buy.com and Google to find the cheapest place to buy something. These aggregators list items from multiple web sites, eliminating the need for you to go from web site to web site, looking for the best deal.
Free Shipping
Many online retailers offer free shipping during the holidays. However, you do have to be careful. Do you have to make a minimum order to get your free shipping? You can check FreeShipping.org to find out which sites provide free shipping, or you can find promo codes that allow you to get free shipping at checkout. This is important, since, for some gifts, the shipping costs actually negate the low cost of the items bought. Double check to make sure that your shipping costs aren’t adding too much to the overall cost.
When ordering gifts online, you also need to pay attention to when the packages will arrive. At this point, ordering right now will require that you pay extra if you want packages to arrive in time for Christmas. If you don’t care if the recipients get the packages by Christmas, when you order isn’t as important.
Rewards
Sign up for rewards sites as you prepare to shop online. There are a number of web sites that will give you cash back, or send you rebates, just for shopping through a certain portal, or signing up for their programs. This can be a way to maximize your shopping dollars, since you will get some of them back. Just be sure to double check the terms and conditions related to these sites before proceeding.
Shopping Safe
You do want to be safe when shopping online. Your first concern should be making sure that your computer is secure. Ensure that you are on a secure connection, and that the site you are visiting is legit with the proper level of encryption.
Additionally, be aware that, this year, thieves are out in full force, stealing packages from off doorsteps. Whenever possible, get tracking numbers for packages so you have an idea of when they will arrive so that you can get them immediately. If your gifts are going directly to the recipient, send them the tracking numbers so that they can be ready as well.