Online Shopping Deals, Tricks, Tips!

Online shopping: a topic better known to some as a hobby or extreme sport. Well, at least for those who are advance in this field. Just recently, I've been partaking in the activity of online shopping more than I should! Just one night ago, a Macy’s ad popped up on my Instagram feed, and it was a blouse from Free People that I’ve been on the hunt for. What made me go through with the order was the fact that it was ON SALE!

Let me be honest at this point. It has been a couple of days since moving back to the University of Kentucky and being away from my family in the middle of a pandemic. Because of this, my online shopping habits are getting me closer to an online shopper's anonymous meeting! I mean, how beautiful is it that you can stay at home and shop for whatever is needed and then have a one-week turn-around of the item, depending on where you’re ordering from.

Though online shopping has its ups and downs, in this blog post I am going to give you all some tips and tricks on how I attempt, and sometimes successfully accomplish, to try and save money when online shipping! There so many tools and resources you have to try out if you are as addicted as me!

The first tip that I want to share with everyone is to use the online money-saver web application known as Honey! Yes, this is the exact same thing that David Dobrik and other YouTubers talk about on their sponsored videos. This product works the majority of the time depending on what website you’re shopping on!

Honey describes itself as “a browser extension that automatically finds and applies coupons codes at checkout with a single click,” which is completely true! In order to use honey, download the application to your web browser of choice. For example, mine is Google Chrome, and from there honey recognizes the websites for you. Then, Honey searches through promotion codes from the web to use at checkout, which in return lowers the original total price!

As someone who likes online shopping and is always searches the company name and then the term "promo codes" behind it, I personally love using Honey! This is something that I use on a daily basis when it comes to online shopping.

My second tip when it comes to online shopping is to sign up for the promotional emails for the brands that you genuinely like! Now, please don’t leave me on read, I know this is a controversial statement! But when taking Victoria’s Secret and their subsidiary company PINK for example, their emails are filled with promotional deals that are going on or even a promotional code. Other companies that also use this tactic are American Eagle, AERIE, and Hollister, just to name a few.

Just beware of spam mail or an excess of emails if you do go this route! I find promotional emails to be a love-hate relationship of sorts.

The third tip that I would give to people who love online shopping and want to save money is to sign up for companies' rewards programs! For example, I’m a part of the Urban Outfitters' rewards program. Each time I spend about $50, I automatically get a $5 coupon that expires within 60 days! Yes, this is a good marketing technique to keep customers coming back!

HOWEVER, at the same time, whenever I shop at Urban Outfitters, I only shop when I know I have a coupon, or I’m close enough to get that next coupon. I highly encourage signing up for rewards programs at companies or shops that you spend money at. This way you can save money!

My final tip is to shop during seasonal-transition periods! For example, Victoria’s Secret always has their semi-annual sale during January and in the summer months! These two times are when fashion retailers are bringing in new seasonal clothing. More specifically, the fall will transition to winter and then the spring will transition to summer. This is where you will see a lot of pieces go on sale because they’re trying to get rid of that season's selection!

I hope you find these tips and tricks useful and if you have any more, definitely spread the word because I would love to hear! Happy online shopping!