Shopping with Coupon Codes: Pile on the Savings! (Includes Coupon Codes)
Dec 15 '04 (Updated Apr 19 '05)
The Bottom Line Internet shopping can save time and especially money if you do your homework and stack the deals.
I buy almost everything on the Internet and there are many reasons why I think you should too. For me, it started out as a convenience feature. I had two children (now three) and it seemed to be worth whatever the store was charging for shipping to be able to shop all times of day and night, not search for parking, not drag two kids through a mall and not have to schlepp my purchases and kids back to the car and drive home.
Now I internet shop because I find that it is not only convenient but often cheaper than going to the store. The goal is to find the deals out there on the internet. Plus, many stores allow you to stack deals which gets you the best possible price.
The following are steps I recommend for finding good deals on the internet.
1. Determine what you are looking for. You will need to know the brand and model number. For many items, I research consumer reviews. Epinions has a great data base. So does Amazon.com. However, you should be wary of sites that publish only glowing reviews or exercise editorial control over consumer reviews. Find sources that publish good and bad reviews of their goods.
2. Now use internet search engines to locate stores that sell what you are looking for. I use shopping.com but they don't list every store. You can also try yahoo shopping or froogle which is the google.com search engine. You can also try plugging your item's name and model or style number into any search engine such as yahoo or google.
Keep in mind that certain items are standard. A britax car seat, graco stroller or toshiba vcr are all the same no matter what merchant carries them so for many items you are simply looking for the best price and a reliable site to purchase it from. Epinions has a great data base for the reliability of online stores. If you don't know a store's reputation, try checking it out on Epinions to read about the experience others have had with that store. Part of this process is being open-minded, to get the best price, you may have to use a store that you haven't tried before.
3. By now, you should have located one to three sites that are offering a good price on the item you want. Stores that are located outside of your state are usually more attractive than stores located in your state. This is because most stores don't charge sales tax on items they ship out of state. In Massachusetts, this can save me 5% on many purchases. Okay we have located some potential stores to buy our item from, however, don't go shopping just yet, we have some more work to do.
4. Our next task is to look for coupon codes. There are generally two sources of coupon codes, affiliate sites and the store itself. Some stores put their coupon codes right on the home page or on some other page that references sales. As you shop a web site, look for coupon codes.
Stores also sometimes send codes to people on their e-mail lists. I set up a free e-mail account at yahoo. I use that e-mail address to sign up for store e-mails. Sometimes those e-mails contain great coupon codes that you can't get elsewhere. For example, for the last three years, Restoration Hardware has sent out a 20% off everything code good for only two days in December. This code isn't available elsewhere. If there are stores you frequent or even stores you are just interested in, definitely sign up for their free email alerts.
The other way to find coupon codes is to plug the name of the store into a search engine such as yahoo or google with the terms "coupon code." This might bring up several sites that publish coupon codes. Collect as many as you can because not all of the codes you find will work. Many codes on the internet have expired and others are simply wrong. You might not know until you get to the checkout page which codes will work so be sure to collect as many as you can.
If you are looking for unique items on the web including clothing by local designers, jewelery or home decor, you might have a hard time finding coupon codes because small stores might not have well-publicized sales. For these types of retailers, I check certain sources: Luckymag.com and stylebakery.com are two of my favorite sites that have coupon codes for up and coming designers and smaller, hipper web merchants.
I have a word of caution, regarding coupon codes. Some stores publish multiple, overlapping coupon codes. Ebags does this. They have codes out there for 10% off, free shipping, free items and other variations for savings. However, Ebags does not let you combine codes. You have to choose the one that will save you the most money. The best choice might not be obvious until you are done shopping and calculated shipping charges. So be sure to write down every coupon code out there to find the best one for you.
5. Okay, you have identified the item you wish to purchase. You have found 1-3 web merchants that carry that item. You have collected your coupon codes. Now it is time to look for kickbacks, particularly the ones that can be combined with coupon codes. Many web merchants use affiliate sites. This means that the store pays a percentage of whatever you buy to the site that referred you to the store. Many affiliate sites lure you in by offering coupon codes or by directing you directly to a site's sale page. Don't fall for this trick. You want to use an affiliate site that pays you the kickback. My favorite site is Ebates which pays back 1-25% of what you buy at hundreds of stores. Another is Upromise. Both Ebates and Upromise also offer coupon codes for many merchants.
6. Now, we are finally ready to make a purchase. This last step involves checking the store itself to see if it has some kind of customer loyalty program. Many web merchants offer free shipping if you use their credit card or a credit card affiliated with their site. Other stores allow you to set up an account and give you a small rebate if you spend a target amount over time. Perhaps you are lucky and the item you want is on sale or the site itself is having some promotion, perhaps free or discounted shipping.
7. Now we are finally ready to make a purchase. You want to click through an affiliate site that pays you back the commission to get to the store you have chosen. Make sure you check and sign up for any relevant customer loyalty program. Add your item to the cart. Hopefully, you have found a coupon code that you can use in addition to the rebate you will get through the affiliate site.
And there we have it! If you stack up sales, promotions, loyalty programs, tax savings by targeting stores located out of your state, rebates paid by affiliate sites and coupon codes, you can buy your item sometimes for significantly less than if you bought it in your neighborhood store.
Hope this helps! Go forth, good luck and happy shopping!!
SOME COUPON CODES I HAD LYING AROUND (TO BE UPDATED PERIODICALLY) (I am not vouching for or recommending any of these stores).
10% off at redenvelope.com
Expires 2/28/05
Use code: WELCOMERED at checkout
15% off at 1-800-flowers.com
expires 2/28/05
use code: CBWP
save $20 off $100 at Modernseed.com
expires: unknown
use code: EASY20
30% off at espritshop.com
expires: unknown
use code: mg4o5
freeshipping on orders of $50 or more at gap.com
may have to use the gap's credit card to activate code
expires: unknown
use code: FREESHIP
$200 off any order of $1,000 or more at Design within Reach (www.dwr.com)
expires: March 21, 2005
use code: F7952
Save $4 on tickets to Disney on Ice at www.ticketmaster.com
expires: 12/31/05
use code: ALD
$10 off a $50 purchase at www.softsurroundingoutlet.com
Expires: 4/10/05
Code: 2167230
$10 off a $50 purchase at www.homedecoratorsoutlet.com
Expires: 3/20/05
Code: 8561415
10% off at Baby Age
Expires: maybe 3/31/05
Code: ECOM
Get 10% off at www.visiondirect.com
Expires: April 15, 2005
Code: SAVE
Get $10 off a purchase of $50 at www.sportsauthority.com
Expires 5/1/05
Code: TSAFOOTWEAR
Get 10% off at the Disney Store online
Expires 4/30/05
Code: 210
Get $25 of a purchase of $150 at www.jjill.com
Expires: 4/18/05
Code: SCD112
Save 10% at www.angelaadams.com
Expires ??
Code: chrysler
Save $10 off a minimum purchase of $99 at www.shopnbc.com
Code: 47636101
expires: May 15, 2005
DO YOU LIKE TO SHOP ON THE INTERNET? HERE ARE SOME MORE REVIEWS OF WEB STORES:
Clothing and Accessories: Talbots; The Gap; CWD Kids; Hanna Andersson; J. Jill; Tote Le Monde ; Blu Pyxie ; Miniboden; One Hanes Place; Nordstrom; Gymboree; Simple Shoes; Sierra Blue; Ebags.
Clothing and Home Goods: Lands End; Bluefly; Soft Surroundings; Garnet Hill; Sundance; L.L. Bean.
Home and Garden: Smith & Noble; Restoration Hardware; Gardeners Supply Company; Unicahome; Homeclick; FaucetDirect; Gardens Alive; West Elm; Crate & Barrel; MyKnobs; CB2.
Books and Magazines: Amazon.com; ValueMags; Magazine Values; Dover Publications.
Office Supplies, Furniture and Services: Staples; Officemax; Topdeq; Efax.
Electronics: HP Shopping; Buy.com.
Travel: Amtrak; Hotwire; Orbitz; Hotels.com.
Discount: Overstock.com; Target.
Photo Developing: Shutterfly; Snapfish.
Baby Stuff: Babystyle; Babys Here Birth Announcements; Baby Universe; SoZo; Baby Center; Baby Age.
Miscellaneous: 1-800 contacts; Movie Tickets.com; Drugstore.com.
Rebate Sites: Upromise; Ebates.
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Epinions.com ID:
modernmarvel
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Location: Basking in the Sun
Reviews written: 504
Trusted by: 340 members
About Me:
Can anyone recommend a western family dude ranch for a vacation this summer?
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