We've all been there. Dreaming of the best clothes, products, smartwatches, AirPods, but being pushed back by their price points.
Airpods Pro for 20K! Is it really worth it for earbuds? Why can’t I buy just something from BoAT or another brand's earbuds which is way cheaper?
How about Sony earbuds?
This is the kind of self-talk we bestow ourselves with while shopping. But what if I told you that you can get exactly what you want at the price point that you can afford?
It is possible to get the products under your price range. All it takes is a little waiting, being alert and being on the toes with the prices. If you do it the right way, you may be able to get your hands on anything you want under your budget.
Let me explain to you how it is possible.
Savings can be made in every walk of life. There are many smart ways to save money with which you can directly or indirectly save your money, or help someone do it. So let us see the unique hacks that you use to save your money.
1. Shop Online instead of offline
See, online shopping is cheap, to begin with. Flying machine wallets in physical stores start from not less than 1k, but online you get them in around Rs 700. One of the main reasons that explain the price difference is the fact that offline stores have a list of maintenance fees. The rent, the AC, the salaries of the employees and so on. These expenses are completely eradicated in online mediums thus imposing fewer additional charges.
2. Explore the online collection
Not just that, the collection is also widespread in online stores as they can afford to put up even cheaper items online that they can find space for in their physical stores. IKEA has many products that are very affordable (Rs 299, 399 etc) which you can find only on the IKEA website, not in their Hyderabad store.
Now that we’ve established that shopping online can help you save in reality, let us see how you can enhance these savings.
3. Make use of cashback offers
Online shopping comes with more benefits. These will allow you to make more savings on what you purchase. For example, a jacket of Rs 3000 would be available for you only for Rs 2400. That’s Rs 600 off! Not too shabby for an online shopper. The Rs 600 would be available for you in the form of cashback, discounts etc. Check Imagicaa offers page to find the latest deals on Imagica.
4. Check in-app offers
The first thing you should do while shopping for anything online is to check the offers tab. This is present on the product page or the payments page for most sites like AJIO and Swiggy. This drop-down will tell you about all the coupon codes you can use, or the cashback offers you can avail of on that particular item.
5. Look for a coupons destination
A dedicated savings destination is one place where you will get the info of all cashback offers, discounts coupon codes on the shopping website you are interested in.
For example, if you shop on Amazon, you can just go to the Amazon page of a savings partner (coupons website) and find all the deals present at that very moment on Amazon products.
There are coupon companies that have discounts’ listings on thousands of shopping sites which you can use to save while you shop from those websites.
6. Buy in bulk
Then you can buy things in a bundle. Companies offer better prices for items when they are bought together.
For example, you may have seen a McVeggie burger costing Rs 112, but did you know that when you buy it as part of a meal, you can save up to Rs 50?
The same applies to all items and products. Many websites offer these benefits and you just need to check it on their websites to know how much you are exactly going to save.
7. Use Coins/ points
Wouldn’t it be exciting if you are able to save simply by shopping? Coins’ programs by many online shopping sites like Flipkart, Dominos and more make it possible. The way it works is that whenever you shop online, you would collect some coins.
These coins depend on how much you are shopping for. All of these get accumulated inside of your wallet. All you need to do is keep on collecting them, as when you have sufficient coins, you can use them directly to pay for an order.
How exciting! And not just that, these days the coins will also help you get more benefits. Like Flipkart, Supercoins can literally get you a free OTT subscription for SonyLiv. It’s a great way to increase your assets in online shopping and use it when the right time comes to save you money.
8. Refer friends and family
We all know about this but we don't find time to get this done. But did you know that if you and your friends use the refer and earn policy wisely, you can automatically skyrocket your savings?
Many Uber rides were given for free to users simply because they referred the app to their friends and families.
9. Lookout for sales
Sales are when you would get further discounts on fashion, electronics, mobiles and more. The iPhone 12 is literally available at a discount of Rs 13k as per an article in India Today. That’s a pretty rare deal.
10. Choose your payment mode wisely
Many times the mode of payment that you use constitutes a certain cashback. This gets deposits into that wallet of yours and can be used for other purchases made through the same wallet. If not that, you can also withdraw this amount to a bank account in case you don’t want to use that wallet anymore.
Final Thought on Money Saving Tips While Online Shopping
Saving is all about patience. It is, in fact, an art. You need to work on your saving skills. There are people who get free rides and vacations. That looked like a distant dream now can be yours soon.
Note: This is a guest post on the topic "10 Ways to Save Money When Online Shopping" at Imslv.com, Learn more about entertainment guest posts by following the link.