With today’s crazy sophisticated technology, that I don’t understand at all, there are ways to ensure you get amazing value when you spend online compared to shopping in a retail bricks and mortar location.
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Online sales
Often times stores will have sales online that aren’t available in store. A classic example of this is Chapters Indigo that has a “deals of the week” special which is only available online. Costco also has deals that are available only online.
Referral discount
Oftentimes, to encourage people to use a link on someone else’s website, a company will reward not just the person making the referral but also the customer that’s clicking on the link. A couple examples on my site are Function of Beauty AND Bluehost
Related: How To Save Money On Everyday Items
Use a savings finder
Honey is a simple extension (button to us non-techies) that gets added to your web browser and in one click it will automatically find and apply the best promo codes at checkout. The best thing is that it works on AMAZON! In fact, it will compare every seller (factoring in shipping and prime status) to find you the best possible price. You can also use their price tracker and price history tool. Sign up to honey here.
Cash back website link
I personally use RAKUTEN (previously Ebates) to get cash back at 2500+ stores and if you aren’t in a rush to buy, you can get even more cashback on DOUBLE CASH BACK DAYS. RAKUTEN recently added an In-Store cash back option as well! You can get a special $5 bonus by signing up and spending $25 online through the links below.
Join Rakuten in Canada right here and in the US right here
Cash back credit card
Instead of having a reward points card (that has a lot of draw backs such as how long it takes to get enough points to use, blackout dates and limited seat availability), you can get the cash back option instead. The added benefit of these is that you can actually decide when and how you want to collect on your cash back.
The best part about these 5 tips is that you can stack them. In other words, you can use more than one of these steps every time you make a purchase online.
For example:
Let’s say I want to buy a book online. I would start at Rakuten, click through to Chapters Indigo, go to their deals of week where Stephen King books are 25% off, so $39.99 is now $29.99 and buy using my cash back credit card. This means that my $29.99 with tax is $33.59 so, you would get 4% cash back from Rakuten $1.35 and 2% cash back from your credit card $0.80. That means that a book that would be $44.79 at the store, only cost you $33.04 online. That’s a savings of $11.75!!!
Now, I know that doesn’t seem like much but imagine doing that EVERYTIME you buy something online. I personally usually get a cheque from Rakuten every quarter of about $20/$25. But, to me that’s still 4 Starbucks lattes. And remember, I’m a single female purchasing for myself only. What about for a family of four? Or someone redecorating their home?
Want to start earning cash back from online purchases? Get your own account by joining:
RAKUTEN Canada or RAKUTEN USA
Interested in starting your own blog? It’s so much easier than you think. Check out my post: how to start a blog for less than $5 a month