5 Ways to Save Money While Shopping Online

It pains me to drive to the mall for at least two reasons. One, despite the recent drop in gas prices, it’s still hovering near $4 per gallon in my area. Two, it’s not like you can actually maneuver a stroller through Gymboree and get any shopping done.

So I’ve resorted to handling the majority of my back-to-school shopping online, and here’s what I’ve learned along the way.

1) Check Out Shipping Charges First: Look for free shipping or at the very least flat-rate shipping right at the start. There’s nothing worse than loading up a shopping cart only to find out the shipping charges are exorbitant. I’ve abandoned plenty of shopping carts once I saw the shipping fees.

I love shopping at Gymboree.com. They have flat-rate shipping of $6.50 per order right now and it’s totally worth it in time and gas spent getting my three little ones ready for the fall. [P.S., there’s a 20% off coupon in the middle of this month’s Parenting magazine.]

2) Shop at “Cash Back” Sites: Check out Big Crumbs or Ebates to get cash back every time you shop any one of hundreds of online stores, like Target.com (get 4% back) and Zappos.com (get 6% back). Another to check out is Upromise.com. It works in the same way, but your savings will go toward a 529 college savings plan.

3) Compare Prices: Sites like Shopping.com and PriceGrabber.com let you easily compare prices across the web. So, say you want to buy a new camera for your upcoming vacation, type in “Canon PowerShot” for example and you’ll see prices at various online stores. Best bet: choose a retailer familiar to you.

4) Never Shop Without a Coupon Code: I don’t shop at too many online stores, but unless I have a print coupon like I do with Gymboree, I always hit an online coupon code aggregator like RetailMeNot.com to do a quick search for coupon codes.

This morning they’ve got great percent-off coupon codes for Victoria’s Secret (10% off), American Eagle (15% off) and JCPenney (15% off). Or, simply head to Google.com and type in “coupon code” along with the name of the store you plan to shop. When you go to check-out, just enter the code in the specified area and you’re golden.

5) Take Advantage of Price Protection Polices: Many retailers have not-very-well-advertised “price protection” policies. Basically, if the item you buy goes on sale within a set time period, usually 30 days, the retailer will refund you the difference in price.

Okay, who has time to track the prices of purchased items? PriceProtectr.com does. Let’s say you just bought a book at Amazon.com. Copy and paste the URL of the book into the product field, enter your email address, and if the book goes down in price within 30 days, PriceProtectr.com will let you know and Amazon will refund you the difference. How easy is that?

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