Savvy Online Shopping: Tips and Tricks from 2 Frugal Bloggers

I love shopping online, you can find so many amazing deals. Be it through amazon, ebay, deal sites like mamapedia, or even big store sites like walmart.com. It is amazing what deals can be found. Sometimes, however, it can be a bit overwhelming. A deal can seem amazing until you get it and find out it's no good. So my darling friend (who is one of the Co-owners of The Daily Goodie bag) and I got together, to make you a post about how to find the best deals, tips to make sure they are fabo and real, and some great sites to look on.

You can find deals all over the net. We usually do searches for deals we like, and keep an eye on blogs that post about good deals (like we do, and like TDGB does). These are great launching points when looking for deals. Once you find a deal here are some tips and tricks to make sure you get the best of the best!

1. Don't think just cause its on a deal site it is a deal. Do some research on the item, sometimes you can find it for cheaper than the "deal" or for the same price with cheaper shipping.
2. A Great way to do this is to search the item on Google. Then click the tab that says 'shopping', and sort by price low to high. Doing so makes it easy to compare the prices of an item online. Make sure to pay attention to shipping, some sites will charge high shipping on a low price to trick you.
3. Pay attention to shipping fees. This is especially important on sites like Mamapedia where you buy the certificate and then use the certificate code on the site. Make sure to find out what the shipping is, the last thing you want to do is find a smashing deal only to find out that shipping is uber expensive.
4. Pay attention to the Fine Print, read the deal carefully. A deal may look like a gem, until you read the fine print. It is also often, where you will find the shipping.
5. Ask yourself, can I make it better? Ok let's face it, most of the time the deal is the best your getting, but that doesn't mean you can't get better. I got a deal for books, it was $15 for a $30 code. Pretty sweet right? Well, I did a little search for coupons on the site and ended up finding a code that gave you 20% off with free shipping on your first purchase for joining their mailing list. I would have had to pay shipping, but because I did the research I got more books plus free shipping, which made my order much more of a deal.
6. So take the time to search for coupons you can use with the deal. I love retailmenot.com, but a simple search on Google can bring up a lot of good information. If you are looking for coupons, just search the sites name and coupon, for instance “jcpennys.com coupons”. You never know what you may find, and it is worth the time it takes to search.
7. Get money back when you shop, by using ebates.com to earn cash back when shopping online. It is pretty simple to use. Go to ebates and register or login. Then find the shop on their list you want to go to. When you go to the site through their site, you will get a percentage back in cash from the money you spent. Once again pay attention to the fine print!
8. Payments; If you have to pay, paypal is your best bet, however, some sites do not take paypal. In circumstances like that, your next best bet is a prepaid credit card with a low balance. If you have to use your debit/credit card that isn’t prepaid, make sure the site is secure, look to make sure it says https:// on the web address. If you are not sure if the sites legit do a Google search with the sites name and the word scam like so “Macys.com scam” if it is a scam 9 times out of 10 something will come up about it on Google search.
9. Are you a member of Swagbucks? If you are a member look on Swagbucks offer wall sometimes if you click into the site via Swagbucks you can earn Swagbucks for your purchase!

Types of Sites to look for:

Sites that give you credit for joining. If a site will give you credit for joining you should join even if you don’t buy anything right away, right? Some sites only give credit during promotions so you want to get it when you can. The following sites give you credit for joining.

• Mamapedia ~ gives you $5 credit if you join under a current member
• Gaggle of Chicks ~ gives you $10 credit if you join under another member, $5 if you just join through the site.
• NoMoreRack: gives you $10 credit, must join go to “my account” then click apply “redeem a gift card” and put in the code P1070
• Rue La La: Currently has a promotion till April 25th where if you join you get a $20 credit, hurry and join on this one cause the credit will stay in your account but you have to join before the promotion ends.

Sites that you get freebies for sending friends:

• ShopItToMe: Get 10 friends to join and you get a free $10 gift card you chose where its from they have several options (Macys, Starbucks, Jamba Juice, Old Navy, and many, many, more)
• Plum District: Daily Deals posted and from time to time they release specials for New Members.
• Living Social: Daily Deals listed and if you purchase the deal, you have the opportunity to share a unique link with friends. If 3 friends purchase the deal too, you get yours FREE!