As I have gotten older and more responsible (think career, home, marriage, kids lol), I have turned more to online shopping than ever before to get everything I need. Whether it be a holiday gifts, baby showers to laundry soap, online shopping helps me find my mental balance with its ease of use and easy delivery options. I don’t have to plan time to drag my family though the stores praying that there are not meltdowns and cries of random hunger.
I love online shopping so much that I am pretty sure that one year, I bought every Christmas gift from Amazon and felt the satisfaction of knowing that it had been ordered, shipped and taken care of by the time December 1st had come around. Sometimes, shopping with the family can be just too much…not enough time to carefully look at everything I want due to the nagging anxiousness of how much time it is taking.
Now don’t get me wrong, I love a good wonder in Target (especially when its solo and kid free), but with so many online options…it’s hard to pull the trigger on traditional purchases in the store despite the great in-store marketing. So when it comes to shopping online AND learning about earning money when shopping online…sign me up. After much research and self-trial, I share with you the 14 Easy Ways to Earn Money Online Shopping
Online shopping has its perks…you can sit at home and order in your PJ’s over a cup of coffee or quickly add to your Alexa and find it shipped to your door, but sometimes you can actually end up leaving money on the virtual table so to speak. There are a number of amazing companies that you may or may not have heard of that are looking to help you shop smarter while in the comfort of your couch..think of this as a perfect gift to yourself as you start the great holiday gift hunts. While you are here, make sure that you check out this Free Monthly Budget Planner.
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14 Easy Ways To Earn Money Online Shopping
Make Money Just shopping [for FREE]
This is probably the most simplest way of making money while online shopping. One that I overlooked for a long time until I tried it and realized that I had been overspending online and could find a way to recoup back some of that money. All you need is a prefered email address, a new password, and a Google Chrome Browser to get started.
- Ebates I don’t know how I lived without this one. Simply sign up, browse the thousands of online merchants to see deals (think big names like Amazon, Target, Walmart etc.) and select that merchant…then just shop. CLICK HERE TO START!
- Swagbucks Similar to Ebates, you can earn Swagbuck points on purchases and get cashback. Swagbucks has a Google chrome extension that is FREE and will automatically tell you when you are shopping how many Swagbuck Points you can earn per purchase. CLICK HERE TO START!
- Ibotta is a fun little app that I use for grocery products that can be found in multiple stores across the nation. All you have to do is check out the app before you shop in case you see some items that you might purchase, purchase those items, save your receipt and take a picture of it using the Ibotta App, then Ibotta will fulfill your offers and send you the cash within 48 hours for those purchase promos. You can create ‘friend teams’ within the app that help you all save and earn money back! CLICK HERE TO START!
Google everything
You should really consider Google to be your best friend. You can type in the name of any item that you are looking for in the search bar, click on the shop tab and instantly see price comparisons across major retailers for that item. A great free extension to help you do this….especially so you can see the prices from smaller retailers too is PriceBlink.
- PriceBlink- Think of the free PriceBlink browser add-on as your personal shopping assistant that finds the lowest prices when you shop online. Shop with confidence knowing that you have found the best deal possible. When you are viewing a product, PriceBlink automatically scans over 4,000 merchants for lower prices. Whatever you are shopping for — from apparel to appliances, or toys to tools — PriceBlink has you covered. It is free and it’s an easy extension to add to your browser!
Add to Cart
One of my biggest trick for saving some money online is to add all my ‘browsing’ items to the cart….and leave it. Even if I don’t intend to buy it -I am using the cart just to save the things that I like. Wait about a day, and oftentimes, you will get an email from that particular store asking what you need to close the purchase…often with an additional coupon code! Take advantage!
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Don’t fret over finding Promo Codes
Don’t waste time searching for promo codes all over the internet to only use them and find that they are outdated and are not accepted. Do only two things- look for a promo code when you first enter the website (often at the top of the page- write it down!), then use Honey to help you find any other promo codes that could apply to your purchase.
- Honey- This is a free extension for your browser and is a MUST HAVE! Honey evaluates over 30,000 retailers and shows you the best price using a promo code for that item. Many items are included in a “Honey Gold” program in which you will earn Honey Gold for making your regular purchases and the Gold turns into $$$ gift cards for most retailers. This extension is amazing and has been a game changer for me earning money online shopping. Just sign up for a FREE account. GET STARTED HERE!
It pays to have more than one email address
I have three email accounts, two personal and one business. Often times, retailers will send discounts and coupons specific to an email address, so if it something that you really love, sign up for that retailer using more than one account- a great way to earn money online shopping! Some discounts and coupons can’t be used together, but you can split up your purchase and use each discount for each part of your purchase. Now this is email success!
Read: 16 Gmail Hacks that Will Change Your Life
Don’t waste money at the grocery store!
There are so many ways to save money and make money in the grocery store! The easiest way is to sign up for that particular stores rewards program. Here in the South we have predominantly WinnDixie and Publix- both have great rewards programs that are free to earn from. WinnDixie Rewards not only lets you earn extra points in the store and on alcohol, but they have also joined with other merchants to allow you to earn points while getting gas, renting cars, paying bills and using those points as “cash” in the store at the register. Combine these rewards programs with Ibotta and you will certainly be saving a lot of money in the grocery shopping process!
Read: 16 Easy Ways To Save Money on Grocery Shopping
Time out your big purchases for big holidays
Looking at makings some big purchases? Need new furniture or perhaps a new car? Wait until the major holidays roll around and take advantage of the offers. Almost every fiscal quarter has 1-2 major holidays, so use this as your guide to find the best deals. Car dealerships will often add to that deal if they are close to the end of the quarter and they are trying to make their sales quota. Just make sure that you know what you want and go in and get it!
Know the best days for the best deals ahead of time
It is common knowledge that most stores do roll out special discounts and deals on Wednesday, Thursday and Fridays. But if you do just a little bit more research, you can find out specifics for your favorite retailers. For example:
- Target deals usually start on Tuesday’s to a final discounted price on Thursday
- Sundays are the best day to get cheap airline tickets- Mondays are the most expensive.
Use your bargaining powers with customer service
My Dad is the best at doing this. He loves calling up specific product manufacturers and finding out what kind of deals he can get from them so he will continue to purchase more. Here are two tips that work for him:
- Call customer service and say you want to make a purchase, even if your coupon has expired, they often will honor the coupon to get the sale.
- Call customer service on products that have lifetime warranties and upgrade those items to the next product for a discounted price- this works well with sinks/facets/shower heads etc. Most manufacturers are willing to sell you the upgraded price on a lifetime warranted product…start that home renovation now!
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Keep receipts and request email ones if they have the option
Another way to earn money online while shopping is just saving those receipts. I will admit that I am the worst at this one, especially from an in-store retailer but using iBotta has gotten me into the habit of keeping those receipts so I can take pictures of them and get those discounts. For online shopping it is much easier, the recipes are simply emailed to you and for that I use this amazing app called Parabus.
- Parabus is a program that with connected retailers and email accounts, it will scan your recipe emails from these merchants and monitor to see if you had the lowest price. If you the price drops, they will send you a notification and a discount. I attached my Amazon Prime account. They monitor my account and if the merchant doesn’t fulfill the order or shipping order in the prime shipping time agreement, they will get you a future discount by negotiating with customer service. You do need to connect your online retail accounts (such as Amazon or Walmart) for it to start scanning and sending you money!
Have you noticed Dynamic Pricing when shopping online?
A dynamic price is a price that some online merchants might show you based on where you live, what you have looked at, what you have spent and if there is a demand for that product. Sometimes prices presented to you can be higher or lower depending on these factors. So in order to beat the system and get the best price first, follow a few of these ideas when you online shop.
- Always clear your cookies- go into preferences and click clear cookies so you look like a new user
- Use the incognito browser- go into “file” and select this option- it will hide any of the above mentioned items from that merchant so you know that you are getting the best price without being compromised.
- Browse and use a VPN to mask your location.
Make money Buying Discounted Gift Cards
This is a no-brainer but until now, I didn’t even realize that there were merchants out there that sold discounted gift cards. It might be one more step before your purchase, but to save 20-50% off currency before you purchase is like free money!
-Raise check out this awesome merchant that sells discounted gift cards…buy a gift card for your friends and family or buy it for yourself and use the full value price to make your purchase!
Have an event to go to…
This is one of my favorite sites to use during the holidays. If you have a holiday party to go to and you need to dress it up or if you are going to a wedding or something special, don’t spend extra money on that fancy gown that you will have to use over and over again because you really can’t afford to buy more than one. Try this awesome little tool:
- Use Rent the Runway to borrow an expensive grown for a fraction of the price for an event (https://www.renttherunway.com/). Select your gown, select your date. It will be shipped to you with a return package so all you have to do is wear, enjoy and send back!
I hope some of these items gave you some ideas to get started. Once you sign up for the accounts, it’s pretty easy…just start shopping! As always, let me know of some of your favorite ways to save money online shopping in the comments.
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