10 Ways to Save Money Shopping Online

James Crawford avatar

James Crawford

7 min reading - Apr 02, 2022

People are skipping the mall and shopping online now more than ever. Who doesn’t love the convenience of browsing products and buying things we need from the comfort of our own homes?

The rise in popularity of shopping online has persisted well into 2022 and shows no signs of stopping soon. That means it’s more important than ever to know all the best ways to save money online shopping! Not sure where to start? Here are 10 ways to save money on clothing, beauty products, and countless other items online.

1. Sign Up for Reward Programs

Companies want their customers to be loyal to their brand. One way of encouraging this is to offer a free reward program that customers can sign up for. If you shop from an online store even semi-regularly, taking a few minutes to sign up for their reward program could be well worth it.

Some reward programs offer an immediate discount on your future purchases, while others give you points that are redeemable for cash when you buy their products. You just need to remember to create an account and log in on the site before you buy anything. If you’re unsure as to whether or not your favorite online store offers a reward program, you can usually find that information somewhere on their website.

2. Follow Brands on Social Media

There are a few reasons why you should follow your favorite brand on social media. By keeping up with them, you’ll always be in the know about their newest products and any fun giveaways or contests they may be running. Your odds of winning any social media contest or giveaway aren’t great, but it’s still worth a try if you want a chance to save a lot of money on products you know you’ll use.

The most important and practical reason to follow brands on social media (namely Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter) is that you’ll know about the latest deals and promotions. If these special offers are only available for a limited time, you’ll be glad you saw their post and were able to act quickly!

3. Check Multiple Online Stores

If you suspect a product is being sold elsewhere online, don’t buy it from the first website you come across. Neglecting to compare prices can lead to you overpaying. There are some apps that help you compare products automatically, but you can realistically do this yourself by pulling up new tabs and doing some minor research.

This method obviously won’t be much help if you’re buying an original product that’s only offered at one store. However, there are cases where you can find the same item (or a very similar item) that costs less at WalmartTarget, or another big-box store. You may also be able to save on shipping this way. The product you were going to order from halfway across the world might actually be in stock in your state!

4. Use Incognito Mode

Your web browser collects cookies when you visit a website. These cookies track your activities on said website, which translates to valuable data that companies use to understand what products you’re interested in. Unfortunately, websites will sometimes use this information against you by raising the prices of items they predict you’ll be interested in. Thankfully, you can avoid all this by doing your online browsing in private or incognito mode.

Never used incognito mode before? Don’t worry, it’s easier to activate than you might think. If you’re using Safari, Chrome, or Microsoft Edge, simply right-click on the icon and select “New Private/Incognito Window.” For Firefox, you can find this option by clicking the menu button next to the search bar.

5. Subscribe to Newsletters

Do your favorite online stores offer newsletters? If you’re not already subscribed to them, you should seriously consider it. The benefits of subscribing to an online store’s newsletter are similar to what you’ll enjoy by following them on social media. You’ll typically be among the first to know about deals and flash sales. Sometimes you and your fellow newsletter subscribers may even be the only ones notified!

Still not impressed? Sometimes companies will even offer you a discount or bonus of some sort simply to thank you for signing up! That means you can take 10% or 15% off your first purchase with little to no effort whatsoever. If you find your inbox is becoming cluttered with newsletters, no problem. You can always unsubscribe from newsletters offering lackluster deals or ones from stores you simply don’t shop at anymore.

6. Try to Acquire Free Shipping

You should try to avoid paying for shipping whenever possible. The added costs of shipping can really pile up, especially if you like to order things from different stores around the globe. Not sure how to save on shipping when shopping online? The best approach is to browse websites that offer free shipping promo codes for various online stores.

If you can’t find a code, there are a few other methods to try. Some stores offer free shipping when you reach a minimum purchase amount. This doesn’t necessarily mean you should spend more money to try and acquire free shipping. Instead, you should wait to order until there are enough items you want/need that you can order all at once. That way, you’ll reach the minimum purchase amount for free shipping without buying things you don’t want. Alternatively, some retailers like Walmart and Target do offer free in-store pickup.

7. Buy Discounted Gift Cards

This method won’t save you a ton of money, but every bit counts, right? There are a few websites out there, including Gift Card Granny and Raise, that purchase unwanted gift cards. You can then buy these gift cards at a discounted price, but they’ll still be worth their original amount.

All this means that you could pay $45.00 for a $50.00 gift card. The store in question will still view the card as being worth $50.00, so you’ve saved $5.00! Before purchasing a gift card from one of these sites, however, make sure it’s for a store you’re actually interested in buying from. Otherwise, you could be the one trying to sell an unwanted gift card later on.

8. Leave Items in Your Cart

Have you ever backed out of a purchase at the last minute and left items in your cart? If so, you’ve probably gotten emails from the store reminding you about your incomplete order and encouraging you to finish your purchase. In some cases, though it’s not terribly common, the store may email you a coupon for somewhere between 5% and 15% off.

If you don’t need a product urgently, there’s really no harm in leaving it in your cart and keeping your fingers crossed for a discount offer in a few days’ time. Just make sure you’ve left the store your email at some point (typically while placing your order), or they won’t know how to reach you. If there’s nowhere to enter your email address, the store probably doesn’t offer this type of discount.

9. Download Amazon’s Shopping Price Alert App

If you do a lot of your shopping with Amazon, downloading their Shopping Price Alert app is an absolute must. You use the app to enter products that you’re interested in onto your watchlist.

What really makes the app special is that you have the option to set a price threshold for each product you add to your list. This basically means the minimum amount that you’re comfortable spending on these items. If a product on your watchlist is both in stock and reaches the price threshold you’ve set, you’ll receive a notification.

10. Find Coupons and Promo Codes

Hands down the easiest and most effective way of saving money while online shopping is to find and use coupons and promo codes. The practice of cutting out coupons from magazines is nothing new and has always been great advice for saving money in general. However, online shopping has a much simpler alternative.

DealDrop gives you free access to countless promo codes and discounts to use online. All you have to do is find a code for the store you’re interested in, copy the code, and then use it at checkout. It couldn’t be any easier, and the money you save in the long run can really make a difference.

Make sure you check out some of our most popular stores such as Fashion NovaStockxPet Supplies Plus and more.