To save money when shopping online, everybody knows that you should search coupons and deals online, or do price comparison for a certain item, or shop during the holidays. Today I want to share a few little-known secrets to save you even more.

1.Do Not Shop At Auction Sites

Well, technically, this is not a tip, but a RULE! Don’t ever shop at any auction site, especialy ebay.com. I have tried a dozen of times at ebay.com, each time I ended up with fake products or differnt items. And half of the time, I have trouble to get my money back. I don’t think I am the one with bad luck. It is human nature that people love lower prices, that’s why ebay attracted millions of users. It is also human nature that people love to make money in a dishonest way if they can easily get away with it.

2.Set a Price Alert

Some price comparison sites offer a function called price alert. Enter your email and the price you wanted, then sit back and wait. When the price reached the target,you will be notified by email. If you have the time to wait, this strategy works extreme well on electronics and computers. PriceGrabber.com is the one I love all these years.

3.Use Your Credit Card Wisely

First of all, if you don’t have a reward card, get one today. You can at least save 1% on everything you spent. Chase freedom card offers 1% cash back, while CapitalOne Cash Rewards card offers 1.5% cash back (in which 0.5% will be rewarded at the end of year). Currently they are the best reward card. Chase freedom card sometimes offers 3% to 5% back on select purchases, such as grocery this month. Don’t throw away all the mails sent by your credit card company. You may have missed many great opportunities. Also don’t forget to check out here if you are a Visa holder.

4.Check Coupon History

If you have visited our coupon page, you probably noticed that we have a section called “Recent Expired Coupons”. Click on the tab and review coupons expired in the past few months. Now you know how often the retailer will offer coupons, and how big the discount you should expect. Many retailers offer coupons only valid for a few days. If you found many coupons expired recently, then you should wait for the next coupon to come out.

5.Use Live Chat to Get Discount

Did you see a Live Chat button on the retailer’s website? If you do, click on it and ask if you could get a discount. Most of the cases, you will, but not for a big one. Still better than nothing, right?

6.Keep The Item In Your Cart for A Day or Two

If you don’t need the item right away, just add it to your cart and leave it for a day or two. Enter all your information except the credit card number. Within a day or two, you will probabaly received an email asking if you need any help to check out. Sometimes the retailer will just attach a coupon in the email to encourage you to check out. If no coupon, reply the email and ask for one.

Before the Internet era, in order to get something special, or something hard to find in the stores, the only way is to order via a catalog. Until now, it is still the number one choice for many people, especial for the older people. But is it still a good idea to do so today?

Are you paying higher prices on catalog mail orders?

Yes, you are

If you are ordering office supplies or computer accessories via catalog, you are most likely paying extra unnecessarily. I used to receive catalogs from Staples, Office Depot and Office Max. The prices listed on catalogs are same as those of in stores and on websites. But you don’t get the deals that offered in stores and coupons for online use only. Remember, these products have very thin profit margin. If companies have spent extra on catalog marketing, their prices are definitely higher than those don’t offer catalogs.

If you are ordering clothes via catalogs such as dELiA*s, Soft Surroundings, Woman Within, Jos. A. Bank, Alloy, Bealls Florida, or Blair, unfortunately, you are paying higher prices that you shouldn’t be. These retailers offer coupons, sometimes big discount coupons as higher as 40% off entire order, very often for you to use online. Browse these catalogs for fun. But when you decide to order, you’d better to place order online and try use some coupons.

If you like household items from Bellacor, Sure Fit, Terry’s Village, Lamps Plus, Miles Kimball, Fitz and Floyd, or BrylaneHome catalog, don’t just pick up the phone and place the orders from the catalog. Spend a few minutes to visit them online. It is possible you can find some promotions from their own websites. And you can easily find 10% or $10 off coupons for these retailers by searching at Google.

No, you are not

Some retailers hold one-price policy across all their marketing channels. Lego is one example. No matter you buy Legos from Toys R us, or from their chain stores, or from Lego.com, or from their catalogs, the prices are exact the same. They do not offer coupons at any time. Pillow Decor, Lakeside, Abc Distributing, LTD Commodities, Potpourri are this kind of retailers. You can order from their catalog, or from their website, all at the same prices. And they never offer coupons.

Some retailers offers coupons for their catalog orders as well as online orders. When you recieve the catalog, you should be able to find a coupon code hiding somewhere in the catalog. Just mention this code to the sales representative when ordering over the phone. Don’t use mail order, otherwise you won’t get the discount. Stauer is one of these retailers. Don’t knows how they manage to sell jewelry at such low prices, though.