7 Ways to Save on Cyber Monday Shopping

Know when and where to get the best bargains and shop with less stress using these tips.

©istockphoto.com/Jose carlos Cerdeno

If you’re among the 71 percent of consumers who are planning to shop online this holiday season, Cyber Monday is likely on your radar.

Last year, Cyber Monday attracted over 97 million shoppers and it raked in $10.7 billion in sales. Knowing more people than ever will be shopping over this one-day sales event as they look for ways to help stretch their dollars this holiday season, expect e-retailers to promote even more deals to drive traffic to their online storefronts. While more sales seem like it would help shoppers save, navigating the Cyber Monday madness will be overwhelming and confusing if you don’t have a plan.

Know when and where to snag the best bargains and shop with less stress using these  7 savvy shopping tips.

Protect your personal data.

Shopping safely is just as important to save your money as finding the best sales. In fact, a recent study found that 36 percent of U.S. consumers have fallen victim to online shopping scams during the holidays, losing $387 on average.

Keep your payment safe by using secure, password-protected networks. That means, no Cyber Monday purchases during your Starbucks coffee break using their free network! And, beware of cyber scams—never click on websites or emails you aren’t familiar with or with sites that have misspellings. If a deal looks too good to be true, it likely is so proceed with caution. Here is a list of the most common cyber scams and what to look for.

Do some homework.

Heading into any sales event without a plan can lead to unnecessary purchases so write out a list of items you want to buy. Ahead of Cyber Monday, do a little research to check prices before the deals go live so you know when you’re looking at a good discount. After all, retailers have been known to inflate original prices to make a sale look like a better value and this homework can help you spot those misleading offers.

Then, start bookmarking sites you want to shop and add items you’d like to buy to the cart so you can purchase quickly in the event the deal is limited in quantity or time. Creating an online shopping account with retailers you plan to shop with and saving payment and shipping details will also help you complete your transactions quickly.

Sign up and follow to save.

Subscribing to your favorite brand and store e-newsletters or text messages can help you stay on top of the latest offers, get exclusive coupons and even have early access to certain sales. You will likely also get a new subscriber coupon code which you can often add on top of any sales to save more.

Remember, you can always unsubscribe from emails and request to stop text messages after the sales event so you don’t continue getting bombarded with messages and tempting sales.

Prep your browser.

Hunting down the best bargains can be overwhelming on Cyber Monday given the sheer number of sales, but there are a few browser tools that will do the work for you.

For instance, PriceBlink will provide instant price comparison when you’re browsing items online and potentially show you a cheaper option from a site you wouldn’t have thought to check in the first place. There’s also CouponCabin’s Sidekick tool which will automatically search for and apply coupons and even cash back to your online cart. Finally, Amazon Assistant allows you to set sale alerts and track price drops.

Factor in shipping costs.

Free shipping is a popular promotion on Cyber Monday, but some retailers simply reduce the minimum order required to qualify for this perk. In the event your cart order is less than what you need to qualify for free delivery, compare how much more you’d need to spend against how much you’d get charged for shipping. In some cases, you may be able to find a similar deal from an online store that won’t charge shipping so expand your search and factor in all these costs.

Another way to dodge shipping fees is to buy from an online store that has a physical store location in your area and opt for curbside pick-up. Another benefit — if the item is in stock, you can likely pick it up the same day for that instant gratification and avoid potential delivery delays or fulfillment issues from warehouses.

Study up on return policies.

Although shopping online is easy and convenient, the return process can be a headache, so scrutinize return policies for online retailers you plan to shop with. Some of the best perks to look out for include free return shipping, or return-to-store options, to help you avoid any return shipping fees. In the event you’re planning to buy an electronic, give yourself plenty of time to think through that purchase as there will likely be a restocking fee tacked onto a return.

Pay attention to credit card offers.

Before checking out, consider which credit card will get you the best rewards for your online purchases. Some may give you bonus cash back for select stores during Cyber Monday or throughout the entire holiday season. For instance, the Bread Cashback American Express card gives you an unlimited 2% back at every store and every purchase in addition to select bonus offers this season such as $20 back in the form of a statement credit when you spend $100 on your enrolled card cumulatively from now through 12/31/2022 at UNTUCKit.

Just make sure you check all offers before you check out so you know which card to pay with to maximize reward earnings.

Andrea Woroch is a nationally-recognized consumer-savings expert, writer and frequent on-air contributor who is passionate about helping families find simple ways to spend less and save more. Andrea has appeared on popular shows like Today, Good Morning America and NBC Nightly News. Her advice and articles have been featured in New York Times, Time, Money, Forbes and Real Simple.

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