Save Money When You Buy Online

Last couple of years there has been a surge in buying products online and with more power in Technology sector, this trend will only increase in coming years.

We all love to buy online. It adds more to our happiness when we see discounts on our favorite products and save few bucks (kind of a "high five" moment, isn't it ?).

Do you know there are few money saving hacks that one can apply to buy products at much cheaper price. if you are a frequent online shopper, you can make a killing by applying these hacks.

I've see people buy online now and then. It has become a modern day religion to buy stuff online.

Imagine how helpful it will be for parents who end up paying lot on baby products in first few years of infancy. I know the hole diapers, powders and other baby products can make in parent's wallet.

So here are few tricks that you can use to save money while buying products online.

1. Use Price drop alerts through Cheapass:

You can set instant price alerts here if you are panning to buy products online. Mention the URL of the product (taken from ecommerce website) you want to buy and set it up against your email address. You will receive a signup email with details of the product you have set the alert.

Everytime there's a price drop, Cheapass will trigger an alert in your inbox. Open the email and check the product price. if you think this is within your buying range, click on the product and buy the product from respective store.

I use the same cheapass alerts to buy Pampers Newborn to Small, Pampers Active baby and other baby products online.

You can use these alerts for any product which you think has tendency to undergo price reduction.

Tip: Always check the discount you are getting for the alerted product. for eg: Incase of pampers, you will see the discount how much you are getting. for eg: if you have bought pampers newborn to small (46 pack) few days back for 420 and today you are getting it for 407, site will show the discount percentage being offered. Make sure the discount is somewhere between 20-25%. Consider that a fair deal to buy the product. Similarly you can set your own discount margin.

Refer below screenshot.

Just imagine how much money you could save in long run by using these price drop alerts. 

2. Signup on CouponDunia:

If you are planning to buy diapers or any other product online, it's better to visit CouponDunia website first and then gets redirected from there to specific ecommerce website (store).

Signup on CouponDunia and search store wise. Look up for product or product category of your interest.
for eg: if you are planning to buy diapers from Amazon, mouse hover on "Top Stores" in Main navigation bar on CouponDunia website and click on "Amazon". Use (CNTRL+F) to search for "diaper" on the page and once found click on either "Activate Deal" or "Get Code". System will automatically redirect you to Amazon sire wherein you will see all the diapers listed. Select the product you intend to buy, add it to cart and buy the product.

Every purchase done through Coupondunia will fetch you cashback.

You can recharge your mobile using the same cashback or transfer it in your bank account. You can also refer CouponDunia to your friends and earn money.

So next time you plan to purchase any product online, visit CouponDunia first and then gets redirected from there to the respective store.

3. Use Payback points:

You must have seen BigBazaar, ICICI Bank promoting Payback at their outlets / sites, asking customers to signup for free. Next time you come across something like this, signup for it, it's free.

Why you should signup:

First of all, it's free.

If you are an ICICI Bank customer and you have a payback card linked to your bank, every transaction done using your ATM debit card, will fetch you payback points. Now the points credited may not be too high in number but if one keep accumulating them for long duration, you can earn a lot. And thus, you can use the same points to buy products online from various stores. So one must signup for payback.

I generally use my payback points to do shopping on Firstcry.com

Here's a screenshot of payback points i earned (circled in green) using my icici bank's ATM card in last 1.5 years.

I was able to buy 13 boxes of Similac Infant Formula Stage 1 - 400 gm on firstcry without even paying a single rupee from my pocket. Isn't that AWESOME !!!

So next time you do any transaction using your ICICI bank ATM card, make sure your account is linked with an active payback card / account.

You can also mention your payback number or phone number everytime you purchase anything from firstcry. You not only earn points for online transaction using your ICICI bank's netbanking or debit card but also earn payback points for buying the product from firstcry.com, so it's double the bonanza.

4. Dont buy products offline.

If you are getting the product online with hefty discounts and paybacks and cash rewards, dont make efforts buying it offline.

Parents especially, if you ask for Pampers Newborn to small (46 pack) diapers in any chemist store, they will sell it for atleast 450+ to save on their margin. Same product you get online on Amazon at 417 or 407. I have thrice purchased it on Amazon at Rs. 382.

So there's no point of buying products offline.

Also, online saving saves time. Busy parents dont have to go out of the house and can spend more time with kids if they purchase things online.

5. Use Paytm / Mobikwik wallets:

This is my favorite. Use wallets. These wallets generally keep coming up with different offers now and then. Make full use of these offers. for eg: Firstcry has tied up with Paytm & mobikwik that if you transact on their sites using their wallets, the wallet companies will give you money back for the transaction done.

I recently bought formula feed from firstcry using my Mobikwik wallet. I immediately received 150 rupees cashback which i can use it in my next purchase.

You can use these wallets while buying stuff from Bigbasket as well.

You can install the following wallets on your mobile and make full use of them:
Payzapp
Mobikwik
Paytm
Payu
Pockets

6. Subscribe to Store Alerts / Newsletters

One can subscribe to email alerts / newsletters from different stores. Amazon, Firstcry keeps sending emails about various promo codes running every day / week on their site. Using those codes, one can avail great discounts.

7. Install HONEY Chrome Extension

This is a must for all those who generally do online shopping from their desktops instead of mobile. 

Install HONEY chrome extension in your chrome browser and next time you plan to buy any product online and are on Checkout page, click on "Honey" extension in chrome browser, it will search for the best code that can be applied on your cart to make some savings.

I have regularly been applying HONEY recommended codes to save few bucks on babyoye and firstcry sites.

8. Checkout Lightning deals from Amazon

Amazon keeps coming with lightning deals where the product is available only for few minutes at discounted price. Make full use of this opportunity.

I generally buy under Lightning deals in mornings at around 7 IST to get the cheapest products.

9. Buy during Big Billion / Big Bonanza sale

Stores like Amazon / Flipkart keeps coming with big billion / bonanza sale wherein products are available at dead cheap price. Make full use of these. Prepare a list of items to buy and once the sale is ON, make a killing.

These are my money saving hacks which i regularly use to save few bucks. I hope you enjoyed the post.

I would like to know what are your thoughts and views about these and if missed anything. Would love to see more hacks to saving my money while online shopping. 

Take Care

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