When you’re shopping
online, prices on everything from toilet paper to TVs could fluctuate several
times a day. Dynamic pricing, a strategy that the travel industry has been
using for years, is now being used online for many consumer goods. While
dynamic pricing makes online shopping more complicated, there’s a silver
lining: By following a few simple steps, it’s easy to land rock-bottom prices.
Use
price-tracking apps - An app like Price
Tracker, available for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, can help you stay on
top of Amazon.com price changes. The Price Tracker Platinum app for Android
provides price tracking for Amazon.com, Walmart, Target, and eBay. The Decide
app, available for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, also monitors prices and
determines whether now is the right time to buy a particular product.
Use
price-tracking sites - Check out
CamelCamelCamel.com to receive Amazon.com price drop alerts, price history
charts, and price watches. Also follow CamelCamelCamel on Twitter to stay
informed of additional sales and promotions. Decide.com is another useful site
that tracks products.
Comparison
shop - It’s easy to compare prices by visiting
multiple sites. But to save time, there are a variety of price-comparing sites
to help find the lowest prices. Consider PriceGrabber.com, Pricewatch.com, and
Shopping.com.
If
you see a product’s price drop after a purchase, take a screenshot - If you
purchase an item online and later find a lower price for the same item from the
same retailer, take a screenshot of the price. While there are no guarantees,
if you email the screenshot to the retailer, you might be able to get a refund
for the difference.
Clear
your cookies before shopping - Sometimes retailers
lure new online shoppers in with lower prices. Trick a retailer into thinking
you’re a new shopper by clearing your cookies before your next visit. Websites
use cookies to track your visits, spending habits, and past purchases – and
sites can offer you higher or lower prices based on them.
Try
the abandoned cart strategy - In A Sneaky Way to Get
Discounts Online, you fill up your shopping cart on a retailer’s site but don’t
buy anything, Here’s how it works: Shop the site and add anything you want to your cart. Proceed to
check out and fill out enough of the form to enter in your email address. But
don’t complete the sale. Wait a day or two and see if you get a special deal or
discount in your email inbox.
Check
your site’s settings - According to a KABC-TV
article, if you’re shopping for products on Dell’s website, there’s a way to
save hundreds of dollars at checkout. It begins by choosing the correct setting
up top.
Check
all options on a retailer’s site - On Amazon.com, be sure
to scroll down to see similar products at cheaper prices; the featured or
sponsored products up top can cost more. This applies to other sites as well,
like Etsy.com. Some sites list product search results by price.
Search
for promotional codes - In addition to finding
the lowest available price online, there are usually additional coupon codes to
consider. Simply enter a search for [product name] + “coupon code” in your
favorite search engine. Check out RetailMeNot.com, CouponCodes.com and
Coupons.com.
Look for shipping
discounts - Never pay full price on shipping unless you
absolutely have to. You might come across free or discounted shipping offers
during your search for coupon codes. Also check out FreeShipping.org for
additional deals. (Adopted From http://www.moneytalksnews.com)
