Hi there! I hope everyone had nice holiday weekends. This morning on TODAY, I chatted with Natalie Morales on today’s Cyber Monday deals, and how to maximize your online savings. Except these tips aren’t just limited to today — they’ll be good for “Cyber Week,” and even the rest of your holiday shopping this month! If you missed this morning’s segment, check out the clip and the tips listed below:
Hunt For Coupons – Check couponing sites before you go to specific sites for extra savings – like retailmenot.com and coupons.com. If you don’t find what you’re looking for, Google the name of the retailer you want to shop at, and the word “coupon.” Also, go to the Twitter feeds and Facebook pages for the stores to see if they’ve alerted followers to any new deals – you can also “like” or “follow” them and add them to your feeds. You can always take them off later.
Research The Price Of Your Gift – It’s strongly recommended that consumers don’t go into online shopping blind. The savvy shoppers are the ones who are prepared, and have armed themselves with the knowledge of the current prices of the gifts they want at sites like PriceGrabber.com. Once you have that information, you can go to sites like CyberMonday.com to compare your needs with what’s being offered. And the Black Friday advertisements can serve as benchmarks for Cyber Week shopping.
Pay With The Right Credit Card – There’s a very good chance that some of your credit cards offer free benefits. You don’t have to be pressured into buying a service contract when you can get up to an extra year of warranty coverage free when you use that gold or platinum credit card in your wallet. Shoppers should ask their credit card companies what kind of coverage they’ll get. Also, some credit cards offer a return protection guarantee where they refund the purchase price within 90 days (if the store won’t). Another possibility is a sale price guarantee where they give you back the difference if an item goes on sale within 60 days of purchase.
Avoid Shipping Fees – You really should not have to pay for shipping today, or this week for that matter, so keep your eyes on the sites for free shipping codes. Also, instead of mailing it yourself, you can send your gifts directly to the recipients and save money by only shipping the present once. And if you’re traveling, you’re likely to save on expensive baggage fees by not having to pack them in your luggage.
Be Aware Of Added Costs – It’s pretty well-known, but bears repeating now: Sometimes shipping, handling and taxes can double the cost of a gift. Sometimes sites won’t disclose those extra costs until after you’ve put them in your cart. So before you click “buy,” pay close attention to the final cost and compare it to deals at other sites.
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