Getting the Best Deals Online

Getting the Best Deals Online
DJ Miller
11/29/2014
Updated:
4/23/2016

There are a few reasons why people shop online, including the fact that it can be easier, cheaper and quicker. However, it’s not better to shop online if you don’t know how to get the cheapest and best deals. When you’re shopping local to you, there are only so many different places that you can go in, so a lot of the time there is no competition. While this can make things much simpler, it also means that you can’t always get the best deal. However, when shopping online, you have access to potentially hundreds of different stores which stock the products you need, making it much easier to compare prices and find the best deals.

 

  1. Be open-minded

If you’re used to using a particular brand or shopping from a particular website, such as the DaVinci Vaporizer, you might find that it’s cheaper and better if you try something different. If it’s not too costly, try another brand or website and see what you think. You might end up liking it even more than the previous or you may decide that it’s just as good even though it has a smaller price tag. If you hear from any of your friends that they get the same products cheaper, ask to see/try the products and then look up the website to see if it’s possible for you to get the same deal.

 

  1. Use price comparison websites

For flights and other products and services, there are price comparison websites specifically created in order to help people find the cheapest prices and best deals online. If, for example, you are looking for a flight, don’t bother going to the travel agents, since all they will do is book the flight online for you and charge a commission for the privilege of having booked your flight through them. Price comparison websites are very useful and provide a quick way of comparing many different brands and websites on the internet, although watch out since not all websites will be included.

 

  1. Plan ahead

If you know you need to buy a new laptop or other device at the end of the year, don’t leave it until the day before when you’re far too busy to start researching where all the cheapest prices and the best deals are. Start planning ahead and spend a little bit of time looking up different products and speaking to people who might be more knowledgeable than you about certain products. By doing it this way, you won’t get stressed out when the time comes closer, and you will also feel like you’ve not really done as much work and planning as you actually have! It’s a great feeling knowing that you’ve got a great deal and you couldn’t possibly have gotten a better one.

 

  1. Ask around

Don’t be afraid to ask around in order to get the best deal. This could include emailing different companies, making phone calls to various businesses you’ve seen advertising online, or simply asking your friends if there are any good companies and websites which they could recommend. Most friends and family members are only too happy to help you, since they'll feel great if you take their advice and you end up getting a great deal! Use Facebook, Twitter and any other social networking platforms which you’re signed up to in order to get as much information as you can. Even if you don’t find that their information can be used exactly, you can take from it what you find useful and find a better deal.

 

  1. Don’t get too carried away

It’s important not to get too carried away when shopping online, since some deals can appear to be fabulous and you end up spending more money than you would have done if you'd just done your shopping the usual way! For example, you might get $100 off a purchase of $1000 or more, so you end up buying a much more expensive computer rather than just buying the $600 product that you wanted in the first place. You’ve then spent $900 instead of $600 and have actually spent more money than you intended to! This is one of the dangers of shopping online, but as long as you can remain disciplined and know how much you can afford, you shouldn’t have any problem finding the best online deals.

DJ Miller is a graduate student at the University of Tampa. He's an avid gadget geek and spends most of his time reading or writing. He is a huge fantasy sports fan and even runs his own advice site for Fantasy Help.