The digital age is an awesome time to be a shopper.
If you use tools available through websites, credit cards and gift cards, you can score at least 10% off most purchases. And as a bonus, you don’t have to wait for sales or search for coupons.
Following are five simple steps that can help you save on anything you need to buy. Learn these tips, and you will not go back to paying full price — or waiting for a sale.
Step 1: Find a discounted gift card
Iryna Tiumentseva / Shutterstock.com
The first step to savings is to buy a gift card — but not just any old gift card. Instead, you want to head to a website specializing in reselling gift cards at a discounted rate.
Raise.com is one of the biggest sites in the gift card reselling business.
Sites like Raise let individuals with unwanted gift cards unload them by selling the cards to others at a discount. While the sites advertise discounts of as much as 35%, you’re typically going to save less than 10% with most cards. Still, that’s a great deal.
You can learn more about discounted cards in our article “How Unwanted Gift Cards Save Me Hundreds of Dollars a Year.”
Step 2: Buy through a rebate site
one photo / Shutterstock.com
If you’re buying online, make your purchase through a rebate or “cash-back” site. These sites often offer an additional 3% or 4% off your purchase. You’ll pay the full amount when you buy, but receive the discount back in the form of a rebate.
These are some of the most popular rebate sites:
Getting started with a cash-back site is simple. You sign up, then visit the site before shopping online.
For example, say you want to shop online at Kohl’s. Instead of going directly to Kohls.com, start at a cash-back site, click on a link to the Kohl’s page, then begin shopping. When you buy something, you’ll earn money from the cash-back site.
There’s no catch. Cash-back sites simply are sharing with you the commission they get from participating stores when you make a purchase.
Before shopping, check out the store availability and terms at the rebate sites. Some sites send checks automatically every few months, while others require you to request a payment once you hit a minimum amount in your account. Participating retailers and rebate amounts vary among sites.
For more on using this great shopping technique, check out “3 Websites That Pay You for Shopping.”
Step 3: Use a cash-back credit card
pathdoc / Shutterstock.com
Another way to take a slice out of your costs is to use a great cash-back or rewards credit card.
Looking for a great cash-back card? Check out the “cash back” category in our Solutions Center’s credit cards section.
Depending on the card and what you’re buying, you will generally save anywhere from 1% to 5% on your purchase — and sometimes more. As with rebate sites, you’ll pay the full price at purchase but receive the cash back as a rebate or statement credit.
Of course, using a credit card comes with the caveat that you must pay off your balance when the bill arrives. Paying interest on a credit card is a surefire way to negate your savings.
Step 4: Abandon your shopping cart
Duangnapa Kanchanasakun / Shutterstock.com
Online retailers track your every move. It’s undoubtedly distressing to them when you load up with a cartload of stuff, only to close the tab on your browser and move along. That’s why you might find a coupon code landing in your mailbox a day or two after you leave your cart.
To get this trick to work, you need to be logged in to your account so the retailer knows who abandoned the cart. Then, put your items in the cart and leave the site. The list of retailers who offer codes to those with abandoned carts is fluid, but Rather-Be-Shopping.com lists a bunch that have been known to dole out the discounts.
Step 5: Sign up for the mailing list
Who is Danny / Shutterstock.com
Some retailers issue one-time use codes. To get these, you need to be on the VIP list, aka the mailing list. Sign up to receive newsletters from your favorite stores so you can get discount codes and sales announcements delivered straight to your inbox.
Just be sure to use a secondary email address so these messages don’t overwhelm your primary account.
Do you have other ideas for saving money on your online purchases? Share them in comments below or on our Facebook page.
Stacy Johnson contributed to this post.
Disclosure: The information you read here is always objective. However, we sometimes receive compensation when you click links within our stories.