Using Coupon Codes for Online Savings
Whether you're new to online shopping or have been buying on the Internet for years, it's never too late to learn how to make your low prices even lower. If you get catalogs through the mail, you've probably seen ads on the cover saying things like, "50% off your highest priced item!" or "Get this free tote bag with any purchase!" or "Free shipping with orders over $50!" Most stores are always running some type of promotion to either discount prices or offer freebies with an order. For brick-and-mortar stores in the real world, promotions usually come in the form of paper coupons you can cut out of an ad and take to the store.
However, if you do your shopping online and don't get an ad or catalog from the store you're shopping at, you may not have access to a coupon you can cut out and mail in with your order. But you may have access to something even better - a coupon code. Coupon codes for online shopping are easy to use, and very easy to find. During the checkout process, there is usually a field somewhere in the shopping cart area where you can enter a coupon code to get a special offer. If you don't happen to have a coupon code, never fear - and never, ever click "Check Out" until you have looked for a code.
The easiest way to find a coupon code for the store you're ordering from is simply to do an Internet search. Using Google or your favorite search engine, type "coupon code" into the "exact phrase" search line, and type the name of the store you're shopping in the general search term field. The list of results may surprise you, because you'll find dozens of sites listing coupon codes that may or may not work. Search through the hits, find the promotional offer that is most attractive to you, and try applying the code. Most order sites have an "Apply Code" button that will factor your code into the total price and update your shopping cart accordingly. If the coupon code has expired or doesn't work for some reason, you can go back to the list of codes you found and try a different one. You may have to try several different codes before you find one that will work, but there is almost always a code out there that will give you a better deal than you'd get without a coupon code.
There are several official coupon code sites that even include reviews from other shoppers, who rate the codes according to how successful they were in getting the codes to work. One of the most popular coupon code sites is RetailMeNot, a service that helps people find and share online coupon codes for more than 65,000 stores. Users can add to the site coupons they have discovered on their own, including a description of the offer and an expiration date, if known. They can also scan in printed coupons and upload them, and site visitors can vote on coupon codes by giving them either a thumbs up or a thumbs down rating. After a code receives a certain number of negative votes, the coupon will be taken down from the site. RetailMeNot also contains articles and data reports about consumer shopping trends and various topics such as holiday shopping tips, preparing for prom on a budget, tips for saving money on your wedding, and tips for saving money on back to school preparations.
Another site, CouponCode, offers online discounts from more than 1,000 online stores. The site is updated often to add the latest and greatest coupon codes. Offers are listed according to store categories such as Apparel, Books, Cameras, Electronics, Health & Beauty, Shoes & Accessories, Video Games, etc. Offers are also grouped according to popular stores, such as Nike, Adobe, Best Buy, Macy's, Target, Lillian Vernon, and Walgreens, among many others.
A rapidly up and coming popular coupon code site that is relatively new to the US is CouponCodes4u. The site was launched in 2008, and is now the 14th largest website for coupon codes in the US. The site is run by Markco media Ltd., a media company in the United Kingdom. The site contains a list of indexed stores, as well as featured listings of coupons and discounts. There are currently more than 13,000 stores contained in the listings, and thousands of coupons. Although the site was launched in 2008 as a place for consumers to visit to locate online discounts and coupons, it also includes articles discussing the importance of coupons in business, and how consumers can use coupons to their best advantage.
Now that you know about coupon codes, why are you still reading this article? Go out there and get busy doing some online shopping, then go find a coupon code to make the sweet deals you find even sweeter!
