It’s that time of year again — when the die-hard, money-saving mommas such as myself start strategizing our Black Friday shopping. I love sorting through Black Friday ads, cross-referencing Christmas lists with sale items and making spreadsheets and budgets. I enjoy downloading maps of my local stores so I know exactly where the deals will be and at what time.
There’s just one problem. Black Friday has become the ugly cousin of the shopping holidays. Once heralded as THE day for ALL the deals, now it is almost a dirty word. So how are we to cope with the ugly stigma of Black Friday, when we still want to shop? Luckily, many retailers have figured out that we still want to shop, but we just want to do it in our pajamas from the comfort of our iPads and laptops.
Retailers have listened to their consumers and now, more than ever, you can get a fantastic deal online that is the same or even better than shopping at a traditional brick and mortar store. Many of the major shopping outlets are slated to release their Black Friday ads in the next few days, but there’s no need to wait for those deals to save money — you can start saving NOW!
Here are a few of the best online shopping websites that you can use while you shop now, on Black Friday and beyond!
The Honey extension working its magic!
Honey I love Honey and use it all the time. Honey is a browser extension that you activate in order to search any available coupon codes for a participating website. Click the Honey button during checkout and it will work its magic — automatically applying any valid coupon codes to your shopping cart. You can also click the Honey button on a supported online store and instantly see all the coupons and sales available for that store. (Because honestly, who can remember if the code you received for $10 off the latest Groupon was “10OFF4U” or if it was “tenoff4you”? Honey takes care of that so you don’t have to!) Great for shopping destinations such as Shutterfly, Groupon, Target, Carters, Macy’s and more.
Ebates: Ebates.com pays members cash back every time they shop online as well as provide them with the best coupons and deals online. By far the easiest (and one of the oldest) ways to earn online cash, it was founded in 1998 and has paid over $325 million in cash to its members. Now you can even link a credit card to your Ebates account and earn cash back on items you purchase in stores by shopping through Ebates.com. Great for sites such as Best Buy, Travelocity, Kohl’s, Toys “R” Us.
Wikibuy: Wikibuy is a buying engine that finds lower prices at other sellers while you shop Amazon.com. Simply navigate to any product page on Amazon, and Wikibuy will start working automatically, checking other sellers to see where else your product is sold and displaying results with accurate prices including tax, shipping and any coupons that apply. When you use with Wikibuy, every purchase comes with their 100% money back guarantee.
Paribus: Stores change their prices all the time (frustrating, right?), and Paribus gets you money when prices drop. It’s that simple. You can think of Paribus as your personal price adjustment agent — getting you money back when your online purchases drop in price. We’re talking after you bought them! There are hundreds of thousands of dollars every month of unclaimed cash that consumers leave in unfiled price drops. Their algorithms work by first identifying recent purchases from the last 90 days based on shipping and order confirmation emails found in your mailbox. Paribus then continuously monitors and compares price changes for these items in real time. Once an eligible claim is detected, Paribus engages with the retailer or credit card company on your behalf and files a claim requesting a refund. Signup is completely free because they make money when you make money. When Paribus succeeds in getting your money back, they get paid 25% of what they earn for you. Great for websites such as Amazon, Target, Office Depot and Zappos.
Jessica Morgan @jesinjax 