Why I love online shopping
In these troubled times, more and more of us are turning to the world wide web to help ease the strain on our weary wallets.
According to a recent report by the online payment service PayPal, UK consumers are set to more than double their online spending to £23.3 billion by the end of 2011.
It seems shoppers have started to realise that hiking up and down the high street may not be the best way to bag a bargain.
In this article, I - a self confessed shopaholic – will explain how you can make, super savings at the click of a mouse.
The ultimate shopping experience
If you lead a busy life, it's likely the last thing you want to do in your free time is face the sweaty onslaught of heaving high street shops. Personally, I much prefer to lounge around in my pyjamas and shop from the comfort of my own home!
If you're looking to buy something new, why not make yourself comfortable and ensure you have your computer (and a cup of tea!) at the ready? Then follow these four simple steps for successful online shopping to see how much you could save.
Step 1: Plan your purchases
When you decide to shop online, you'll automatically save valuable time that would otherwise be spent on travelling and in queues. So, you can afford to spend a little longer planning your purchases and shopping around for the best deals.
Write a list of what you want to buy before you start surfing and stick to it. Not only will this make your online shopping experience more efficient, it should help you resist the temptation to impulse buy.
Remember: it can be easy to lose track of how much you're spending when you only have to click on something a few times to buy it!
If you are planning to make an expensive purchase online, a 0% purchases card could help spread the cost over a longer period of time – and won't charge you a penny in interest for the privilege, provided you pay off your balance before the interest free offer ends.
At 12 months, the Tesco Clubcard Credit Card currently offers the longest 0% purchases deal on the market.
Step 2: Use a shopbot
A shopbot is a website designed to save you time and money by tracking down the cheapest prices on the items you want, completely free of charge.
This means that, instead of trawling up and down the high street to compare deals, you just enter the item you're looking for into a search engine. The shopbot you're using will then pull up a list of retailers that provide the product in lowest-price order (usually inclusive of delivery charges.)
To help ensure you get the best possible deal, it's a good idea to run a couple of searches with different shopbots; no single site can pick up every deal and discount in cyber space.
BeatThatQuote.com offers a cost comparison service on a wide variety of items, ranging from cosmetics and clothing to home appliances.
Elsewhere, my favourite shop bots for hunting down fantastic deals are the Find websites: Find-book.co.uk, Find-games.co.uk, Find-dvd.co.uk and Find-cd.co.uk.
Step 3: Grab a discount
Before buying anything, always search for discount vouchers or codes that could bring the price of your shopping down further.
Websites such as Hotukdeals.com and Myvouchercodes.co.uk offer thousands of money off vouchers that you can use at a wide variety of retailers.
Step 4: Claw cashback
If you're a smart online shopper, you could cut the cost of your goods further by buying them through a cashback website.
For example, if you shop at Game through the website Topcashback.co.uk you could earn up to 9% cashback.
This money is generated from the commission the retailer pays the cashback site each time you click through to their store. The website then kindly returns this cash to you.
If you then use a clever cashback credit card to pay for your purchases, you could earn even more money back.
Right now, the market leading American Express Platinum Cashback Credit Card offers 5% cashback on spending of up to £2,000 during the first three months.
Extra protection
I used to be seriously suspicious about the safety of online shopping. I worried my goods would turn up faulty or get lost in the post, and that I wouldn't get my money back if this happened.
However, not only do you have the same rights as a high street shopper when you buy online; you actually have extra protection under the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000.
When you buy something online, you usually get a ‘cooling off' period of seven days. This means that if you buy something and decide you don't want it for any reason, you can get your money back – no questions asked. However, there are a few exclusions so always double check before you buy.
You must also be given clear information about the goods you buy online, and if they are not delivered within thirty days you are entitled to a full refund.
If you use a credit card to pay for purchases costing between £100 and £30,000, you will also receive protection under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. This means that if your goods are not delivered, or aren't as described, you can claim a refund from your card provider.
Remember, always be careful when using websites you've never heard of before. Look for the security padlock at the bottom of the screen and check who owns the site and its geographical location (which, as a matter of law, must be displayed somewhere on the website).
For more information about how the wonders of the web could help you make the most of your money, check out the second article in my two part series: ‘Why I love online finance'. It's coming soon!
**This material is for information purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. We strongly encourage our readers not to rely solely on this content, but to seek independent advice when making financial decisions.**
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