Black Friday may get all the attention, but some of the best deals of the holiday season can be found online on Cyber Monday. Cyber Monday can feel a lot more complicated than standing in line at your favorite store on Black Friday and bargaining sales-flyers. You’ll have to contend with coupon codes, evaluate deals quickly before they sell, and keep an eye on your credit card security.
If you know what to do, you can tackle your shopping list like a professional. Here are Kim’s top tips for conquering the maze of Cyber Monday deals:
Get Reliable Discounts with Honey
You can spend hours searching the Internet for coupon codes, but it can be difficult to find reliable codes that will actually work when you’re trying to check out. It’s time to pour some honey on that problem. Honey is a browser extension that works with Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Opera. Add it to your browser, shop like normal, and let Honey do the job of finding and automatically applying the best coupon code available for your purchase.
Honey claims that it can find savings on millions of products sold through thousands of sites. Amazon shoppers will appreciate how Honey discovers the best deals and notifies you directly on the page when there are better offers. “If there’s a discount, Honey will get it!” Kim said.
Track Amazon price changes and receive deal alerts
With so many flash deals going on on Cyber Monday, it can be hard to know if you’re really getting a good price. “There is nothing more frustrating than buying an item and then watching the price drop the next day,” Kim said. That’s where CamelCamelCamel comes in.
CamelCamelCamel is a price-checking website that tracks millions of Amazon products. Copy the URL of an Amazon item or use search terms to find it. CamelCamelCamel will give you a price change history and tell you if it’s a smart buy at the current price. You can also sign up for alerts and get notified when something you’re watching falls below a certain price range. You’ll never have to second guess your Amazon bargains.
save with cash back
Everyone appreciates a little extra money. There are services that will refund you money on your online purchases, so Cyber Monday is the perfect time to get started with one of these. “Even if it’s enough to buy your coffee at the end of the day, it’s free money,” according to Kim, who recommends checking out Ebates.
Signing up for Ebates is free. You then make purchases at your general store using the Ebates site or app as a jumping-off place. Ebates receives a commission from online retailers and shares a portion of it with buyers who use the service. You get your cash back by check or via PayPal.
Support a charity with AmazonSmile
The holiday season is also about giving back and there’s no better time to do so than on Cyber Monday. AmazonSmile is just like regular Amazon, except that 0.5 percent of your eligible purchases turn into donations to your favorite charity. All you have to do is go to AmazonSmile to select your charity and then use that page as the starting point for your purchases. Look for the “Eligible for AmazonSmile donation” message in the product description.