Obviously shopping online can yield some nice deals, but it defeats the purpose if you have to pay an arm & a leg for shipping. One of the best tips I can give is to shop early. If you wait till the last minute, you’ll pay more for expedited delivery or next day. If you’re not in a hurry to get it, you can choose the slowest method and it should be cheaper. I found this great website called FreeShipping.org that helps you find deals and coupon codes for major online retailers. There are requirements for many of them so just read the details. Some places say you have to spend a minimum of $50, or that only certain items are eligible. Here is information on several retailers that I shop at so I can give you the low down!
Amazon 
If you do a lot of shopping with Amazon, you may want to consider purchasing Amazon Prime
- Unlimited Free 2-Day shipping
- Upgrade to 1-day shipping for $3.99
- No minimum order size
- Shared benefits with up to four family members living in the same household
- For your corporate account use, you can add up to 4 co-workers to your account
- Members are not limited to shipping eligible purchases exclusively to their home billing address.
Walmart – They have free Site to Store shipping, where you can order online and have it delivered to your local store. Then all you have to do is pick it up! It did this one year and it was fabulous. This is also a great option if you are traveling for the holidays. Order the item, ship to where you’re going and have a relative pick it up before you bring the kiddos for a visit! My favorite: Buy online and have hubby pick it up on the way home so the kids don’t see it! There are some items that are not eligible so be sure to check and read the exclusions.
Target – They have free shipping with a $50 minimum purchase on over 100,000 eligible items. Look for the “free shipping” listed in red with the item. You do not need to buy items priced over $50. Just pick items that have the free shipping logo and spend over $50 combined.
Toys R Us – Toys R Us offers something similar to Target. Spend $49 or more on eligible items and get shipping for free. These items are also labeled in red with “free shipping”.
You can try shopping through sites like Upromise.com where they offer deals and promotions for going through their site. Here is a screen shot from their “shopping” page where you can narrow your search.
You’ll then get an alphabetical list of stores where you can search for the best deal or store that you want. It will look something like this:
The percentage is the amount of your purchase that goes BACK into your Upromise account. Most of the time you’ll need to shop through the link on their site, to get the deal. Then they list the expiration date of this deal. You can learn more about Upromise on my previous post. I highly recommend signing up.
The great thing about shopping online is that you have quick and easy access to price comparisons. It maybe cheaper at one store, but another may offer free shipping. These are all things to consider. Go down your checklist of items before you buy:
- Does the item I’m buying qualify for free shipping? Does it meet the minimum purchase amount?
- Is there a promotion or coupon code that will get me free shipping? (Do a quick google search to find out)
- Does the online store have a Super Saver shipping club like Amazon? This is only worth it if you do a lot of shopping from that particular retailer.
- Can you have it shipped to your local store and pick it up there?
As always please research any offers and make sure you read the fine print. I hope this helps you save money while shopping online. Please leave a comment if you have any tips you’d like to pass along.
