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1. Set a budget
It is important that you set a budget before going about doing your shopping. With a budget you get to roughly gauge the types of gifts you can afford. Budgeting also ensures your gift buying process does not disrupt your regular expenses.
2. Make a list, check it twice
Make a list of the people you are buying gifts for and set the corresponding budget to each of the names on the list. Start by throwing some numbers around and then adjust it accordingly so everything fits within your budget. If you end up spending less than the amount stated for a person on the list you can, chalk it up as savings or, if you’re feeling generous, transfer the remaining amount to another person.
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3. Do a price comparison
This is pretty basic stuff that applies both for online and offline shopping. There are various websites around that can aid you with price comparisons spanning a range of online retailers. All you need to do is just search for your products to pull up a list of retailers and their corresponding prices. A great example of such is priceme.com which has in its database a number of reputable merchants including Lazada. It is really useful if you are really looking to squeeze out every cent of savings you can get more so when discounts are all over the place during the festive season.
4. Know your audience
It pays to know who you’re gifting to. You wouldn’t want to end up buying something expensive only to find out they’d be more content receiving a much more simpler and cheaper gift. Find out what their interests are. Do some cyber-stalking on their social media channels to look for clues and hints as to their wants and needs.
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5. Research on your products
Sometimes the latest and best is not necessarily the best gift to give. This goes especially for electronics and computer products. Do a research on the specs and see if the product is what you had in mind or are you just paying for a lot of unnecessary fluff. Is touchscreen capability really necessary when you know that person would just use the laptop for gaming purposes? Are there better substitutes value-function wise?
6. Shipping costs
Shipping can sometimes make or break your shopping experience. Some retailers provide free shipping services based on certain terms and conditions. This is usually to your benefit. On the flipside, sometimes the shipping costs negate any sort of savings you get from discounts and promotions. This is when you should check if there is any other way around it such as using forwarding agents or consolidating your orders with a friend to share on shipping costs.
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7. Scour the cyberspace for coupon codes
Coupon codes are the rockstars of the online shopping world. Everyone loves them and there is little to no downside to using them. The more reliable ones can be found on the merchant’s official channels such as their website and their social media pages. Affiliates of the merchants such as cashback provider ShopBack also serves as a good and regular source of coupon codes. Failing that, a quick entry on the search engine will usually yield results too.
8. Make full use of your Credit Cards
Since you are already looking to do some online shopping, chances are you that have a credit card on hand. Credit card subscription usually comes with a whole host of perks and exclusive promotions for a range of things from dining, travel services and of course shopping. There are usually also loyalty points you can rack up for free gifts or voucher. No one needs to know how you got the gifts just as long as you got the gift!
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9. Cashback
There are more than one way to save. One of the most sure-fire way to notch some quality savings is through cashback providers such as ShopBack. They let you earn cash rebates based on your final purchase amount and it usually bypasses most terms and conditions on the discounts from promotions and coupon codes. Thus you can double your savings by stacking your cashback on top of those discounts. ShopBack also regularly participate in various festive shopping events too such as the upcoming 12.12 sale which means increased cashback for you!
10. Don’t wait till the last minute!
You do not have to wait till the holidays are just around the corner to start your shopping. Get your list done up early and look out for various online shopping events that happens throughout the year. You can get your list up as early as August and shop during Cashback Day on 9th of September where merchants and sites like ShopBack dish out great deals and increased cashback respectively.
11. Make full use of online shopping events
For some, the approaching festive season means the inescapable dredge of festive shopping. Online retailers are aware of that fact and they will do whatever they can to boost their figures during this highly lucrative period. They know that online shopping is very convenient seeing as how you get to shop in the comforts of your own home and away from the crowd. This is when a flurry of shopping events commences such as the recently concluded Single’s Day by Taobao (11th Nov). An upcoming event you should look out for is the 12.12 Sale where a number of popular retailers such as Lazada and Zalora are participating in. You can expect mouth-watering deals all around!
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12. When all else fails just give them cash or a gift card will do
Some people are much happier when presented with cash or a gift card like Sodexo gift certificate. This is a generally a win-win situation in such cases where the recipient get the freedom to do or buy whatever they want with the money or gift card and the gifter need not wreck their brain trying to figure out the best gift. With this option you get to really control the amount you spend on that person regardless of price fluctuations.
P.S To those doing the 52 Week Money Challenge, did you deposit the next amount yet?
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P.P.P.S I am also sharing my stock market secrets and information via these resources.