LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — During this cold weather, maybe you're shopping around for a warm sweater or new coat. Buying new clothes can be expensive, but you don't have to pay full price. 13 Consumer Advocate Tricia Kean looks at the best insider tricks to saving money every time you shop.
"I look for the sales," says shopper Bernadette Hill of Henderson.
Everyone wants a good deal. There's nothing worse than buying something, only to find it on sale a couple days later.
"It irritates me because I could've waited or went to another place to find it," says Bernadette.
She admits, there are times she just can't wait for a bargain.
"Sometimes if it's not even on sale and it's something I really like, then I just go ahead and get it," says Bernadette.
Well it turns out, there's some steps you can take to guarantee yourself some savings. For example: before you even start shopping, buy a gift card. There are secondhand sites that sell gift cards, usually for around 10 to 15 percent lower than face value.
"So a $100 gift card to let's say Walmart that you can use for groceries, I'll get for $85," says super shopper Channelle Beller.
She suggests sites like Gift Card Granny and Cardpool. We took a quick glance and found a deal like a $50 Old Navy card for just $42, a 15 percent savings.
Another great tool are personal shopping sites. Shop It To Me and ShopStyle allow you to select your favorite stores. Then they email you, when there's a sale at those stores. But that's not all.
"I was really excited to learn about Paribus," says Channelle.
This automated service scans your email inbox for receipts from online purchases. If Paribus finds a sale price for an item you bought, it automatically requests a price-adjustment. Another great way to save, is to buy direct.
"Anytime you cut out the middleman, we all know you save money... Going direct you save a tremendous amount of money," says Channelle.
Companies like Project Gravitas and Everlane sell their clothing directly to you online. By cutting out the brick and mortar location, the manufacturer passes the savings on to you.
Finally, to save money try holding off on a purchase. Best Life magazine reports: 7 in 10 online purchases are never completed. Shoppers get distracted or change their minds. To encourage that purchase, many stores will send follow up emails, offering you a discount code.
"I'm in marketing. I know exactly what they're doing. They're following you online to see what you're doing," says Channelle.
So if you find something you like online, sometimes it pays to wait a few days before clicking the checkout button.
No matter where you shop, always remember to subscribe. Signing up for emails to your favorite stores gets you subscriber-only promo codes to use online or in the store.
