tips for shopping

Whether you’re new to online shopping or a seasoned veteran, you know that shipping charges can sometimes be outrageous. With the price of postage seemingly going up all the time these days, you really can’t blame stores for charging realistic shipping.

However, as a savvy shopper you can do a few things though to make sure you’re not being over-charged on shipping. For one thing, you can look for stores that charge flat rates for shipping. For instance, Overstock.com charges a flat rate $2.95 to ship your entire order. Once in a while, they offer $1 shipping. You can get a new bed shipped for the same price as a pair of sandals. You gotta love that! Try getting your local furniture store to bring you a mattress set for $2.95! They’ll laugh you out of there!

Amazon.com will ship most things for free when you spend just $25. They also have something called “Amazon Prime” that you can join and get everything shipped 2 - Day service! Yes, you have to pay for that though.

Another site that offers flat rate shipping is The Children’s Place. They’ll ship your entire order for a flat $5. Sometimes they even offer a coupon to give you a really great deal!

Many sites also offer coupon codes for free shipping on a minimum purchase. If you search online for a code, it often makes more sense to spend $30 and get free shipping than to spend $25 and pay $7 to ship. I’d rather have $5 more merchandise than spend it in shipping!

If you do your homework when shopping online, you’ll spend less on shipping and get more for your money. You don’t have to pay outrageous shipping charges if you know where to look!

Pick your online orders and shop.

Several online shops now have the choice to pick up your online orders at the shop. When you're shopping, search for something that says"boat to store" and you'll be able to save money on shipping fees.

Stores like JC Penney offer reduced shipping charges if you pick up at your local shops, but others, such as Linens'N Things, Sears, and Best Buy provide free delivery on many items if you purchase online and pickup in the shop! Even Wal-Mart now offers in-store pickup in select locations. You'll need to check their site for availability.

Some stores like Sears and Circuit City have a time warranty for when your purchase will be accessible. Sears will provide you a $5 voucher in case your order isn't ready when they say it is going to be!

This is just one more way you can save a few dollars and plenty of time by shopping online. You save time by not needing to navigate in the shop and lug around heavy products. Another bonus for using in-store pickup is that you are normally able to use online coupons to your orders. You end up saving money and time.

Zappos, what is it?

There are particular online shops which I absolutely love. Zappos is one of these. Zappos is arguably the largest shoe store online. If you can not find what you want there, most likely, they do not make it. They offer free shipping and free returns on all their goods.

The coolest thing they provide though is their 110% Price Guarantee. To put it simply, here is what it means.

If you find an item for a lower price on another website or in a retail shop, we'll refund you 110% of the difference between the lower price and our price. *

You may follow on the link above to find out exactly how this works, but essentially, you can save a fortune by shopping around, locating the shoes you want and then letting Zappos know whether you find them cheaper. The price-matching procedure is painless and you get shoes in an awesome price!