Learning how to get free shipping makes online shopping a fabulous alternative to the bricks and mortar stores. I rarely buy anything other than groceries at a physical store, sans thrift an consignment stores, because I love the ability to read product reviews and quickly price compare across retailers when I shop online. Not to mention that staying out of stores keeps me from impulse buying and having to turn down the “would you like to open a store credit card and receive 25% off today?” offers that happen at almost every checkout counter.
The National Retailer Federation says 2010 holiday spending will likely be flat, with folks spending a mere $7 more than they did last year, but online merchants are expecting to see their online sales grow by 15%. That means more people will do more shopping online than ever before while spending the same total amount they did last year.
It’s important to be a savvy online shopper that knows how to get free shipping at every turn:
- Shop on Free Shipping Day. Over 700 retailers are already signed up to participate in Free Shipping Day 2010. On December 17, 2010 they will each offer a free shipping promotion. Some will require a minimum purchase and some will not. Items ordered on Free Shipping Day 2010 are guaranteed arrival by Christmas Eve.
- Amazon Prime. Amazon is the largest online retailer, not to mention 15th most popular website on the internet, and they sell almost everything at very competitive prices. If you are a student or a caregiver to a child or other dependent, then you qualify for a free Amazon Prime account (students sign up here and caregivers sign up here). Everyone is eligible for a free Amazon Prime trial; if you sign up for this free trial, then go right back into your account and cancel the auto-renew function so you are never charged for it. With Amazon Prime you’ll get free 2-day shipping with no minimum purchase on most of what Amazon sells.
- Shop retailers who offer free shipping. Large retailers like Walmart, Best Buy, 6pm.com and Overstock.com are offering free shipping with no minimum purchase on their most popular merchandise categories this holiday season, which is a first. I venture a guess that other websites will follow suit, making it easy to get free shipping on most anything.
- Use Site-to-Store Shipping. Stores that have a strong web presence and local bricks and mortar options often allow you to make a purchase online, but then pick it up in-store. I do this all. the. time. because I hate meandering stores looking for what I need and being tempted to buy things I never wanted in the first place. This way I select in advance what I want to purchase then head directly to the Customer Service counter where I pick up my ready-to-go order and leave. I ignore everything else in the store and save a ton of money this way. I have used free site-to-store shipping at Best Buy, Office Depot and Walmart, just to name a few. (As you tell us more retailers that offer this we will beef up the list)
- Use coupon codes. Just like you can use coupons at the grocery store, you can use coupons when you shop online. Websites like Coupon Cabin and Retail Me Not aggregate have searchable databases where you can find all the available online shopping coupons for thousands of websites. Often you’ll find some sort of free shipping code, although they typically do require a minimum purchase.
It’s no secret that I will likely coast through Christmas 2010 without stepping foot into a shopping mall and will have the bulk of my gifts for others delivered to my doorstep.
Your turn: I’m curious to hear how comfortable you are with online shopping and how much you expect to do this holiday season. Do you have other tricks up your sleeve to get free shipping?
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About Carrie Rocha
I also always go through shopathome.com, ebates.com, cashbaq.com or a similar site to get cash back on my purchases with online retailers too! I’ve saved a lot of money by remembering to do that!
I’ve been doing this more and more lately. Even if I do end up going to the store to purchase items, I do my “homework” or research the items first online so that I can be in and out at many stores knowing exactly what I need.
Amazon Prime looks intriguing. Thanks for sharing that.
Thanks for the tips on how to get free shipping! I just learned about the ebates and shopathome options and I think they’re a wonderful way to get $$ back too. One thing I do to be safe while online shopping is that I *always* use a virtual credit card number, which should be an option for people with most major credit cards. That way I avoid any retailer having my real credit card number in case their system get hacked into.
What is a virtual number?
Ramona – Kara McGuire, a reporter at the Minneapolis Star Tribune did a nice little write-up about virtual credit card numbers. Check it out here: http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/yourmoney/blogs/110990229.html
I did a quick google search on Tuesday for “lands end coupon code” and the very first result linked me to retailmenot. Not only did I get free shipping, it also included 20% off the entire order. Sweet. Thanks to all who contribute to your great website Carrie!
Nice post. We do order online from companies and even if they don’t offer free shipping and we can’t find a coupon code we often get free shipping just by asking. We find the item(s) we are planning to order and either e-mail or call and ask–works about 80% of the time.
Sheila
I try to use my discover card as much as possible so that I get cash back rewards. This only works if you are like me and pay off the credit card balance every month. Then I redeem it for gift cards where I usually get a $50 gift card for only $45. (depends on the retailer) I also go thru shopdiscover when I shop online to get more cashback. If the store is not available, then I check ebates. I prefer shop discover because the reward is usually higher than ebates and I get the cash back in right back into my discover rewards account.