Finding Great Deals on the Internet and How to Avoid Buying Things You Don’t Need

One of the great things about the internet is that everything is right at your fingertips. Instead of going to a mall or a bunch of different stores and shopping around for hours, you can search the internet, and in a matter of minutes, find a half-dozen places offering what you are looking for and comparison shop to find the best deal. There are several websites, such as the ones listed below, which aggregate the best deals on the net, have people posting “hot deals”, or specialty sites that offer one really good deal a day. They list good deals at major online merchants from around the web, closeouts, coupon codes, how to stack coupons with sales both online and offline, where to find things the cheapest, and a myriad of tips and techniques on finding the best deals both online and offline.

Slickdeals

A forum type website where people can post their “great deal” finds from around the net. The site even has a “hot deals” section, which is supposedly the best great deals with items at a much lower price than can be found elsewhere, including free.

Fatwallet

Another forum type site, where people post their deal findings from around the net.

Deals of America

An aggregation site, listing the best deals to be found from merchants around the web.

Woot

A “deal of the day” website, one item is offered each day, usually at a good price, until it is sold out. The next item is not available until the next day.

One of the problems I have has in the past with these types of websites is that sometimes the deals seem so good that they are hard to pass up! I have, and I am sure others have as well, purchased things that I never ended up using or really didn’t need. It is very easy, when you see something on the internet at what you consider a ridiculously low price, to pass it up when you know it will sell out in short order. They can be useful, however, when you are looking for something in particular, or shopping for Christmas or other gifts, but you must be careful with the “double-edged sword” of these types of websites. You should also be careful with credit card usage with these types of sites, because even if you are getting a great deal, if you buy too many things your total amount spent can still be quite high-much higher than you realized.

Below are several ways to navigate online purchases to avoid buying things you don’t need, even when they are cheap:

Avoid browsing the websites for fun- Similar to avoiding going to the mall for fun, if you find yourself ordering things you don’t really need, try to avoid these on a regular basis. Recreational shopping, whether online or at a physical store, usually leads to buying unnecessary items.

Make a list- Make a list of things you really need or were planning on purchasing anyway, and don’t buy anything unless it is on the list. If you miss a super deal because that item wasn’t on the list, too bad.

Checkout the freebies section- Both Slickdeals and Fatwallet have freebie sections where you can get items for free, such as free samples or giveaways, both online and offline. Check these out to satisfy your hunger for a great deal. What’s better than free after all?

Wait- If you are unsure about a purchase, wait a few days. You will lose out on some of the deals, but not all of them. It will also help you deterimine if you really want something rather than making spur of the moment purchases.