Are you planning to do some shopping this holiday season? I have quite a bit of my shopping done already but I made a trip out to the mall yesterday to pick-up 2 things that were on sale. I thought that I could get the items cheaper by actually going to Macy's (rather that making the purchase online) because I had a coupon from a mailer for $10 off a $25 purchase.
An hour or so later, I was leaving the mall promising myself and my 5 year old not to step back inside until December 26th. The mall was already crazy busy and I did not save more by going there with my coupon, because the 2 items I wanted did not qualify for the coupon.
I would actually have gotten a better deal if I would have just purchased the items online a few days ago! UGH! I do not want to go back to that busy, stuff and people filled mall for a long time. So, I have now decided that the rest of my Christmas shopping will be online as much as possible.
Going to the mall was not actually fun, because I go with a 5 year old who thinks he's Daniel Boone and must hide from the Indians in the forest (of clothing racks) and also with a 1 year old in a stroller - which now does not fit through the aisles because they are jam packed with stuff and with people carrying tons of shopping bags. 
Here is how I could have saved money, time and my sanity by buying my new Shark Steam Mop from the Macy's online store.
Macy's ad price was $79.99 both online or in store. A few days ago I had a code for free shipping online (now expired). So, if I had ordered my mop online, the price would have been the same and no shipping and I would have used no gas nor would I have bought McDonalds for lunch! Plus, it would have qualified for an 8% cash back rebate from Ebates - so here's the breakdown.
In Store:
79.99 + tax = $85.59 (+ McDonalds ($6.00), crazy mall, fussy 5 year old, parked way far from door and gas) Total = $91.59
Online:
79.99 + tax + free shipping = $85.59 - % cash rebate (12.27) = $73.32
I don't want to tempt you to spend $ you haven't already planning to spend this Christmas, but I would encourage you to consider checking online for the prices of the things you are already planning to buy and see if you could save time, money and your own sanity by doing some online shopping.
And -if you are planning to shop online I suggest you sign-up for Ebates. Ebates is a free website that gives you money back for things you buy online. This month, I am expecting a check for over $30.69 from Ebates.
Ebates has a lot of bonus deals going on right now because of the holidays. First you get a $5.00 bonus just for signing up and then a $10 bonus when you make your first purchase. Also, many of the stores featured on Ebates are now offering double % rebates (usually Macy's is a 4% rebate and now it is 8%).
You will get your bonus $ sent to you in the form of a check, after make a purchase through Ebates and you've earned at least $5.01 in purchase rebates. If you are going to make holiday or other purchases online why not get some of the $ back?
Signing up is easy and when you want to shop online you just go to the Ebates website and click on the store where you want to shop. You can also look on Ebates to see if there are any special deals or coupons too (like free shipping codes).
Ebates simply adds a tracking code and then opens the store's website and you shop and purchase directly from the store's website. Your account is credited the rebate amount in a few days. It's that easy! I wish I would have figured this out sooner!
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1 comment:
Yuck. I hate the mall. I try to avoid the place if I can! I do love online shopping-I'd never heard of ebates-I do something similar at inboxdollars.com, but the ebates sounds like a better deal-I'm def. going to check that out! :)
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