Save Money Shopping Online with this Easy Trick

Would you like to save money shopping online? Who wouldn’t?!

I recently discovered a shopping hack to save serious cash on online purchases in a matter of minutes!

This is an insanely easy, quick money saving online shopping trick! I saved more than 80% on my purchase. Sounds too good to be true, right? Well I can assure you, this shopping hack is the real deal. Living in the age of the internet has it’s perks.

Please, allow me to explain…

How to Save Money Online Shopping

If you’re an avid reader of this blog, you may recall my latest post was a quiz for finding the perfect, affordable little white dress. As a soon-to-be bride, I’ve spent plenty of time searching through offerings, both for that blog post and for my personal bridal occasions. Needless to say, I had quite a few suggestions for little white dresses popping up on my feed based on my search history.

And lo and behold, I stumbled upon a little beauty on Pinterest. I was in LOVE! But not with the price. The cost…a whopping $500. No thanks!

Rule #1: Don't Overpay!

And that’s not even the worst part! After reading through the return policy, I discovered the retailer would allow a return, but would charge a 50% restocking fee. So, if I ordered the wrong size or simply didn’t like how it fit, I’d be out $250. Yikes!

Rule #2: Seek Favorable Return Policies!

BUT, I really wanted to, at the very least, try it on. So, my brain got to thinking. What if I could find the same dress somewhere else for cheaper? With a more favorable return policy.

Rule #3: Shop Around!

And so with these thoughts swimming around in my head, I discovered a crazy quick and easy shopping hack to save money shopping online.

My Money Saving Online Shopping Trick

It’s called a reverse image search. Maybe you’ve used it before, maybe you haven’t. But either way, it’s insanely useful for comparing prices across different vendors.

Plus, it’s super quick and easy and free! So, anyone with internet access can use this little trick.

All you have to do is go to Google and click the camera icon on the right of the search bar.

Next, go back to the website where you first discovered the product. Right click on the image and copy it. Then, return back to Google and paste the image link into the reverse image search and GO!

And voilà!

Google will return similar (or even exact!) images as the same one you searched. The next step is simply scrolling and clicking through the results to see if you find any retailers that offer the same product for less or with a more favorable return policy.

For example, here’s what I stumbled across after I performed my reverse image search:

* Note: The screenshot above is for illustrative purposes. This is a different dress than the one I previously mentioned.

Review Alternatives to Save Money Shopping Online

Once you’ve performed the reverse image search, you now can review alternatives based on your results. Google makes it easy by showing the price tag in the top left-hand corner of the screen.

As you can see based on my screenshot above, the prices range from $48 to $525…and it’s the exact same dress! Pretty crazy, huh?

Now, I don’t know about you, but if I purchased the dress for $525 and later found out I could’ve purchased the exact same dress for $48, I’d feel majorly ripped off. So, taking a few extra minutes to perform a reverse image search when shopping online really does come in clutch.

Before you buy, please do your own research to verify that you are buying for a credible retailer. I recommend doing another Google search asking if the site is legit. Also, check for reviews. And don’t just trust any review! Read through it and make sure it looks like it came from a legitimate person and that person wasn’t sponsored to write a good review because they received the product for free (it should specify this!).

Additionally, please recognize that my reverse image search trick doesn’t always work. The product you’re shopping for might only be sold by one exclusive retailer. In this case, shop around for similar products and decide whether you’re willing to get something similar, if not exactly the same.

Why You Can Save Money Shopping Online

Specifically, in my case, the cheaper, alternative retailer happened to be AliExpress, a subsidiary of Chinese giant Alibaba. By purchasing directly through them, I saved more than $400 vs. the buying from the retailer I first came across. Plus, they offered free returns. How could I go wrong?!

So, looking at just how much money you can save with this simple, easy trick, you may be asking why is it that you’re able to save so much money? Why is it soooo much cheaper to obtain the same exact dress? The answer lies in the supply chain.

By purchasing through AliExpress, I was most likely buying the product directly from the producer and paying a minimal mark-up.

Meanwhile, the other site that I initially discovered, was reselling the dress. The site probably already had to pay a mark-up to the supplier and then was charging me (the consumer) another mark-up to make it worth their while. So, all in all, I was paying a much steeper price by purchasing through resale than I would be if I was purchasing the dress directly.

Other Tips to Save Money Shopping Online

Here are a few more of my favorite tips to save money shopping online:

Sign up for the email list
Search online for coupons
Download and install software to automatically search for and apply discounts (I use Capital One Shopping)
Shop the same retailers to receive loyalty rewards
Shop items featured on this blog – I always try to include a discount code 😎

Other Money Saving Ideas

I hope you enjoyed reading this post and found my money saving online shopping trick useful!

If you liked this post, can I please ask that you share it with a friend?

And for more helpful finance tips, please check out my other posts!

Thanks for reading! Until next time, friends.

Save Money Shopping Online with this Easy Trick