While the excitement surrounding Black Friday deals might never wane, the true value in holiday shopping often comes from Cyber Monday, when all manner of online stores radically reduce their prices to encourage the beginning of holiday buying. With online shopping, you can access so many more deals than is physically possible in brick-and-mortar stores — but before you spend any money on Cyber Monday, you should master the following tips and tricks for making the most of this major sale day:
Study Sales of the Previous Year
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With a little online digging, you can find evidence of sales offered by stores during the previous year’s Cyber Monday. Stores will typically offer the same type of discounts year after year, so you can start to plan your shopping priorities in advance using the information you find about last year’s sales.
Set an Unbreakable Budget
Even if you don’t have any concrete financial goals, it is a good idea to give yourself a budget on Cyber Monday. You might talk to your loved ones and set a spending cap on gifts this year, or you might consider the current amount in your savings account and give yourself realistic limitations on holiday spending to avoid making serious financial mistakes.
Know What You Want to Get (and Give)
It is always dangerous to go shopping without a list, as you will be more susceptible to impulse buying that will put you over your spending budget. Before Cyber Monday — even before Black Friday — you should make a list of all the items you hope to acquire during these sales. This might also involve deciding what you want to give your loved ones for the winter holidays, so you can make the most of Cyber Monday deals.
Follow Shops on Social Media
Many online stores will publish information about their Cyber Monday sales well in advance of the day to drum up excitement from their most loyal fans. What’s more, social media might offer even better deals that are not available to casual shoppers, like discount codes applied at checkout. If you don’t like following brands on social media, you can unsubscribe after the holidays or make burner accounts used only for shopping.
Subscribe to Retail Newsletters
As with social media, email newsletters can contain secret information about sales as well as valuable coupon codes that could radically cut the price of your purchases. Likewise, you can create a second email account to subscribe to promotional content and keep your primary email inbox untouched by marketing spam.
Bookmark Your Favorite Web Stores
Many online shops have exceedingly limited inventory and sell out in a matter of minutes. Thus, you need to be able to navigate to their website and make your purchases in seconds. Having popular and small web shops bookmarked on your browser can save you precious time and ensure you get the chance to buy you the products you want and need.
Set an Alarm for Cyber Monday
Most Cyber Monday sales will start at midnight in the time zone of the store’s headquarters. To guarantee your ability to purchase the items you want, you should be awake and able to log onto the web when the clock strikes 12. Depending on where you are located relative to the store, you may need to stay up late, or you may need to wake up early. In either case, it might be wise to set an alarm, so you won’t miss the sale.
Skip Insecure Websites
Whenever you shop online — whether it be on Cyber Monday or a random Thursday — you should be certain that the website you are purchasing through is secure. Most updated browsers will block insecure connections, but just in case, you should inspect the URL and other web elements for indications of security. The last way you want to start the holiday season is with identity theft or stolen payment information, so security during online shopping should be a top concern.
Compare Prices as You Shop
It is tempting to assume that you are going to get the best deals during Cyber Monday sales, but that is not necessarily the case. If you aren’t careful, you might end up spending more money for items than you would on a regular day. You should consistently compare prices — to pre–Cyber Monday prices and to prices from different stores — to ensure stores aren’t getting the best of you.
With the right preparation and the right mindset, you should get out of Cyber Monday with a good amount of loot and without breaking the bank.
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