The Fashion Rundown

Tali’s Top Ten Shopping Hacks

Tali Afrah

This issue’s Fashion Rundown is all about shopping tips, tricks, and hacks for all you shopping lovers. Shopping can get pricey, and if you’re like me and constantly find yourself scrolling through clothes online or endlessly walking through aisles of clothes, this can become an issue. Keeping these points in mind when you are “adding to cart” or reaching the cash register will be sure to help you save money that can be put aside for your next shopping trip. Happy savings! 

1. Rakuten 

Rakuten is your online shopping best friend. Rakuten is a chrome extension that gives you cashback on your orders. When you open up stores on your browser, a pop-up will appear telling you that there is a certain percent cashback for that day. Some days there will be 10% cashback, while others may be 5%. Discounts vary by day and site. Once you click activate, it will automatically be applied to your order. Each month, you will receive a check by mail with your cashback! 

2. Donate old clothes and shoes 

Many stores these days are all about paying it forward and giving to those in need. They will have deals where you can donate old clothing or shoes, and they will give them to those in need. In return, they give you a discount towards your next purchase. 

If you are an H&M shopper, H&M has a promotion where you can donate old, worn clothing to them, and they send them to be recycled into new material. In return, they will give you a 15% off coupon for a current or future purchase.

DSW does something similar with shoes. For each pair of shoes that you give to them, they will give you 50 points towards your DSW account. With every 100 points, they send you a $5 coupon to use towards your next purchase. 

3. Sign up for emails 

Almost every retailer has the promotion where you sign up for their emails and get a special discount to use towards your first purchase. For example, I know that H&M has 10% off your purchase when you sign up for emails, and since most of us have multiple email addresses to begin with, when you sign up again, you can stack that 10% on top of other deals. 

4. Using expired coupons 

You know that frustrating moment when you go to buy something with a coupon and realize that it has expired? Don’t get frustrated just yet. If you are shopping in store, don’t hesitate to still hand over the coupon. Sometimes, the system will still let it go through or the cashier will put it through for you. (Bed Bath & Beyond takes expired coupons without problem.) When shopping online, you can call the customer service and ask them to honor your coupon. It’s always worth a try. 

5. Shoprunner

For those of you with an American Express credit card, Shoprunner is a company that lets you sign up online for free to receive free 2-day shipping. It is a website that has a list of stores that partnered with them to give you free 2-day express shipping on your online orders. 

6. Rewards programs 

If you are someone who shops at certain stores online often, it’s in your best interest to join their rewards programs to rack up points on every purchase you make. Once you accumulate a lot of points, they will start to send you more coupons and deals. 

7. Ask for price-matches 

Stores that have products that are not their own brand will often price-match them to other stores that have them. Just give them a call or pull up the product on your phone in store and ask for a price-match. 

8. Deal finder websites 

When shopping online, many deal finder websites have “extra off” coupons that work on your orders. For example, Walgreens usually has deals for a certain percent off your photo purchase, but if you Google “Walgreens photo coupon,” you will see a few deal finder websites that have better deals than what the store is offering on their website or usually an extra coupon code that you can apply to your order. Retail Me Not is a popular website with great coupon codes and deals. 

9. Birthday coupons 

A significant part of birthdays are the gifts we receive. Many stores give you birthday gifts and special coupons just for you on your birthday. All you have to do is sign up for an account with them and enter in your birthday. Beauty stores such as Sephora and Ulta will send you an email with a barcode to get a mini free gift of the month on your birthday. Shoe stores like DSW will send you a $5 coupon to use towards your next purchase. Restaurants such as Starbucks will send you a promotion for a free drink on the day of your birthday. Happy birthday! 

10. Student discounts 

Whether you’re a college or high school student, certain stores will give you a discount on your purchase if you show them your student ID. There are also websites that allow you to sign up online with your student email, getting you special deals on websites and programs. 

Now that you have all the insider shopping tips and tricks, let the shopping begin!!