Beating Big Retailers When Shopping For Household Goods


When shopping for household goods such as microwaves, vacuum cleaners and refrigerators many people feel safer going to a retail store than shopping online. There are several reasons for this, the first and most common is safety. In a physical store you know they’re not going anywhere, if there are any problems with the purchase you can drive down to the store and talk to someone. The second is the ability to touch, feel and interact with the goods before you make the payment. This is one of the things you can’t achieve when shopping (and making savings) online. However that’s not to say that you can’t keep some of the benefits of in-store shopping when being smart with your money. Why not go into a store when you’re down to your last couple of alternatives online? You can then see them and make your final choice, all you have to do is withstand the salesperson’s techniques and you’ve cracked both sides of the puzzle! The rest of this article will focus on how you can squeeze all of the discount possible out of your online purchase in order to really beat the big physical retailers. 

Use pre-researched online guides to cut through the clutter. 
When you go onto any online retailer the number of choices can be daunting. You don’t know where to start and how to make the best choice. A lot of people simply go by the retailer’s ‘recommended’ filter or simply go by ‘lowest price’ which can result in you getting cheap rubbish. However, there are independent sites which (for some bizarre reason) take the time to test, review and recommend the very best household goods. It takes the strain out of the decision making process and just leaves you to find the best price. Take Appliance Hunter’s guide to handheld vacuums for example. The team there have been through countless different makes and models to present the shortlist you find there. As long as you trust the source, these reviews save you hours of research (and definitely beat a pushy salesperson’s recommendation). 

Buy vouchers for less than their face value 
Did you know that there are voucher exchange sites which allow you to buy and sell unwanted gift cards? If you’re making a purchase anywhere that is a physical store (and many places online) then this is a fantastic way to make a saving. How it works is people who don’t want their vouchers put them up for sale at less than their redemption value. And people needing vouchers take them off their hands, it’s a win-win scenario. So if you’re making a purchase, make sure to see if your chosen retailer is available on a gift card exchange website first. 

Use an online cashback website 
Cashback websites are growing hugely in popularity at the moment and it’s no surprise. They make deals with online retailers to send them more customers in exchange for a payment. When you make a purchase the retailer sends a commission to the cashback site which is split between you and the site. If you have a retailer in mind anyway, why not check if they do cashback? You can’t lose!