By Tracey Dowdy
Online sales continue to climb while we’re all in various stages of quarantining, yet at the same time, many families are tightening their belts as unemployment numbers are reaching historic highs. Under the circumstances, finding the best deals is more important than ever.
Amazon has been my go-to for the majority of my online shopping for the past month mainly because of its massive inventory and low prices. Even if you’re shopping in a brick and mortar store, you can compare prices with Amazon by tapping the camera icon next to the search bar, and scanning the barcode.
Amazon isn’t the only game in town nor are they always the best deal.
At checkout, Retail Me Not’s Deal Finder will test every deal and apply the best discounts, so you don’t have to search and test them one by one. Deal Finder combines any available coupon codes and RetailMeNot exclusive Cash Back Offers and applies them at checkout.
Honey compares prices between Amazon, Amazon’s third-party sellers, and other online retailers like Target and WalMart, and calculates estimated shipping costs and Prime status to ensure you’re getting the lowest prices.
PriceBlink also offers price comparisons and coupons, but with a slightly different interface. Once installed on your browser (Chrome or Firefox), a yellow bar will appear at the top of the screen any time you navigate to an online shopping site. PriceBlink notifies you of available deals and coupons on the site and will let you know if a better price is available through another retailer. You can also track the price of an item over time, add items to your wish list, and find coupons on its website.
If you’re as tired of Lysol and Clorox wipes being out of stock and never being able to get your hands on some because they’re always sold out before you get there, OctoShop is the answer. The app checks inventory across retailers to help you track down a product that’s frequently out of stock, though it’s less helpful at telling you at a glance if you’ve got the best price. To price compare, click on the OctoShop icon. Once installed, the OctoShop tab automatically appears above Amazon’s price. Clicking it tells you if you’re getting the best price, and what other retailer has the item available. The app allows you to set alerts for price drops as well as in-stock notifications from a variety of retailers.
Privacy Note: The extensions on this list work by scanning every site you visit for potential coupons, which could potentially expose you to some security issues. Before installing any of them, it’s worth your while to check out its privacy policy. That noted, all the ones we’ve highlighted below promise to not collect any personally identifiable information.
Tracey Dowdy is a freelance writer based just outside Washington DC. After years working for non-profits and charities, she now freelances, edits, and researches on subjects ranging from family and education to history and trends in technology. Follow Tracey on Twitter.
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