I love shopping online, especially for my daughter Caili. She has the attention span of a puppy and taking her shopping at the mall is futile. So we do all our shopping online. If you are a parent, you already know how expensive children’s clothing can be. But 5 years of shopping for her has taught me a few tricks. One among them is shopping during online sales for kids. Now before you roll your eyes at me and tell me that’s not a trick, let me explain.
Shopping during online sales for kids is quite different than shopping for adults. There are very few websites in India dedicated solely to kids fashion and sales are also quite rare for kids. And even if you manage to land on a good sale, everything is either sold out in no time or you don’t find the right sizes. But like I already mentioned, I have mastered the trick of shopping online for my daughter and manage to get the best deals. Here are the 5 tips that help me achieve that!
Sign up
When I started shopping online, I would always check out as a guest user. Creating an account, filling in the details, and subscribing seemed like a lot of work and I didn’t have the patience for it. But much later I realised there were numerous benefits to signing up on the shopping website. Subscribing not only made the exchange and return process easier but I also got numerous benefits as a member.
I’d always be informed way ahead of sales, giving me enough time to prep for it. More often than not, I’d get special access or extra credits during the sale which got me amazing deals. Sure, my inbox was usually filled with promotional emails every now and then but the perks outweighed it all. Oh, most sites also offer a bonus for signing up which you can redeem while shopping with them.
Add products to cart or wishlist
I can’t count the number of times I’ve chanced upon something adorable for Caili but had to scroll past it because it was too expensive. This happens when I’m shopping online for myself too. And when the sale starts, I scramble to find the same piece only to realise it’s either out of stock or there are no sizes available.
If you go through the same thing, here is a trick that helps. If you really love something but don’t want to pay the exorbitant price, just add it to your wishlist. When the sale starts, all you’ve got to do is go to your wishlist and add the same product (now discounted) and check out!
Another trick which really helps is adding things to your cart and to get the company to coax you back. I have to warn you that this works only with certain websites and only once or twice. There have been times when I’ve added stuff to my cart and forgot all about it only to get a message or call later offering a discount on the items in my cart. While this happens once in a while, it still saves you a few bucks. So what’s the harm in trying, right?
Use your credit card
During Hopscotch’s “Go Bananas” sale recently, I shopped a lot for Caili and proudly showed off all my new finds to a friend who was shocked that I spent so much. She said that she always maintains a budget even when shopping during sales but was disappointed that she didn’t shop more when she saw the deals I got.
I know that many wouldn’t prefer spending so much money at once but would you rather not shop everything at half the price at once than splurge for the full price every month. This is when credit cards come to help. Buy all you want and pay slowly over the next few months. But using credit cards is a dangerous game and I suggest doing so carefully.
Shop through the app
Have you ever got a message or a mail about a sale only to find out later that the sale is applicable only on the app? This happens with me all the time! Pretty much every e-commerce website that has an app usually has app-only sales with amazing discounts. And these apps are free! So go download them! If you don’t have the Hopscotch shopping app, get it here:
iOS- Here
Play store- Here
Buy a size bigger
Finding the right size for Caili during sales even when I use all my shopping tricks is hard. So if there is something I really like and can’t find the size, I usually opt for the next size. Two reasons this works well for me:
- I can always take it to the tailor and alter it to fit her for now
- I can take out the altered stitches as she grows up
These are just a few of the shopping tricks that have really helped me get the best out of sales every time I shop for Caili and myself. What are your favourite shopping tips? Let me know in the comments below!
One Response
Amen, sister! I second with you on all these! Very well put.