As a student, it may seem like you’re hit with a fresh round of mandatory expenses each year between the tuition fees and the cost of supplies. Looking online for discounts can help soften the blow of these expenses, ensuring that you don’t have to break the bank on your education. The following are five tips to help you save money online.
1. Become a Fan of Favorite Brands on Social Media
One of the first ways that you can start saving money by shopping online is to befriend your favorite brands on Facebook and follow them on Twitter. Many E-Commerce retailers as well as larger brands offer online-only deals to their followers, which you would have no other way of knowing about. Many of these also cater specifically to students, either through promotional events or back-to-school deals.
2. Search Online Marketplaces
The modern version of the old-fashioned swap meet, online marketplaces allow you to buy and sell anything under the sun. Chances are that you are already familiar with these, having used mega-sites like eBay or seen adverts for Australia’s own Quicksales. Many larger retailers like Amazon and ASOS now run their own side marketplaces for users to list items for sale. In many cases, the prices you find on these websites will be far lower than what you would spend anywhere else, due to the high level of competition.
3. Buy Used Textbooks
One of the most significant costs for any student is the price of textbooks. While some of these may be interesting enough that you will want to keep them after your course has ended, if you did this with all of your required reading you’d have an apartment filled with wall-to-wall books. Many students decide to sell their books at the end of a term to help fund their next round of reading. Look for used books on big sites like Amazon as well as independent bookshop websites and marketplaces like those described above. It’s worth taking the time for comparison shopping to find the most competitive deals.
4. Use Mobile Apps to Save Money
If you’re like most students, you probably don’t go anywhere without your smartphone in tow. The majority of students now use their phones to make online purchases and browse the internet for deals. You can also download apps to help save even more money. Online marketplaces like Quicksales.com.au offer apps through the iTunes store, which prevent you from missing out on the best deals. Apps like RedLaser are also useful. This app allows you to scan the bar code of any product you see in the shop, for a quick price comparison.
5. Use Student Discount Sites
You may already know about the most popular online coupons sites, like Groupon and Living Social. These are worth signing up for as soon as you arrive at university, because they will send you daily deals to your inbox to save money on consumer goods, entertainment, and travel. However there are additional services available just to students. Australian websites like Student Edge and Student VIP offer deals and discounts on local businesses, usually in return for simply registering. There’s no reason why you should pay full price on meals, clothing, or anything else with so many different discount sites up and running.