Where to find discount codes, cashbacks and markdowns

No one wants to pay any more than they have to when shopping. The good news is that there are plenty of ways that you can nab a bargain—it’s just a matter of knowing where to look. Here are six ways to help you save on everything from everyday essentials to big ticket items.

1. Facebook groups

There are several Facebook groups that can help you find out about discounts and markdowns on everything from groceries to electronics to clothing. Members of these groups will often post about sales they have come across and share tips on how they have saved money.

Some examples include Markdown Addicts Australia with 375,000 members, Mums Who Budget & Save with about 213,000 members, Simple Savers with roughly 214,000 members and Budgeting, Food, Savings Ideas, Stockpiling, Life Help Australia with 78,000 members.

Many of these are ‘closed’ groups which means you’ll have to request to join and follow the rules outlined by the page admins. Be prepared to see quite a lot of posts coming up in your news feed, as members can be quite active. There may be as many as 100 new posts a day in each group.

Sample saving: $74.50

In one of these groups a member posted that Big W was selling Samsung Galaxy Fit 3 watches for half price, so she was able to pick one up for just $74.50.

2. Cashback sites

Cashback sites give customers a percentage of their purchases back when they buy from partner retailers. Even though it may not be an immediate discount on the item, you do end up saving money in the long run.

Two of the biggest cashback sites in Australia are Cashrewards and ShopBack, which have downloadable apps. You will need to sign up to the service (you can sign up to more than one) and you can then use the app or website to look for offers. Both also have a Google Chrome extension which will notify you when you’re visiting a site that has cashback and offers available. The amount you can get as cash back depends on which service you use and the retailer.

Sample saving: $14.95

At the time of writing, ShopBack was offering 5% cashback on Amazon Kindle e-readers. If you were to buy a 16GB Kindle Paperwhite for $299 your cashback would be $14.95.

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3. Community forums

Being across every sale in town is an impossible task, but forums such as OzBargain and TopBargains make it much easier. People who have found bargains can register to the site and share the deals they have found. OzBargain also lets members of the community vote for the deals they like or dislike. You don’t need to register to check out the latest deals.

Sample saving: Up to $490

At the time of writing, an OzBargain member shared that Minimax and Peters of Kensington were selling a five-piece Scanpan commercial cookware set for $179. The recommended retail price is $669 which makes the saving a whopping $490.

4. Coupon codes

Coupon and promo codes can be a great way to save money on everyday items. Finding codes can be as simple as googling the name of the store and the words ‘coupon code’, or you can check out sites such as RetailMeNot, CupoNation, Lifehacker and Buckscoop. Another option is PayPal Honey. You can download the extension or app and it will ‘test codes at checkout to help you find a deal’.

Sample saving: $23.99

As an example, a coupon on Lifehacker offers a further 20% off already reduced dresses at Forever New.

5. Newsletters and loyalty clubs

Signing up to email newsletters from your favourite retailers or joining their loyalty clubs can help you score discounts. Often stores will send discount offers straight to your inbox and they may even give you freebies on your birthday. You may want to set up a specific email address for these types of emails so that your normal inbox isn’t inundated and to also reduce the temptation to buy something just because you received a discount offer.

Sample saving: $40

Bonds is one store that regularly emails special offers—with savings of about 40% quite common. If you were to buy $100 worth of items you could save $40.

6. Comparing prices

One of the simplest ways to make sure you’re getting the best price on a purchase is to shop around. You can do this on google or by using a dedicated price comparison websites such as GetPrice or Little Birdie browser extension or app.

Sample saving: $625

Let’s say you are looking for a new TV—a Samsung 55″ S90D OLED 4K Smart TV, for example. At the time of writing, you’d pay $3,295 at JB Hi-Fi or The Good Guys but a quick google search showed you could get it for $2,670 from Appliance Central—a saving of $625.

Just remember don’t buy something simply because you have found it on special. It’s not a saving if you weren’t planning to buy it in the first place.