news.com.au checkout: ‘Clever’ trick to always get a discount

Got your eye on something but don’t want to pay full price? We’ve found a sure fire way to get it cheaper online.

Influencers are your best friend when it comes to finding a good discount online. Picture: Instagram/Brooke Evers.

Let’s face it, who has time to wait for something to go on sale these days?

Things are expensive enough as it is (have you seen the price of shredded cheese? Ridiculous!), plus who wants to pay full price when there are savvy ways you can pick up that pair of headphones you’ve been eyeing off at a discounted price.

At news.com.au’s new shopping destination, news.com.au checkout, we’re all about helping you buy better by rounding up the latest product information and sales news.

But we’ve also discovered lots of clever tricks to score discounts while online shopping even when there are no official sales.

They’ve all been tried and (successfully) tested by news.com.au checkout’s team of expert shopping writers, who also happen to love nothing more than a bargain.

RELATED: Best November sale deals to shop now

Don’t be afraid to abandon cart

The discount code I received recently after abandoning cart. Picture: Supplied.

If you’re shopping for an item you want — but not quite enough to pay full price — I use this tactic that has about a 70 per cent success rate.

Add the products you want to cart, checkout with all your details but then exit out of your browser at the payment stage.

And then wait — because the retailer has your email, they’ll send you a message letting you know you haven’t completed your purchase. Then they will send another follow-up email after that and then another, which will usually include a discount of 10, 20 per cent or sometimes even more. Last time I did this while buying off a popular lingerie brand they offered me a 25 per cent off code three days later. Score!

Coupons

Online coupons can save you big on your favourite brands. Picture: Supplied.

Think coupons are something you cut out of newspapers or the back of shopping dockets and stick on your fridge? Think again! These days the best coupons are online, with entire websites like news.com.au coupons with exclusive discount codes on your favourite retailers like Myer, THE ICONIC and The Good Guys.

Before you complete a purchase it’s always worth doing a quick google search of “(retailer name) coupon” or “(retailer name) discount” and see what comes up. If you’re serious about your discounts there are also extensions you can install on your internet browser that trawl the internet for coupon codes, so you never have to pay full price.

Loyalty programs

I used to be one of those people who never signed up to shop emails, because I didn’t want my inbox to get spammed. But not signing up to your favourite brand’s mailing list means you’re seriously missing out. When you sign up most stores offer you a 10 per cent welcome discount, plus you often also get early access to sales and discounts for being a loyal customer (or sometimes not, with some retailers sending you a discount code if you haven’t shopped in a while). It’s also how you can get discounts on your birthday.

Review and get rewarded

Reviews are not only super useful for helping you decide whether a product is worth your cash but retailers will often reward you for leaving one — and it doesn’t have to be a positive review, just an honest one.

After you make a purchase keep an eye on your inbox for offers; it’s common to receive $25 off or a 20 per cent discount in return for your opinion — even if you didn’t give it a glowing review.

Influencers are your best friend

Thank the influencer gods for your discount codes. Picture: Instagram/Brooke Evers.

Influencers get a bad rap but they’re another great way to find an easy discount online.

Because brands these days like to track that the influencer’s paid promo is actually reaching customers, they often include a discount code featuring their name, like “Hannah20”.

The best part? You don’t have to follow every influencer if you don’t want to, simply go to the tagged photo section of the brand you want to buy from and find the latest paid partnership post with a discount code.

Welcome to news.com.au checkout

news.come.au checkout is a new destination for shopping inspiration and information.

news.com.au checkout is a new destination where you can find shopping information and inspiration brought to you by Australia’s number one news website, news.com.au.

Our mission is to help Australian shoppers save time and money by being the go-to-place for trusted and straightforward advice on buying everything from laptops to kitchen appliances.

We know now more than ever, many Australians are looking to save on their next purchase and news.com.au checkout will feature lots of sales and deals as well as extensive coverage of supercharged shopping events like Black Friday and Boxing Day.

This exciting new launch will make it easier to discover all of our great content and search for specific products and categories.

Our content is based on a range of different types of research - the team’s first-hand experience with products, hours of research (ever wondered who reads those product manuals? That’s us), scouring through pages and pages of consumer reviews, or information and advice from experts we trust.

Want to know if the latest TikTok viral product actually lives up to the hype? We can help with that. Need to know the most important thing when buying an air fryer? That’s covered too.

Once you’ve found what you are looking for, you can click on a link to buy from many of Australia’s best-known brands and retailers. Like all of news.com.au’s great content, our shopping articles are free to read and share however we. We may receive payments for publishing our content and commissions when you purchase through links in our articles.

Want more discounts? Of course you do – check out the news.com.au Coupons page to save big on all your favourite online brands and retailers. Then never miss a review, product release or gift guide by signing up our subscription fee-free news.com.au checkout newsletter.