Thursday, June 15, 2017

Stretching your dollar (Part 1)

Some friends have requested that I share with others how I save money buying anything from daily household items to holidays. Basically, I find it fun to look for such deals or promotions and I don't mind sharing... just that I'll just share what I can remember as I go along.
[ disclaimer : I'm not in anyway affiliated with any of the website / apps that I am sharing and opinions are my own. Also, links below are not referral links. I'm not doing this for referral money. ]

First up - before buying anything
I have many adhoc purchases but if I'm not in a hurry, I'd check out some of the following:

Singpromos - I like this website because of its easy interface. There are various filters like onoing / upcoming / started or ends today. They also classify according to categories like Department Stores, online stores etc or Footwear.

Pros: easy interface to search
Cons: many bank advertisements to sign up for credit cards

Shopback - This is an online rebate system that lets you cash out accumulated rebates once it exceeds S$10 directly to a bank account. How this works is that you go to Shopback website, find the merchant you want to buy from (check out the Visa option too for an additional 1%) and click to access the merchant's website.
Fastest cashback I've experienced was using it for Cotton On (no longer a merchant with Shopback) purchases when I got the money in 2 days. Usually it takes 60 to 90 days. I've more than S$300 cashed out since I started more than a year ago. I've used Shopback for purchases at : Cotton On, Redmart, Expedia, BusOnlineTicket, Easybook, Lazada, Guardian, Groupon, Fave, Taobao, Qoo10, Ezbuy etc though some of these are no longer with Shopback.

Tip: install the shopback buddy on your browser to get instant notification if the website supports Shopback
Pros: high cashback during promotions (get the email notification to be in the know)
Cons: missing cashback - I encountered this several times. Easy to initiate an investigation but sometimes it takes up to 60 days and the record was actually wiped out before any conclusion. However, I still continue to use because I consider cashback as a bonus and not a requirement.

Ebates - I don't use this. I tried once and it didn't work so I gave up. Maybe next time...

Qoo10 - I installed this app on my phone so I can go to the Q-lounge daily to click attendance. They give increasing Qpoints every 6th day of attendance so you can claim up to 190 (?) Qpoints which is equivalent to $1.90 credit (redeemable as whole dollars though). Each attendance is also a chance at the wheel where you can get more Qpoints or discount vouchers. Check out the Mameball event too, to play a game similar to Pokemon Go to catch brandmons to exchange for more Qpoints or buy selected items at a further discount. Exchange selected brandmons for even more Qpoints.
Gmarket Korea also has a similar programme.

Tips: the $2 off a $15 item can also be used for accumulated items, eg. you can use the $2 if you buy 3 quantities of the same $5 item. Install Live10 app and collect more vouchers other than the event ones. Discounts can be as high as
Pros: many promotions.
Cons: conditional vouchers

Fuzzie - I discovered Fuzzie gift cards recently. I like it's instant rebate because the rebate is instantly subtracted and I only pay the difference but I don't like it because it makes me want to buy more. LOL. They have cards for various merchants and because it is relatively new, some of the staff at these merchants don't quite know how to redeem from the phone.
I've bought : Lazada, Althea, Books Depository, Ezbuy

Taobao - they also have a loyalty points programme where you can collect points to offset final purchase price of selected items. Number of points increases from 5 by 5 points to a maximum of 30 if you collect daily.

Ezbuy - collect ecoins. Can't be used for offsetting price. Only for lottery chance of winning more ecoins or vouchers.

That's all for now...


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