The Lazy Shopper’s Guide to Finding the Best Holiday Deals Online

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Finding great holiday deals online doesn’t have to be a chore. Check out these three methods that make finding holiday deals easy. 

At this point, we’re long past the massive sales events of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. While great holiday deals are still out there, they’re not as “in your face” as they were just a few weeks ago. For the avid shopper, the bargain hunting is on. For the lazy shopper, however, it’s just one more reason to procrastinate Christmas.

If you find yourself more stressed than excited by the prospect of hunting deals online, don’t worry: You don’t have to give up and buy gifts at full price. You can still help your personal finances by making those deals come to you. Here’s how.

1. Shop deals on Chrome

Google recently revamped its search engine for shopping queries in the beginning of November 2023, and I must say — it’s very effective.

Basically, you just need to remember this formula: “shop + (product you want to buy) + deals.” That’s it.

For example, let’s say you want to buy an OLED TV. When you search “shop OLED TV deals,” Google will pull up the best marked-down prices from around the web. The top portion is filled with sponsored ads, which often don’t have the best prices, but scrolling down you’ll see cards with different OLED TVs. The top left-hand corner of each card tells you how much you’re saving, while near the bottom you’ll find shipping charges and reviews.

You can even search for something more general, like “shop funny shirt deals” or “shop Apple deals.” This could become a powerful way to discover new items, not to mention save money on things you want to buy.

2. Get a free browser extension

While we’re on the topic of web browsers, you can also download extensions for them, like Honey or Rakuten. These extensions plug into your browser and work in the background to help you get the best price at checkout.

While you can find plenty of browser extensions, Capital One Shopping is one of the most popular. This extension compares prices across over 30,000 stores and websites to help you find low prices. It can also find and apply coupon codes at checkout, and it sometimes even rewards you with shopping credits, which you can redeem for gift cards later. You don’t have to be a Capital One banking or credit card customer to download it, and you can also remove it if it’s slowing down your browser too much for your liking.

3. Download price comparison apps

Price comparison apps check prices across thousands of websites and stores to help you find markdowns and deals. They’re great if you have a long list of products and want a quick way to locate the lowest prices for each. The apps have a search bar that lets you research prices quickly, while some have barcode scanners that will search for deals from UPCs found in stores.

The apps are free, but it’s best to use several of them in tandem, as they’re not always accurate, nor do they have every website or merchant in their database. Some of the most popular apps include:

Price.comBuyviaShopSavvy

Lazy shopping doesn’t have to cost you

As you can see, you don’t have to be a shopping enthusiast to get the best deals. All it takes is Google and a few apps, and you can discover lower prices for products on your shopping list. Make a habit of using them while you shop, and you might surprise yourself with how much you save.

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The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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