As you’re shopping and checking off your gift list this holiday period, there are other ways besides watching for worth reductions and sales to save money.

“There’s always a way to save money on pretty much anything, whether that means finding a code somewhere, looking for a first-period buying discount or signing up for a loyalty program at a store,” Samantha Gordon, customer Reports deals editor, told USA TODAY. “There are all these different ways to get a little extra shaved off the top.”

Holiday shoppers are fighting rising costs from worth rise, factoring in extra outgoings for gifts, Gordon said.

“Saving extra money is even more significant than ever,” she said.

Retailers recognize consumers desire deals

Retailers are reacting accordingly, offering up discounts.

“Retailers are viewing this as benevolent of a period of deals,” Ted Rossman, Bankrate elder industry analyst, told USA TODAY. “They are acknowledging that worth rise is still a large deal and with high profit rates, consumers are feeling frugal and retailers are conference them where they’re at with discounts.

“They’re looking to shift merchandise and they’re acknowledging they have to bend on the worth,” he said.

Rossman said 25% to 30% off items is typically the floor for sales and discounts. Some retailers are going deeper with their discounts, up to 50%, he said.

But don’t stop there, said Rossman. Use various methods to stack discounts on top of already reduced prices, he said.

Tips for finding holiday deals

Here are some tips to assist consumers discover deals during the holidays from Gordon and Rossman:

• Is that really a deal? Do some comparison shopping to view whether a sale touted as a Black Friday or Cyber Monday or “lightning” sale is really cheaper, said Gordon. Sometimes it’s the exact same worth and the retailer “just slapped a fancy label on it.” view if you can discover some historical prices to view if the worth is a excellent deal.
• Use your rewards financing card: By paying with your rewards financing card, which you are hopefully paying off in packed next month, Rossman said you can earnings points or liquid assets on top of your purchase. If you’re disciplined to pay off the card equilibrium in packed so you don’t pay extra in profit, you may consider opening a recent financing card that has a sign-up bonus. Often, those bonuses require you to spend a sure amount within the first three months and if you’re already spending for the holidays, you could use that to your advantage, said Rossman.
• Sign up for a free service that earns you liquid assets or points for purchases: Services like Rakuten or services through your financing card like Shop Through Chase, can earn you liquid assets as you are shopping by using a link to a particular retailer, said Rossman. Check with your financing card for specific card-linked offers or digital coupons if you use your card for a purchase with a particular retailer, he said.
• Consider buying secondhand, refurbished or pre-owned: Maybe you don’t require to buy the newest model, especially, for a tech gift, said Gordon. Look at buying an older model year. The stigma of buying and gifting secondhand items is lessening and more people are open to it.

• Look for coupons: There are a lot of coupons, especially online coupon codes, that can be used when shopping. Use Google or RetailMeNot to search for coupons or use a browser extension, such as Honey or pool One Shopping, which will load the most ordinary coupon codes for you at checkout, said Gordon and Rossman. Try to stack coupons, if the retailer will allow it.
• Sign up for a loyalty program for a discount: Often, signing up for a retailer’s loyalty program, or sharing your email address for specials will get you an introductory discount on your first purchase, said Gordon. But make sure to either unsubscribe from the retailer later if you don’t desire your inbox swamped, or make a specific email address only for shopping or for promotional emails, she said.
• Put the item in your online shopping cart and wait: This doesn’t work for all retailers, Gordon said, but some retailers will lower the worth or propose a discount if you have something waiting in your online shopping cart. On Amazon, you can either put it in your cart or mark it “save for later” and you can keep an eye out to view if the worth goes down.
• Use a free service to track pricing: You can use tools like Google Shopping to comparison worth or track a worth on the Google Chrome browser using the bell symbol at the complete of the URL address window. There are some specific comparison tools for tracking Amazon prices, like CamelCamelCamel or its Chrome extension called the Camelizer or Keepa, said Gordon. Sometimes the tracking isn’t 100% accurate, Gordon said, or doesn’t receive into account coupons or lightning deals, but it will provide you a general concept if you’re getting a excellent worth.

Online scams:Don’t let fraudsters ruin your holidays. Protect yourself with these tips.

• Beware of too-excellent-to-be-factual scams: Sure, we all desire a great worth or a great deal, but if something seems too low or is from a third-event seller, be careful. It’s feasible it’s a scam and you may never get the item, or that the deal is real, but the retailer has a ridiculous profitability policy that would make it nearly unfeasible to send back, said Gordon.
• receive advantage of worth-matching policies: Check the policies for various retailers to view if you can get some money back after you’ve made a purchase if you discover the same item at a better worth. For instance, at Target, if you’ve bought the item after Nov. 7 and the Target worth goes down before Dec. 24, you can request a worth adjustment.

If you discover the same item at Walmart or Amazon within two weeks, you can request a worth match. Many other retailers have similar policies, said Gordon. worth matching for large items, like appliances, can sometimes be harder since different retailers carry different model numbers to avoid worth-matching, she said. However, Gordon said she has also had luck occasionally contacting a retailer’s customer service department to declare she will profitability the item to leave buy it elsewhere unless they propose the worth difference in a refund. Retailers may oblige, even if they have a no partial refunds policy, since they don’t desire you to profitability the merchandise, she said. receive note that most retailers will not worth-match special deals like Black Friday prices, said Rossman.

Betty Lin-Fisher is a customer reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] or pursue her on X, Facebook or Instagram @blinfisher. Sign up for our free The Daily Money newsletter, which will include customer information on Fridays, here.