10 Hacks to Get the Best Deals on Cyber Monday 2023

10 Hacks to Get the Best Deals on Cyber Monday 2023

Cyber Monday offers buyers exciting opportunities to buy home appliances, electronics, gadgets, and other reasonably priced products. With Cyber Monday 2023 approaching, buyers can expect to check off items from their shopping lists at amazing deals. Further, Cyber Monday allows one to pick from a wide range of products in various categories. Here are some quick tips and hacks that can help buyers best utilize this sales season:

Follow reputed brands and retailers online
Today, several reputed brands and retailers use social media effectively to promote their products and engage with their customers. Consequently, most brands offering discounts on their products during Cyber Monday may communicate this to their followers on social media. Hence, buyers should follow their desired brands and retailers to stay up-to-date on their Cyber Monday deals and offers.

Set and stick to a budget range
Shopping in bulk may seem like a good idea during the shopping season; however, buying too many items can burn a hole in one’s pocket. To avoid such consequences, buyers should prepare a list of required products, check their finances beforehand, and set a realistic budget limit before the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales commence. Such lists can help one spend wisely and avoid overspending.

Check the previous shopping season’s sales
A review of the previous year’s shopping season trends can provide insight into products that are likely to go on sale again this season. Accordingly, buyers can earmark such products beforehand and buy them soon during the shopping season.

Shop in the morning
Many retailers and brands begin their days early in the morning during the shopping season. Further, products that buyers want to buy may go out of stock as other customers bag them throughout the day. Thus, the best time to begin one’s shopping spree on Cyber Monday is early.

Collect gift cards in advance
Physical and online gift cards can help buyers reap the dual benefits of the shopping season’s sales and further discounts due to gift cards, resulting in significant cost reductions. Hence, one should stock up on gift cards and vouchers before the shopping season and utilize them during Cyber Monday to facilitate the most lucrative deals.

Shop in incognito mode
Shopping in incognito mode is a hack for buyers to land better deals and offers than those whose purchase history is accessible. Hence, buyers should shop in incognito mode during Black Friday and Cyber Monday to obtain significant discounts.

Subscribe to retail newsletters
Although subscribing to retail newsletters would mean wading through multiple emails and messages, such newsletters provide buyers with helpful information on upcoming sales and offers. Thus, subscribing to retail newsletters can help buyers check out the products to be offered on sale beforehand and prepare for the shopping season. Buyers may subscribe to these emails some months before Cyber Monday and unsubscribe from them later.

Bifurcate the shopping list into essentials and luxuries
Adding all the items one requires to a cart and checking out later in the day is not a good idea, as some or many of these items may run out of stock eventually. To avoid this situation, it helps to bifurcate one’s shopping list into essentials and luxuries, with essentials comprising the items one requires for daily use and luxuries entailing the desirable but unnecessary ones. Buyers can then add the essential items to the cart successively and buy these items first before proceeding to check out the ones classified as luxuries. This strategy ensures buyers can at least bag essential items at discounted prices.

Shop using a good credit card
Credit cards offering cashback and reward points can help one cut expenses even further while shopping for products at discounted prices. Buyers with multiple credit cards should check out the perks each offers and pick the one that offers the maximum retail benefits.

Compare products offered by different brands
Many buyers who are brand loyal buy products offered by their favorite brands without checking out what the brand’s competitors have to offer. Researching competitors’ products is an essential part of the decision-making process, as competitor brands may sometimes have products with better features and more reasonable prices than the brand one is loyal to. Thus, buyers should perform a competitor analysis of their favorite brands before the shopping season.

In a nutshell, shopping on Cyber Monday is about striking the right balance between preparation, timing, and price, which can help one leverage the best deals on superior-quality products.

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A handy guide to buying the right laptop

Laptops are powerful portable tech that is versatile, compact, and fast, making them the preferred choice. However, the best laptop for you is the one that complies with your needs. Now, there is a plethora of laptops in the market. This makes choosing the right device a daunting task. To help you, here is a guide to help you buy a laptop as per your needs and the best ones available in the market. Plan your budget Thanks to tough competition between laptop brands, you can buy a laptop for as low as $200. But if you can increase your budget, you can buy a quality laptop with better performance and features. Laptops like HP Stream and Dell Inspiron 11 3000 are the least expensive, costing about $150-$200. Laptops costing $900 and above have faster processors, cutting-edge graphics, and powerful resolutions. Moreover, they are lighter, making them efficiently portable. Pick your operating system Do you want a Windows or a macOS? There is no wrong answer, as the choice of the operating system solely depends on your preference. If you are confused, here’s a brief summary of each. Windows 10, Microsoft’s latest operating system, is the most flexible. Moreover, laptops with Windows OS are generally inexpensive and offer features like touch screens and dual graphic chips. On the other hand, macOS Big Sur is Apple’s latest desktop operating system and is expensive. If you are a tech wizard and know your way around an OS, you can also choose operating systems like Chrome OS and Linux. Specifications As per your needs and budget, opt for the most powerful processor, as processors influence the performance and speed of the laptop. Most laptops have an Intel® processor, although some laptops even come with an AMD processor. Inexpensive laptops offer Intel® Atom®, Intel® Celeron®, and Intel® Pentium® CPUs that are good for light document editing and browsing. However, if multitasking and speed are important to you, then opt for an Intel® Core™ i3, or better yet, an i5 or i7. Next, you should check the RAM size. Most offer only 4GB RAM space. However, experts recommend that you opt for a minimum of 8GB RAM. Furthermore, get a laptop with a solid-state drive (SSD) since these are three times faster than a hard drive. Consider buying a laptop with a minimum of 9-plus hours battery life with a 12.5- to 14-inch screen size. Top 5 laptops of 2021 To further help you, here are the five best laptops of 2021: Equipped with an 8th Gen Intel® Core™ processor and 16 GB RAM, the Google Pixelbook Go is the perfect choice if you’re looking for a fast and efficient laptop. Along with a great processor and impeccable response rate, this laptop boasts of a touchscreen display that can play 4K videos. If you’re looking to upgrade your laptop, checkout Google’s laptops on sale and save big this shopping season. The Dell XPS 13 offers excellent performance, 3.5K OLED touchscreen, i3-i7 processor, option to choose an 8GB or 16GB RAM, SSD storage, powerful display, and a sleek design. The Apple MacBook Air with the latest M1 chip provides an outstanding 14-plus hours of battery life and lightning-fast processing speed. Next is the Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 that is powered by the Intel® Core™ i5/i7. It comes with features like touchscreen, top-notch graphics, and up to 1TB SSD storage. Finally, don’t forget to check out the latest IdeaPad Slim 7 by electronic giant Lenovo. The recently-released laptop comes with a 15.6” display, 11th Gen Intel® Core™ processor, 512 GB SSD storage, Dolby Atmos® Speaker System, and a whole lot more. If you find this laptop a bit pricey, don’t worry. There are several fantastic deals on Lenovo laptops right now, and you can grab this one at a lower price from the company’s website.

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6 Shopping Mistakes to Avoid This Black Friday

Black Friday is the biggest shopping festival of the year. People flock to stores during this time and get their favorite products at unbelievable prices. While the sale may be far away, one should start planning. Some brands offer early deals, and customers may miss out if under-prepared. Furthermore, buyers can make mistakes in haste and spend much more than they should. Here are a few such Black Friday mistakes to avoid in 2023. Not researching enough Shoppers should start researching instead of sitting back and waiting for Black Friday to arrive. One can read about the deals brands had last year and what's expected this time around. Customers can also see whether new product launches are anticipated around the holiday season and if any outlet has announced early bird deals. Researching can be tedious as many brands and retail stores sell the same product and offer different prices. Nevertheless, it is a crucial step to identify the best offers and save money during Black Friday. Not having a shopping plan Whether one buys online or in-store, having a plan is necessary for Black Friday. Some shoppers list the products they are eyeing and shop in order of priority. This ensures they get their hands on the most essential items before stocks run out. Those shopping offline should keep in mind that stores have definite operating hours. It is best to visit as soon as they open to avoid standing in serpentine lines. A shopping plan can save time and avoid unnecessary hassle. One may also consider developing a backup plan in case the first one does not work out well. Assuming all Black Friday deals are good Customers may come across deals on various products and services during Black Friday. In many cases, stores offer a percentage discount. For example, a pair of shoes may sell 50% off or higher in one place and 40% in another. However, percentage discounts can be deceptive. The discount could be calculated off the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) when the product usually sells for less than the MSRP, even on regular days. Therefore, customers must steer clear of impulse buying. Just because a product is advertised as "on sale" does not mean its price has significantly reduced. Falling for scams As Black Friday draws many people to online shopping websites, scammers use the opportunity to target innocent customers. The scams can appear as fake coupons, duplicate products, and brand impersonation. The shopping season also sees an uptick in illegitimate retail websites. These websites offer irresistible deals and appear harmless at first glance. However, purchasing items on them can provide scammers access to a person's credit card numbers, phone numbers, and account information. Online shoppers are suggested to avoid unfamiliar websites and stick to reputable retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, Lowe's, and Target. It will ensure one makes the best of the Black Friday deals without worrying about scams. Ignoring store credits, rebates, and gift cards Good offers do not only come in the form of reduced prices. Some stores provide store credits, rebates, and points to potential buyers. These may not appear as impressive as a "90% off" deal. However, store credits and points can accumulate over time and be applied to future purchases. Retailers like Lowe's also give out gift cards amounting to $200 or higher! Forgetting to check return policies People sometimes come across issues with a few products bought on Black Friday. They head to the store to return them, only to learn that the items are not returnable or refundable. So, shoppers should check a store's return policies before purchasing, especially for expensive products and electronics. Not all stores have the same return policy; some can be stricter than others. A few retailers may have a Black Friday special return policy, allowing customers to return products bought on the day of the sale. Besides these, one must avoid several other mistakes on Black Friday 2023, such as buying outdated technology, looking only at the lowest prices, not comparing prices, and not asking for help when needed. While the holiday season can unleash irresistible offers and deals, one should be cautious, plan, and think twice before purchasing to avoid disappointment.

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