Shopping round the clock and sound financial health don’t go together 

How you can cut down on your Amazon online overspending

How you can reduce your spending on Amazon online shopping is not a question Amazon would want you to give much thought to.  The retail platform reported total revenue in excess of $386 billion in 2020. Your shopping adds up to a lot.

While it is still quite acceptable and safe to continue to shop for essentials on Amazon, it makes money sense to cut back on all of the impulsive “add to cart” purchases that you may not really need. Here are some useful tips to help you cut down on your Amazon spending.

  1. Stop browsing out of boredom.

Many people fall into the trap of impulse shopping on Amazon when they are bored and start browsing without purpose. The small purchases made at those moments of killing time can surprisingly add up to a lot.

It is better to go there on purpose, pre-determine what you want and then buy and get out.

  1. Delete payment information

Another way you can cut down on your Amazon spending is by entering your payment manually rather than using the auto payment.

Considering it is so easy to buy with a single tap of the finger or click of the mouse, it’s important to set some hurdles for such impulse purchases. Deleting payment information or shipping information so that you have to manually enter these details whenever you’re about to buy could be helpful.

Having to go to your wallet and enter your credit card gives you more time on an impulse buy to ask yourself the hard question if you really need the item.

  1. Think twice before clicking ‘Buy’

Sometimes it’s hard to tell whether an item is something you really need when you’re caught up in the moment.

See if you can dodge a purchase by taking a pause. Walk away from the potential purchase to give yourself some time to think it over. If it is an unnecessary item, chances are the urge to buy it will pass and you will dodge that impulse purchase.

  1. Don’t always buy from the default seller

Shoppers often overlook that there are multiple buying options for a particular product sold on Amazon from a variety of third-party sellers, and the site doesn’t automatically list the cheapest option.

It requires further searching to find the least expensive product price on Amazon. Pricier might not always be better. But do remember to focus on quality and not just price.

  1. Give yourself an allowance and limit

Shopping online or anywhere else is fun. You can still enjoy the thrill of Amazon shopping without going overboard

You can cut down on your Amazon spending by giving yourself a monthly shopping allowance and sticking to it. Having a dedicated budget will help you shop smarter.

  1. Don’t be fooled by the 5% savings offer

Amazon online

The ‘subscribe and save’ feature offering 5% savings on purchases is a nice benefit for Amazon Prime members, but it also leads to overspending and can cost you more in the long run. Furthermore, the 5% savings may still not be cheaper than if you shopped around.

When you set up the subscribe and save, it’s set up on auto-delivery and most people don’t manage the frequency for their deliveries or end up setting up auto-delivery on items they really don’t need, which ends up blowing your budget.

  1. Don’t just buy because it’s on sale

Even if an item is a “necessity,” make sure you actually need it before purchasing simply because it’s a daily deal or special sale.

Buying a product that you need on sale is great. But buying it just because it’s on a flash sale is more costly in the long run.

  1. Have a designated day to shop

To curb your Amazon shopping craving, it could make sense to designate an Amazon shopping day, whether it’s once a week, twice a month or once a month.

If you have only one day to shop on Amazon, it will encourage you to plan your shopping list. And this will help you cut down on your Amazon spending.

Beauty or beast?

Online shopping can be both a blessing and a curse. The beauty is that it saves you the time and the inconvenience of in-person mall shopping. The bad side is that it can throw you out of balance financially if you do not curb your impulses.

Recognizing the beauty and the beast will help you cut down on your Amazon online spending.

References:

Go Banking

True Trae

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