When it comes to shopping at a physical store or shopping online, you can often save money by shopping online. Online retailers typically have less overheads to cover – they don’t have to pay for a shop location or as many staff – which means they don’t have to price products as high to make a profit. These price savings can be particularly high for certain products. Below are just some examples of products that are significantly cheaper to buy online.
Baby supplies
Products like nappies, baby wipes and formula milk are typically cheaper to buy online. This is because you are more likely to find bulk discounts online. You can also sometimes pick up second-hand unused supplies online very cheaply – sites like Vinted and Facebook Marketplace are great places to look.
Pet food
Like baby supplies, pet food can be bought in bulk very cheaply online. These bulk discounts typically aren’t found in physical stores. Just be wary of expiry dates when buying pet food in bulk – while dry foods like kibble have a long shelf life, many wet foods can expire within a year.
Make-up
You can also find great deals on makeup at sites like eBay and Amazon compared to when buying the same makeup brands at a physical store. An added benefit is that there is a greater range of make-up options to choose from – although sampling them can be more tricky.
Fitness equipment
Fitness equipment can also be a lot cheaper to buy online than in store. This is particularly the case when shopping from exclusively online fitness stores. Second hand fitness equipment can also be found online at sites like Gumtree for very low prices.
Glasses
You could save as much as 40% when buying glasses online compared to when buying glasses at a physical store. Of course, physical opticians are still necessary if you need to book an eye test. However, if you know your prescription, you may find that you can buy a cheaper pair of glasses online than at a high street optician.
Jewellery
Jewellery can often cost 30% less when bought online (some items may even be 50% cheaper). High street jewellers often price items much higher because they have such large overheads to consider including staff wages and security. Of course, you cannot try jewellery on when shopping online, which is the downside.
Printer ink
Looking to buy some cheap printer ink? You could spend 50% less when buying from an online store compared to a physical store. Used printer ink can also be bought very cheaply online, however you should also ask about the expiry date before purchasing such ink.
Books
Amazon famously began as an online book store. To this day, it remains a great place to buy books – they are often much cheaper than when bought from other stores. Shopping online for books also gives you the option of downloading eBooks, which are almost always cheaper than paperback versions. Some eBooks can even be downloaded for free if you have an Amazon Prime account.
