A while back I wrote an article titled Forgot your Coupon? These Retailers Still Got your Back where I talked about some strategies to save money even when you enter certain stores without a coupon. So it makes sense this week that I talk about how to save money online at some popular retail websites when you can’t find a coupon code to use.

It revolves around the growing ‘Live Chat’ coupon trend and how many operators are trained to hand out coupon codes to polite shoppers that simply ask.

I did the research and found a dozen of the most popular retailers that’ll hand out a coupon code via live chat to shoppers who play their cards right.

Here is what I discovered (in alphabetical order):

American Eagle Outfitters.com

The folks at American Eagle Outfitters just recently started a live chat feature so I though I’d test it out in the hopes of scoring a coupon. Here is what I discovered:

• The operator I spoke with immediately hooked me up with a 40% off coupon code.
• Daliris also told me about coupon exclusions which in my case included AE jeans for some reason.

Always ask about the exclusions so you don’t waste a bunch of time shopping only to find out what you want to buy is excluded from the coupon.

See Also: 15 Smart Hacks to Save Money at American Eagle

Bass Pro Shops.com

One popular online store that readily hands out coupons via Live Chat is Bass Pro Shops.com which is a huge shopping destination for hunters, fishermen, and outdoors-men. If you can’t find a coupon the traditional way, be sure to pull up a live chat session and politely hit up Debi (or whoever you get) to see if they have a coupon code up their sleeves. A few tips:

• Always be polite and courteous when asking for a coupon since your words are all you have when trying to score an online discount.
• Debi immediately hooked me up with a coupon code good for free shipping on my entire order. This coupon did exclude boats, but luckily I’m not in the market for a new boat.

If live chat fails to bring you a coupon at Bass Pro Shops make sure to check out their Facebook page as they have currently have a couple coupons posted on their w

Dress Barn.com

For those who love to shop for bargains at DressBarn.com you’re going to want to get well acquainted with their Live Char feature. Here are a few tips:

• I got the impression that my operator, Laurel, had a big list of coupon codes at her disposal. I say this because she said “Try PRES14” as if she had other codes up her sleeve if for some reason it didn’t work.
• So if you’re buying more than 1 item, or any sale items, ask the Dress Barn operator for a coupon that better fits your online order. I think you’ll be happily surprised with the results.

Footlocker.com

I can only assume that the Foot Locker Live Chat operators are sitting at their desk wearing a striped ref shirt with a whistle around their neck.

• My Foot Locker live chat buddy, Aaron, hooked me up with a free shipping on $75 or more coupon code. Not great, but if you shop regularly at Foot Locker you already know that most of their shoes are priced above $75.
• I tried to get something better out of Aaron, like 20% off, but he did not have another coupon for me. He said that later in the month he’d have a 20% off coupon, but nothing right now.

I asked him if better Footlocker coupons typically come out later in the month and he confirmed this to be true.

Home Depot.com

Next, I hit up Jen via Live Chat at The Home Depot.com and asked her for a coupon code. She was unable to provide one but she did offer a pretty cool service that is worth sharing.

• I told her I was doing a kitchen remodel and looking for a coupon for a new dishwasher. The washer was already on sale for close to 25% off and no additional savings were available but she was incredibly familiar with the washer and was able to answer all my questions. Very handy if you are doing a big remodel and have a bunch of questions.
• Jen was by far the most helpful live chat operator I have ever talked to in terms of product knowledge, well done Home Depot.

See Also: 7 Out-of-the-Box Ways to Save Money at The Home Depot

J.Jill.com

I was really impressed with the Live Chat operator at J.Jill.com, who ironically was also named Jill. I wonder if they only hire gals named Jill? But anyways, she really went beyond the call of duty.

• First, Jill hooked me up with a free shipping coupon and then she dropped the 411 on where to find the best deals. She told me J.Jill was offering their entire ‘Sale and Outlet’ section for an additional 30% off for a limited time. No code needed.
• I love when live chat operators tell me where they most savings can be found on that particular day.

Also be sure to follow J.Jill on Twitter as they are known for dropping exclusive coupons on their feed on a weekly basis.

L.L.Bean.com

L.L.Bean is known for their quality clothing and outstanding customer service that includes a 100% satisfaction guarantee. These days they always offer free shipping on your purchase but rarely have other coupons. Your chances increase greatly if you use their Live Chat feature as they want you to finalize your purchase today. Here’s the best strategy:

• Be polite, maybe even compliment them on how happy you have been with prior L.L.Bean purchases. In other words, butter them up a little then ask for a coupon to help you save a little money today.
• I was able to get a 10% off coupon code to apply to my purchase. Not huge savings, but well worth the few minutes it took to get my discount.

Lands’ End.com

There is little doubt the Live Chat feature at Lands’ End will pay off for you in one way or another. Here is your best strategy for savings:

• By being polite and direct I was able to score an online coupon for 30% off all merchandise with free shipping on $50 or more.
• Lori, my live chat operator, was very receptive to helping me save some money and she had excellent knowledge of Lands’ End sizing and styles which was a very nice bonus.

If you can’t find a Lands’ End coupon always open up a live chat session and politely ask for one. Chance of success: 95% at the very least.

Office Depot.com

I opened up an Office Depot live chat session I was not very confident that I would get a coupon code as they can be pretty tight about handing them out. But my buddy Bobbi delivered the goods. Here is your best strategy:

• I simply asked for a $10 off $50 or more coupon and was given it right out of the box, next time I will amp it up and ask for a 20% off coupon. I got nothing to lose.
• Also, it is worth noting that over the years I have received tips that the Office Depot Facebook page is also a great resource to score a coupon when ‘Live Chat’ doesn’t deliver the goods.

See Also: 9 Awesomely Clever Ways to Save Cash at Walmart

Shutterfly.com

I was really impressed with the customer service Shutterfly.com live chat employee “Sweety” gave me. Here is how it went down:

• After I asked her if she had any coupons I could use, she asked me to make sure my order was in my virtual shopping cart so she could take a look at it and find the best coupon for me. Pretty cool.
• After I placed my photo-book in my cart, she took a look at it and came back with the very generous offer of a $10 credit on my photo-book on top of the 25% off site-wide offer Shutterfly was already offering.

Shutterfly Key: Make sure you add the maximum number of stuff you want to order in your cart, open a Live Chat session and start negotiating the best coupon you can get.

Sierra Trading Post.com

If you’re a frequent shopper at Sierra Trading Post.com you’ll want to use their Live Chat feature to get a coupon code before you finalize your online purchase. Here is the skinny:

• Just open up your chat session right when you get to their site and politely ask them if they have any coupons to help on your purchase.
• My chat rep, Cory, immediately hooked me up with a 30% off $75 or more code. If you’re making a purchase under $75, ask if they have a 25% off coupon available as they often do.

Snapfish.com

For those of you not familiar with Snapfish, similar to Shutterfly, they specialize in taking your photos and turning them into amazing prints, gifts, and cool books and calendars. Your order total can add up pretty quickly so be sure to hit up the Snapfish live chat feature and ask for a coupon code.

• I simply asked for a coupon code, nothing specific, and my buddy “Shashank” hooked me up with a 30% off coupon. I couldn’t help but think of Morgan Freeman as I collected my savings.
• They also offer up free shipping coupons regularly so if your order is fairly small, consider asking live chat for a free shipping coupon as it will often save you more money than a 30% off code.

Ask the Reader: Have you had any success scoring a coupon code at other online retailers using their ‘Live Chat’ feature? Please let me know in the comments and I’ll check it out – thanks!

By Kyle James

Photo credit to reynermedia.

Last year Amazon bumped up the price of their Prime Membership from $119 to $139 annually. This got me thinking about the value of Prime, and do shoppers actually get enough out of it every year to make it worth the money? Does it make you overspend? Does it make you a lazy shopper? To those 3 questions I say No, Yes, Yes. Keep on reading to see why…

1. Amazon Already Has Free Shipping on $25+

I mean sure, the free 2-day shipping on all orders is a great incentive, but are you aware that Amazon already offers free shipping on $25+ orders?

For those who say, “But most of my purchases are under $25 and won’t qualify for free shipping.” To them I say make sure and combine orders until you reach the $25 threshold.

Have a little will-power on purchases and wait until you have several items you need to buy before you make an order.

The idea that you must have something in 2-days means you should probably be heading to your local Walmart, Target, or grocery store to buy it.

If you are a shopper that buys stuff online and always “Needs It NOW” and you’ll happily pay for expedited shipping to make it happen, then the Prime membership will definitely save you money, but I think this is a pretty small percentage of the population.

See Also: 6 Brilliantly Slick Ways to Get Amazon Prime for FREE

2. Prime Membership Makes You a Lazy Shopper

This may be the single biggest reason why the Amazon Prime membership is a bad buy.

Put simply, it makes many consumers flat out lazy.

They don’t compare pricing, they don’t haggle for a better price, they don’t take advantage of retailer’s price match policies, and they sure as heck don’t seek out coupons in order to get the best deal possible.

Instead they head straight to Amazon.com and click a single ‘Buy It Now’ button and viola!, it magically appears on their doorstep two days later.

Many shoppers at this point will make the argument that Amazon always has low prices so I don’t need to be a smart consumer. WRONG!

3. Amazon is a “Walmart-Wolf” in Sheep’s Clothing

When it comes to branding, Jeff Bezos and the marketing team at Amazon are absolute geniuses.

Over the years they have kept the brand “cool” in the eyes of consumers while the Walmarts of the world are seen as a company who ruins the little guy, pinches suppliers to death, and offers low paying jobs and sub-par health benefits.

One of the ways Amazon pulls this off is by not having a human face on the business.

There is not a minimum-wage earning senior citizen greeting you when you shop at Amazon and there’s very little written about the Amazon warehouse employees.

Employees toiling in the gigantic Amazon warehouses have very little voice and Amazon likes it that way.

See Half of Amazon’s warehouse workers are injured after just 3 years from Fortune to get a glimpse behind the Amazon curtain.

So why do I bring this up?

I don’t want you to just accept Amazon and the Prime membership as a alternative to the Walmart culture and way of doing business.

In the end, there is NOT a huge difference between the two.

4. Ridiculously Easy to Overspend

I’m going to get a little psychological with you for a minute.

I believe that many Amazon Prime members feel they need to shop with them as much as possible in order to recoup the membership fee.

I have talked with enough loyal Amazon shoppers over the years to confirm this phenomena.

So what is the outcome?

People buying everything under the sun from Amazon, often paying much more than they would at their local store, in order to get the free 2-day shipping.

Overspending up the wazoo.

I would also make the argument that the biggest reason for Amazon potentially raising the cost of the Prime membership is because they know people will end up buying more from them in an effort to make sure they “get their money’s worth”.

5. Prime 2-Day Shipping Doesn’t Always Happen

If you’re a Prime member, you probably noticed during the COVID pandemic that Amazon was having a hard time getting packages to your front door in their guaranteed 2-day window.

Well the pandemic ended a LONG time ago and Amazon is STILL having trouble in many areas of the country.

Yet they keep raising the price of Prime and people go along with it like sheep.

Don’t believe me? Check out the 900+ comments on the article I wrote about this Amazon shipping problem.

People are dropping Prime like a bad habit EVERY single day.

BONUS – Prime Membership Savings Tips:

If you’re on the fence about dropping the cash on an Amazon.com Prime membership, I have a few tips to minimize your costs.

1. Free 30 day trial. Amazon offers prospective members a free 30-day trial.

I typically recommend shoppers to sign-up for their trial just before Black Friday so they can do all their Christmas shopping and get free 2-day delivery.

Once you start your free trial, track your purchases and your savings in terms of shipping costs.

Add them up at the end of the month and times it by 12 to get a rough idea of your annual savings.

2. Get Amazon price alerts. If you end up (or already are) a Prime member you need to start using Amazon price alert services like CamelCamelCamel.com that allows you to create Amazon price trackers on products you want to purchase.

The free services will send you an email when the price of your item drops below a predetermined price point GUARANTEEING you always get the lowest price and don’t overspend.

Ask the Reader: Are you an Amazon Prime member? If so, do you think it’s worth the money or is it a terrible buy? Also, do you think it makes you overspend and not research the best price?

By Kyle James

Sure we’re all aware of the usual spots to find coupons, your neighbor’s Sunday paper, online websites like Rather-Be-Shopping.com, your email inbox, and your actual mailbox. But if those are the only places you’re looking for coupons you clearly need to update our strategy. With new technology, public restrooms, airport lounges. and social media it is a whole new ball game. Here are 13 spots you need to add right now to your coupon collecting strategy.

Hit Up a Live Chat Operator

I have talked about this before on my blog, just hit up a live chat operator for a coupon when shopping online.

Tell them you’re a starving college student and can’t afford to pay the shipping charges. The key is to be polite and non-assuming.

It will blow your mind with just how many online stores give their live chat operators a coupon code to hand out if you’ll ask for it. For retailers, it is a great way to build loyal customers who’ll come back and buy time after time.

Store Bathroom (Yes, you read that correctly)

The last time I was at my favorite “Man Cave” store, also known as Harbor Freight Tools, I had to visit the privy as nature called while I was examining the miter saws.

While sitting on the throne I happened to look down and their shining in the golden sunlight (at least I think it was sunlight) sat the most beautiful thing in the entire world.

A 25% off any 1 item coupon on the back of a Harbor Freight weekly flyer. No joke peeps, it was so awesome. I quickly snatched it up, washed my hands three times, and proceeded to save $18.48. Moral of the story: Always check the crapper for a coupon.

See Also: Forgot Your Coupon? No Worries, These Stores Will Help You Out

Airports

You might be thinking I am totally off my rocker on this one, why would any balanced human being go to the airport to collect coupons? The obvious places to look at the airport include discarded newspapers and magazines. The not so obvious places to look include lounge areas and technology kiosks where frequent flyers tend to hangout.

If you fly Southwest Airlines regularly, keep an eye out for Southwest drink coupons as they’ll make you some nice cash on eBay.com. As a matter of fact, a package of 4 coupons will fetch you close to $20.

Would I go out of my way to look for coupons at the airport? Probably not. But if I’m a frequent flyer and have to be there anyways, I absolutely would get my coupon hunt on.

Don’t Buy It, You Might Get Rewarded

The next time you’re shopping online and about to make a significant purchase, do NOT click the finalize button, instead close your browser and grab a cold adult beverage and wait for a coupon.

Many online retailers like Best Buy, Bass Pro Shops, and even Zappos.com has been known to send you a coupon via email to try and entice you to come back and finalize your purchase. Here are some tips on how to make the abandon your virtual shopping cart strategy a big ol’ coupon yielding success.

Tweet for Discounts

If you don’t like paying full price and you’re NOT following your favorite retailers on Twitter, you’re an idiot. Simple as that.

A solid majority of retailers are now using their Twitter feeds as a way to not only stay in touch with their loyal customer base, but also as a way to hand out coupons and insider tips on upcoming sales and promotions. Go follow your favs RIGHT NOW.

Scour the Parking Lot

Similar to the coupon by the toilet idea, you can also find coupons laying around in the parking lot as well as near the entrance to stores. People discard them if they aren’t needed and unfortunately they don’t always make it to the trash.

Your best bet is to look for store flyers as they often have coupons in them. Also look near the cashier registers and dressing rooms for store flyers.

See Also: 45+ Stores Offering FREE Shipping with NO Minimum

Buddy Up with an Employee

Get to know a store employee or two at your favorite stores. This especially works great at home improvement stores like Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Ace Hardware. When I worked in the paint department at The Home Depot I got to know several of our regular customers quite well and I was able to save them significant money by informing them of upcoming sales and coupon events.

Be sure to do the same as the opportunities for savings are quite significant, especially on larger purchases. Oh, and if you are a big DIY’er this is a total no-brainer.

Buy Cheap Coupons on eBay.com

Are you aware that eBay.com currently has over 100,000 listings selling coupons for not only the grocery store but also popular retailers like Kohl’s, American Eagle, Old Navy, and Home Depot. Many are auctions and tons of them are listed as ‘Buy It Now’.

Buying coupons off eBay makes the most sense on larger purchases that you know you’re going to make anyways. Things like flooring for your home from The Home Depot, a new television from Best Buy, or new clothing for back-to-school from American Eagle.

Totally makes sense to buy a 25% off coupon for a few bucks when your savings will easily pass the amount paid for the coupon.

Hop on the Coupon Train

Get on board the coupon train and start saving some dough. Essentially a coupon train works by the “conductor” mailing 50-200 coupons to the first person on the coupon train list.

He/she takes the coupons they need and mails the rest to the next person on the list. So on, and so on, until almost all of the coupons are taken. The best spot to give it a try is at my buddy Kim’s site, MommySavers.com.

Student Unions

I literally lived off Subway coupons that I found in the student union and campus post office at the college I attended. The coupons were good for 1 FREE foot-long sub when you buy 1 foot-long. It was a crazy good coupon and essentially gave me 2 meals for right around 5 bucks.

While Subway probably doesn’t have coupons that good any more, there is no doubt that many up and coming restaurants do. If you’re a student this is a total no-brainer.

If you love a good deal and aren’t in school, it may still be a decent strategy if you have a campus nearby. Side-note: In college I once ate 2 foot-long subs from Subway for lunch. Once in college I also clogged the toilet.

See Also: Target Stores Are Closing…Here Are All the Stores So Far

Cereal Boxes

Did you know that most cereal boxes still contain a coupon or two? I thought this was a rumor from the 1980’s but I recently tested it out and scored coupons for guess what, more cereal.

My three kids practically live off of Golden Grahams and Cinnamon Toast Crunch so why not collect coupons to save a few bucks the next time we stock up. Kinda makes sense, right?

Waiter or Waitress

Are you too cheap to ask your waiter or waitress if they have a coupon for the next time you come in to eat? Not me. It all comes down to how you frame it.

Say something like, “I absolutely loved my meal and was wondering if you have any coupons for the next time I come in?” Chance of success…highly positive.

Ask the Reader: Do you have any other awesome ways to find a coupon? Let me know all about it in the comments.

By Kyle James