When you are surfing the internet, looking for the best bargain or deal, we have told you how to find deals (link) and coupons (link) and buy through them. However, if you don’t even want to have to open an alert or go to your saved sites to find your deals, there are also several great products called Browser Extensions that can really help your search for the best deal!
Browser Extensions are simple downloads, or plug-ins, that integrate with your browser (be in Microsoft Edge, Chrome, Safari, Firefox or Opera) and do the deal searching for you.
Say you are shopping for a new pair of jeans for you or one of your children, you could be on the Old Navy site, or Amazon – wherever you shop – and the browser extension will recognize where you are and automatically search for any deals, money off, free shipping, etc for that brand and let you know right there and then.
How does it work?
The process for all the browser extensions are very simple. You give them permission to install the extension on your browser. Be wary of adding too many and be careful to read the small print. The extension will need to get access to your general shopping habits to provide the best service. However, make sure the company who owns the extension doesn’t give themselves the permission to sell your data to third parties. If you aren’t happy with the extension, they are very simple to remove. Right-click on the icon on your browser and pick ‘Remove’!
What are the leading products?
Honey
The current darling in the browser extension world is Honey. Honey has a huge reach, claiming to have relationships with over 20,000 stores, covering travel, food, clothes, tech – just about anything you could wish for.
Honey supports all the main 5 browsers and you can use the app without registering for an account. However, if you do open an account, you’ll access more savings. Once you have installed Honey, you shop no differently than you usually would. Honey will provide you with any promo codes, deals, and savings as you go. Once you get to the cart, the extension will add in your saving code automatically. Simple as that!
(Supports: Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari, and Opera, plus iOS and Android)
Wikibuy
Wikibuy has been one of The Bargain Radar staff’s favorites for some time now! It is, for all intents and purposes, very similar to Honey in the terms that it will try and find you deals. However, the main difference is that while Honey waits until you got to the checkout for whatever item or items you are buying, Wikibuy also searches for the same product in other online stores.
(Supports: Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari, and Opera, plus iOS and Android)
In addition to these two well-known extensions, there are a host of others in the market. Most of the survey and cash back sites have an accompanying extension: Swagbucks, MyPoints, ShopAtHome, Survey Junkie, and InboxDollars will all allow you to install and give you information on deals dependent on if the site you are on is included in their portfolio of cashback partners. Read more about these ‘Make Money’ companies in our dedicated article here.
There are some other extensions that have a slightly different angle, such as Gumdrop by Goodshop, which will deliver your deals to your browser, but they also build in a charitable donation you choose. Wallaby Financials’ extension gives another very useful angle, using their unique algorithm to advise you which of your credit cards you should use for any online purchase. Enabling you to maximize the number of points you earn for your various rewards plans, as well as knowing when your credit card payments are due and your credit limits.
The InvisibleHand product will get you some great deals on a large array of the usual retailers, but also has a real focus on showing you deals on travel, rental cars, hotels, and general travel. Another in the travel arena is Flight Fare Compare which searches for deals on Momondo, Kayak, and Skyscanner to find you the best deals.
There are basically browser extensions available to as many areas as you need. A huge number can also be used in combination. You could, for instance, use Wikibuy to find the best site to buy what you are looking for, then Honey to see what deals are available, then Wallaby to advise which credit card to use to maximize your rewards! The possibilities are endless!
