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How to find discount codes for (almost) everything you buy

Just because you don't have a promo code at the ready doesn't mean you can't find one before clicking Submit Order. The key is knowing when and where to look.

rickbroida
rickbroida
Rick Broida Senior Editor
Rick Broida is the author of numerous books and thousands of reviews, features and blog posts. He writes CNET's popular Cheapskate blog and co-hosts Protocol 1: A Travelers Podcast (about the TV show Travelers). He lives in Michigan, where he previously owned two escape rooms (chronicled in the ebook "I Was a Middle-Aged Zombie").
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Rick Broida
2 min read

You know the old saying: nothing ventured, nothing discounted. Or something like that.

If you buy a lot of stuff online, you've no doubt experienced the pang of longing that occurs when faced with a Discount/Promotion Code box on an e-tailer's checkout page. If only you had a code, maybe you'd save a few bucks. Or even score free shipping.

Before you click Submit Order, it pays to spend a few minutes code-searching. There might just be one out there waiting for you to copy and paste.

newegg-promo-code-box.jpg

A code, a code, my kingdom for a code!

 Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET

For example, I recently ordered a bunch of household water filters from Filters-now.com. (Seriously, I buy everything online.) When I got to the checkout page, sure enough, there was the Promo Code box.

So I did what I always do: I opened a new tab, ran a quick Google search ("Filters-now code"), and looked for options from the various code-aggregating sites that appeared in the results: CouponCabin, Dealspl.us, RetailMeNot and so on.

Sure enough, I found a 10-percent-off coupon -- and it worked! My 60 seconds of searching saved me a total of $8.36 -- not a fortune, but certainly worth the effort.

Don't feel like putting in the effort? Consider a browser plug-in that will do the heavy lifting for you. Coupons at Checkout, CouponSumo and Honey will automatically search for and apply codes for whatever store you're currently shopping.

honey-at-newegg.jpg
Enlarge Image
honey-at-newegg.jpg

Wait, I can get $25 off $200 if I pay with PayPal? Thanks, Honey! I'd never have known about that without you.

 Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET

Now, caveat search-or: This kind of code wrangling doesn't always pay off. Sometimes my searches come up empty, or the codes I find don't work. Likewise, an automated tool like Honey doesn't always score. On the flip-side, if it finds a lot of codes for any given store, your checkout might be delayed while it tries them all.

But you know the old saw: nothing ventured, nothing discounted. It never hurts to try. A few extra minutes might just save you a few bucks -- and maybe even more than a few. Give it a whirl the next time you buy.

And if you've scored a particularly awesome code, hit the comments and tell me how much you saved!