There’s no better feeling than getting a great deal on a product you want—and price comparison apps can help you achieve that!
We think you’ll agree that this is not an exaggeration: There are few better feelings in the world than getting a great deal on a product you’ve been dying to buy. That’s why we all wait on the edge of our seats for monster sales like Black Friday and Cyber Monday—because getting the item you want at a discounted price is nothing short of euphoric.
Perhaps the only better feeling is buying said item at a discounted price, and then seeing it in stores or online for double the price. Wow, can that make you float!
On the flip side though, there are few worse feelings in the world than making a purchase and then discovering that the item was half-off somewhere else. Oh, the agony!
How can we avoid that pain and at the same time increase our feelings of euphora on a daily basis?
3 words: Price comparison apps.
Price comparison apps are designed to find you the best deals, and most of them feature millions of products in hundreds of categories. Which means that whether you’re looking for a laptop, running shoes, a children’s swimming pool, or a doghouse, you’ll be able to get the best deal by using one of these apps. It also means that you don’t need to wait for holiday and seasonal sales to get the best price on whatever it is your jonesing for.
But with so many price comparison apps out there, how can you decide which one you should use?
Consider the Features
In order to decide which app to choose, it can help to zero in on what exactly you want to get out of your app, and then, choose one that includes these features.
Online Shopping Versus In-Store Shopping
People who prefer shopping in stores will want an app that includes a barcode scanner. Fortunately, this is the raison d’etre of many top-rated price comparison apps, including ShopSavvy, Purchx, ScanLife, Now Discount, and Quick Scan. A barcode scanner allows you to simply scan the item with your phone, and then get quick price comparisons from other stores or sites.
For people who prefer to shop online, not to worry—most price comparison apps that come with barcode scanners also come with QR scanners and the ability to find you the best online deals. With a QR scanner, you can search for products online and then scan their QR codes with your phone—so you never have to leave your seat to get the best deals.
And even price comparison apps that don’t come with barcode or QR scanners can still find you the best deals—apps like BuyVia, PriceGrabber, TTPM, and Shopular.
Perhaps the highest-level price comparison apps (like Purchx and ScanLife) are those that compare prices between local stores and online sites; with these apps, you don’t need to only order online or only shop in stores. In each individual situation, you can decide where and how it’s more convenient for you to make your purchase.
Coupons, Cash Back, and Reviews
Some of these apps, including BuyVia and Shopular, not only compare prices, but send you coupons as well. This means that in certain situations, you can find a great deal and on top of that use a coupon to save even more money.
These two particular apps also include a cash back feature, which means that whenever you make a purchase through the app, you’ll get a percentage of that money sent back to you.
Other apps, like ShopSavvy, Amazon, Purchx, and others, come with the great additional feature of product reviews, which allows you to read real customer reviews of the product before purchasing it. After all, it’s great if you find a laptop on sale for $100, but if all the product reviews say that the laptop is utterly useless, it’s definitely not worth the $100!
Niche Products
Most price comparison apps will find you the best deals on every single product under the sun. There are others, however, that have a niche offering, like ShopSavvy, which is geared toward tech products and gadgets, and TTPM, which will find you the best prices on kids’ toys and pet products. If you’re a techie, you may gravitate toward ShopSavvy; if you’re a mother of 5 kids, TTPM might be more up your alley.
On the other hand, bear in mind that many of the general price comparison apps have the option to search by category, and can then make product suggestions based on your previous searches.
How Much Are You Actually Saving?
While there’s truly no better feeling than finding a great deal, let’s all be honest with ourselves for a moment—using a price comparison app takes time. This is true regardless of which app you choose; the fact is, reading product reviews and comparing prices can take hours.
For those with desk jobs who have that time to spare, God bless. For others, those hours will come at the expense of other things: Housework, professional work, socializing, sleep, etc. Most of us are willing to make that time investment, not just because of the money we’ll save, but because of the enjoyment of the actual process.
That’s right—it’s not just getting a deal that’s fun, but it’s the actual shopping for a deal that’s fun too.
But because we all know that time is money, it’s important to at least be aware, and not to kid ourselves, that the money we save by using price comparison apps may just be spent elsewhere, albeit in a different currency: time.
The Spending Trap
There’s one more caveat that comes along with all of these price comparison apps, though it may sound funny. The deals on these apps are often so good and so enticing, that you may end up buying things you don’t really need, and thus, spend more money. If you have that money to spend, then you don’t need to worry. But if you’re on a budget, you’ll have to keep yourself in check and buy only what you need, not what’s on sale.
As you know, exercising that kind of self-control is not easy! But we’re confident that you can do it. Just keep your eyes on the goal: The goal is saving money on products you need. And for that, price comparison apps are simply excellent.
