How to Get the Best Deal on Online Products

Nowadays, it feels like there are a ton of products popping up to help you with your website traffic, SEO, and making money online, as well as various course and membership forums. So how do you know which ones are right for you, and how do you get the best deal?

Research the Product

First of all, let’s look at how you can learn as much as possible about a product before you buy. Because it’s not a good deal if it turns out to be not a good product.

Google It

Google product name review and product name scam. These are the most important search terms you can know when checking out a product before you are going to buy it. Try to look for names that you recognize and trust when it comes to write ups about the product.

Check out a few different reviews – if they are all similar, chances are the have been copied and pasted from a generic “sales post” written by the product’s creator. Look for the reviews that are unique – those are the ones from people who have actually looked at or used the product and are giving a (hopefully) honest review.

Turn to Forums

Depending on the type of product, forums are a good place to search for opinions, especially forums that don’t allow members to post affiliate links – these are the ones that will likely have an unbiased review. Try a search for the product name, and if that fails, join the forum and ask people if they know of the product and have any experience with it.

Ask Your Followers

If you have a sufficient group of followers on Twitter or Facebook, ask them if they have heard of a product and what their thoughts are on it. A few months ago, I simply asked my followers which theme was better: X theme or Y theme. The response was pretty unanimous as to which was the best based on the number of people who had tried it and did or did not like it.

Contact Info

Make sure you can find contact information for whomever the product creator is, and preferably multiple avenues of contact (email, Twitter, blog, website form, and phone number). If there is more than one person behind the product, get their information as well and make sure you keep it handy, just in case there are any issues with the product.

Getting the Best Deal

If, after research, you have decided the product is right for you, here is the best way to stretch your hard earned dollars.

Coupon Codes

Heading back to Google, search product name code, product name coupon code, product name discount code, and so on. If there are discounts out there, they should popup.

Strike a Deal with a Well Known Affiliate

If it’s a particularly expensive product (namely the affiliates get hundreds of dollars in commissions), and you know an affiliate for the product really well (and I mean really, really well), see if they will cut you a deal. You will buy the product from them, and they will split the commission with you, which is like a discount for you and a sale for them. A win-win situation, especially for an affiliate that isn’t selling much product.

Leave That Page

Don’t buy right away from the sales page. Close it. Worst case scenario, you have to open it again. Best case scenario, there is a “Wait, before you leave” popup that will lead to an discounted offer, or an offer with additional bonuses to sweeten the deal.

I have seen a few that closing the second page leads to a third, but they are rare, and sometimes you miss out on the second page deal. You can always try it to see what happens, then open the deal up from another computer to get that second page deal back again.

Refunds

Trial Periods and Cancellation Deadlines

Make note of any trial periods or cancellation times (especially important for courses, memberships, or offers that will charge full price at the end of the trial period). Be sure to buy the product when you will be able to dedicate the next however many days to really try it out and make sure it is a perfect fit, that way you don’t miss out on the window to get a refund if it turns out to not be the right product for you.

If you have to, set a reminder in your calendar, phone, etc. a day or two before the trial period / refund availability expires, that way you have time to contact the right people to get your trial / subscription cancelled while you still can.

Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for a Refund

If, for some reason, you’ve gone past the deadline, or there is an anytime money back guarantee and the product is really wrong for you, don’t be shy to ask for a refund. Give your honest reasons as to why you are asking for your money back, but in a polite and courteous way. Again, the worst they will say is no. But it doesn’t hurt to ask, because there is nothing worse than paying for something you don’t need.

Become an Affiliate

Finally, if you end up keeping and truly enjoying a product, membership, etc. that you purchase, and that product has an affiliate program, become an affiliate by all means. Writing an honest review and sharing it with an audience who trusts your opinions will lead to sales, and you could effectively make up the up-front cost of the product with your sales.

Sometimes, products don’t have easy to find advertising for their affiliate programs – again, Google is your friend. Search product name affiliate and product name partners are good terms to find out whether your product has an affiliate program that you can join.

Your Online Product Purchase Strategy

Do you research products before purchasing them? What other ways can you think of to prevent purchasing something you don’t need, as well as ways to ensure you get the best for your money’s worth?