2.4. Using coupons and discount codes; Coupon Codes + Rebates = Great Deals!

Do you remember how frustrated you were standing in that long line at your favorite store, trying desperately to take advantage of their semi-annual end-of-season sale, or whatever scheme they may be running that week? That frustration is a thing of the past because these days most popular online retailers including Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Staples, Gap, and Old Navy offer online coupons to encourage consumer spending and loyalty.

The world of online retailing is a very competitive place and there are always discounts and perks being offered to win customers. The brick and mortar stores rely on weekly sales to motivate buyers. The online merchants use discount codes in the same manner.

The only problem is that you have to know where to find the coupons and how to use them. It happens many a times that you see a box when you are checking out at your favorite online retailer saying, "Enter Coupon Code", and said to yourself, "Whoa, where do I get one of those?".

One problem is that these codes are not usually advertised on the online stores. The main purpose of the discounts is to get buyers to come to the sites, so normally they will not tell you about them if you are already there. You need a place to locate the codes before you go shopping. You need to check out the coupon code sites.

These coupon codes can offer you anything from '$10 off your $50 purchase' to "Get Free shipping on your $30 order".

Although many of the discounts are for first time buyers, the online retailers have started to offer more deals for returning shoppers. Typically the codes can only be used once per customer. Some stores run multiple concurrent codes and allow each one to be used once.

You will find a wide range of discounts. Codes for $10 off $30, $30 off $150 and the like are quite common. While these are nice discounts, they certainly are not freebies. You will, however occasionally find a dollars off code with no minimum purchase.

Even better than the no minimum purchase are the real deals that can result from combining a coupon code with a big rebate. You can find these combinations yourself if you spend enough time searching. Often, the various coupon code sites will point out the best of these deals.