Great holiday deals still available online

Black Friday and Cyber Monday might be over, but the holiday deals aren't and one of the best places to find great savings is online, WRAL's Smart Shopper Fay Prosser said.

Posted 6:52 p.m. Dec 12, 2011 — Updated 11:54 p.m. Dec 12, 2011

RALEIGH, N.C. — Black Friday and Cyber Monday might be over, but the holiday deals aren't and one of the best places to find great savings is online, WRAL's Smart Shopper Fay Prosser said.

Specific websites, like RetailMeNot.com, guide shoppers to discount codes to save more cash.

"You key in the name of the store you are looking for, and it will come up with all these different codes," Prosser said. "The neat thing about it is that people can indicate if the code worked for them."

Another coupon code compiler is YourRetailHelper.com.

"She actually everyday is blogging about specific deals at specific stores that you may be looking for, and some of these are really hot deals," Prosser said.

Many online shopping sites allow users to enter more than one coupon code to save money on the purchase and get free shipping. Shoppers can search FreeShipping.org to determine if the store has a free shipping code.

Prosser said shoppers should never pay for shipping. If a free shipping code can't be found online, many stores like Best Buy will ship the item to a store nearby for self-pick up.

One of the best perks to the virtual mall, shoppers can actually be paid to shop online, Prosser said.

"One way to stack these deals on top of the free ship code and your percent off code is to go to a cash-back site like Ebates or Upromise.com," Prosser said.

Ebates will send shoppers a check with a percentage of their spending total. UPromise puts that money into a college savings fund.

Prosser warns that just because something is on sale doesn't make it a good buy or good product, so check for product reviews on sites like CNet.com. She also stresses that shoppers should make sure to use secure websites to shop and use their credit card instead of their debit card.

Stephane Daniel, who shops almost exclusively online, said he even saves money on flights to see family.

"In the old days, I would shop locally and take my gifts with me, but then I would have to pay for extra baggage to bring it up there. So, I send gifts directly to my brother, and they can wrap it for my nieces," he said.

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