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Use these simple tricks to avoid online retailers’ sneaky price increases

Published Aug 5th, 2015 4:50PM EDT
Online Shopping Tips How To Avoid Price Increases

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Have you ever seen a product online whose price mysteriously increased from the time you first spotted it to the time you added it to your cart and proceeded to checkout? WiseBread explains that many online retailers use “dynamic pricing” systems in which they will “change the price of a product depending on factors like your browsing or purchase history, operating system, and even your zip code.” Thankfully, however, there are some simple ways to beat this system that mostly involve being smart with how you search for things to buy online.

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One trick you can employ is to use two separate browsers when shopping online, one for searching and one for buying. If you use Chrome to search for clothes and then use Internet Explorer to actually buy those clothes, the retailer won’t know that you’ve frequented its website recently and will sell you goods at a non-inflated price. Along the same lines, it’s a good idea to browse for clothes using an “incognito mode” tab in Chrome so retailers won’t be able to track your search history.

It’s also a good idea to disable cookies on both browsers so the retailer’s website won’t have any data on what you’ve been browsing or buying during your time online.

These are just some great tricks to avoid sneaky online retailer price hikes. To see more, you should really check out WiseBread’s full article by clicking here.

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.