Whether you are a blogger, an affiliate, or the average consumer, it is important to understand the different types of online coupons and deals. Tricia Meyer and Ashleigh Ball talk about the different types of codes and how to get the best deals shopping online. No matter where you get your coupons, there are some basic concepts and buzz words to learn about.

Show Notes

• Compare free shipping (minimums, no minimums) with flat rate shipping and figure out when they are good deals and when they are not.
• Percent off coupons and dollar off coupons from the same merchant can be confusing. Do the math to figure out which is better for you. Spending more to save more isn’t usually worth it.
• “Stacking” coupons is the best deal when it is possible. Not all merchants allow it but it is worth trying.
• “BOGO” can be “Buy One Get One Free” or “Buy One Get One Half Off” depending on the merchant and that makes a big difference.
• Read the fine print for exclusions such as brands or previously reduced merchandise.

Ashleigh is the Sunshine Rewards coupon and deal expert and Tricia has been in the deal site industry for over 7 years. They are both avid online shoppers who are always looking for the best deals possible.

Father’s Day is a little over a week away, which means that there is still time to order some great gifts for dad. Even if you are listening to our podcast a couple of days before Father’s Day, we’ve got some tips for gifts that will get to dad in time while not breaking your bank.

Show Notes:

• Electronics and Gadgets are still some of the most popular gifts for Father’s Day. You can get them quickly by using Amazon Prime or shopping online somewhere like Best Buy and picking up in-store. Roku is big in addition to Kindles. If you have a little more time, Paul’s TV has some amazing deals on televisions. Vann’s is also a good choice for a wide variety of gifts and great customer service.
• If dad is into gaming, check out Gamestop for some good deals on games.
• You can’t go wrong with food and drink gifts. Omaha Steaks is a favorite for most dads and you will get the most bang for your buck if you order one of the packages and meet the minimum for free shipping. Spend the extra money on food rather than FedEx.
• Popcorn is popular and there are a wide variety of merchants to choose from depending on what you want to spend. Some of our favorites are Popcorn Factory, Popcornopolis, Dale and Thomas, and Garrett Popcorn.
• Coffees of Hawaii is a little more exotic for the coffee-drinking dad. Choose from one-time purchase or a coffee delivery service.
• Two of Ashleigh’s favorites are Harry & David and My Wines Direct. Both are featuring specials right now for Father’s Day.
• If dad is into sports, Football Fanatics does 3-day shipping on all of their orders for $4.99. Their merchandise is not limited to football, and you can find professional as well as college teams.
• Event tickets are great if he loves live sports. Plus, you are creating an experience or a memory out of the gift. Many of the merchants are not working with cash back or coupon sites anymore so it is harder to get “deals” but if you watch eBay, StubHub, and Ticket Liquidators frequently you might get lucky.

Tricia’s on vacation most of the rest of the month so watch for the next podcast in early July. Unbelievably, we will already be looking at back to school purchases.

(Find us online: Tricia Meyer and Ashleigh Ball of Sunshine Rewards)

Mother’s Day is less than a week away but it is not too late to order terrific Mother’s Day gifts and have them arrive on time. Ashleigh and I shared our first podcast today to chat about our favorite options for last minute Mother’s Day gifts.

Show Notes:

• Flowers are obviously one of the first things that people think of for mom. Be sure that you understand the difference between flowers that are delivered via carrier and those that are same day delivery by local florists. Both are still available with plenty of time for delivery. Early delivery may be cheaper. Consider mixed bouquets or tulips rather than standard roses. Both of us preferred the deals at 1-800-FLOWERS but we discussed a number of others as well.
• Food and drinks are great for the moms who have everything. Mrs. Prindables has some great deals right now (Tricia’s favorite) including free shipping on select items. Another great choice is wine. You can get Cellars Wine Club deals plus they deliver to Indiana (and most other states). Ashleigh loves Harry & David as well as Fairytale Brownies.
• Jewelry is another standard choice but you can go traditional or bold with spring colors. Be sure to use Ice.com coupons or MyJewelryBox.com coupons because they can save you 20-25% off and both guarantee delivery by Mother’s Day still.
• Are gift certificates an appropriate gift for mom? They might be depending on the mom. If you do choose one, be sure that it is tailored specifically to her tastes so that she knows that you put some thought into it.

Lots of great ideas no matter what you Mother’s Day budget is. If you are an affiliate marketer, it is not too late to still push last minute gifts the whole way up until the weekend.

Find Ashleigh Ball at Sunshine Rewards and Tricia Meyer at Tricia.me and Helping Moms Connect.

Halloween is only a couple of weeks away, and Halloween shopping is in full swing. Besides the obvious (costumes), people are scooping up Halloween decor and treats. Cindy and Tricia review Halloween merchants and tell you where you can get some of the best deals and unique items (even places that are not known for their Halloween merchandise).

Show Notes:

• Tricia and Cindy wing it this week by not planning out in advance what they are going to talk about. That itself is scary.
• You can spend some big money on spooky Halloween decorations. Look for coupons!
• The Grim Reaper from SpiritHalloween.com really scares Tricia, and you can see a video of it here. (Someone should buy Cindy the life-size Jason or the Crawling Girl to freak her out)
• Congrats to BuyCostumes.com on their Commission Junction University win! Be sure to check out their deals under $10.
• Some popular costumes this year that Tricia has been working on promoting are Sookie Stackhouse, the Smurfs, and Wizards of Waverly Place. Twilight is still hot.
• A fun place to get candy for an adult Halloween party is Old Time Candy because they have candy by decades.

(Podcast participants: Tricia Meyer, Cindy Ballard from SunshineRewards.com)

With consumers trying to save money in any way that they can and merchants trying to retain loyal customers, merchants rewards program are popping up everywhere. Cindy and I surveyed our members to see which were their favorite merchant programs that they could combine with coupons and cash back. Whether you are a customer looking for deals or an affiliate looking for merchants to promote, you should get some great tips out of this podcast.

Show Notes:

• What are the point of the programs? To attract new customers or retain repeat customers? Some merchants make it easy to learn about their programs while others seem to hide them.
• Traditional cash programs where you get a percentage back from every purchase to spend later on the site. Great examples are drugstore.com dollars, eBay bucks, and Football Fanatics.
• Points programs where you get points for purchases and can later convert them to credits on the merchants site. Most popular included Best Buy Rewards Zone and 1800Flowers Fresh Rewards.
• Loyalty programs where you do not get get free merchandise credits but you might get even better deals. Prime examples are the Shoebuy 10% coupon for repeat buyers and the Sephora Beauty Insider program.

Next podcast: Deals of the Day. If you know of a merchant with a great Deal of the Day program, let us know and we will try to include it.

(Podcast participants: Tricia Meyer, Cindy Ballard from SunshineRewards.com)

Summer is in full swing now and most of us are looking to save money. Cindy and I talked today in our podcast about ways to save whether you are staying at home or traveling.

Show Notes:

• Travel and Entertainment: Some great ways to save money while staying at home include Entertainment Books and Restaurant.com. If you are trying to work in some inexpensive trips, check out Go Cards from Smart Destinations and Priceline for flexible plans ($12 rental cars!).
• Outdoor Fun: Have a pool? We like In the Swim and PoolProducts.com for our chemicals. Swimsuitsforall.com is a great place for a variety of swimsuits at good prices. Stock up on suntan lotion online so you don’t get stuck paying high prices for it at the grocery store or amusement park.
• Membership Clubs: Netflix and Blockbuster are obvious, but have you heard about BookSwim? It’s a fun way to read a lot of new books for one low monthly price. Gamers should check out GameFly. If you’re into audiobooks, Audible is a good option.

(Podcast participants: Tricia Meyer, Cindy Ballard from SunshineRewards.com)

May is a big time for graduations from preschool to high school to college. Although we don’t have anyone graduating this year, we have been seeing some great graduation shopping promotions on Sunshine Rewards. You can take advantage of them for graduates or just for yourself. If you are an affiliate marketer, it’s not too late to promote graduation gifts because many high schools do not hold graduation ceremonies until after Memorial Day.

Show Notes:

• First we talked about graduation party supplies and all of the cute items out right now. One of our favorites was the personalized banner. For as little as $15, you can get banners with the graduate’s name. Check out sites like Shindigz and Pinatas.com for tableware, banners, and decor. Oriental Trading Company has cute favors.
• Next we talked about the “commemorative gift category.” Some gifts serve the main purpose of remembering the particular occasion. Get a personalized item that the graduate will keep forever.
• Lastly, we talked about gifts that will help the graduate in their “next step” in life. These really have to be tailored to the age of the graduate and what they are doing after they graduate. A nice laptop bag or even luggage would be great at the high school or college age. Also think about all of the things they might use in a college dorm or apartment.

(Podcast participants: Tricia Meyer, Cindy Ballard)

Mother’s Day is May 9, and we are two moms who know the perfect gifts at the best prices. We shopped around to find some great gift ideas in different categories.

Show Notes:

• Traditional Gifts: candy, flowers, cookies, perfume, and jewelry. Some interesting ideas this year included (Cindy’s favorite) ThePerfumeSpot.com, the planters at 1-800-Flowers (after Tricia saw them on Undercover Boss), Corso’s Cookies, chocolate covered strawberries at CCBerries, Mother’s jewelry from Limoges.com, and treats from Hannah’s Caramel Apples.
• Cool Gifts for Cool Moms: Customized gifts from A Gift Personalized, affordable and “funky cute” (in the words of Jillian) jewelry from Emitations, Zip It bags, spring nail polish from Sephora, tea makers from Teavana, and wine collections from MyWinesDirect.
• Mom Who Has Everything: Custom print from Canvas Press, stationery from Expressionery, and food from Gourmet Station.
• We touched on a lot of the coupons and sales that you can jump on for most of the above if you shop soon. You should be able to find them all at Sunshine Rewards as well as most other coupon sites.

(Podcast participants: Tricia Meyer, Cindy Ballard)

Now that we have done the “spring forward” thing with the clocks, it is time to start thinking forward to spring shopping. For most of us, that means changing out our beauty products, skin care products, and wardrobes. In this episode of She Shops Around, Tricia and Cindy from Sunshine Rewards talked about various merchants where you can pick up some great spring products at good prices.

Show Notes:

• Tricia loves lip venom and tinted moisturizer for spring and has been buying them at glow.com and Sephora.
• Cindy and Tricia talked about the importance of cleansers and exfoliators (check out Mario Badescu and Dermstore and the products that Cindy and Tricia use).
• New nail polish colors are out and you can get good deals on OPI (including the Alice in Wonderland colors) at HairCareDiscounters.com.
• Sunscreen and self tanning is big in the spring.
• Cindy loves her Crocs and they have a number of different styles and colors that do not look like traditional Crocs.
• New clothes are a must for the warmer weather!

(Podcast participants: Tricia Meyer, Cindy Ballard)

For the first time ever, we invited a guest to our She Shops Around Podcast. Roger Snow from Snow Consulting joined us to talk about three affiliate programs he manages that all have sports merchandise. It’s a good thing that we did because Cindy and I have a lot to learn about sports. A big thanks to Roger for answering so many of our questions!

Show Notes:

• What sports merchandise and memorabilia are hot right now? The Olympics are in full swing, hockey is mid-season, March Madness is upon us, and baseball spring training will be starting soon.
• OnlineSports.com has over 130,000 products from jerseys  to collectibles to actual sports gear. They carry major league sports collectibles in addition to college merchandise (including smaller schools like Ball State!). Online Sports also has a great selection of NASCAR merchandise.
• A great gift for a dad, husband, or son would be a sports watch from DiscountWatchStore.com. They have dive watches and other waterproof watches great for anyone who swims, dives, skis, or participates in water sports. They now have free shipping on every product and some amazing deals of the day.
• Lastly we talked about InTheHoleGolf.com. The site is impressive in that it has the inventory and functionality of a big national company with the feel of a neighborhood pro shop. They test and review all of the products that they sell and specialize in equipment for the seasoned golfer.

(Podcast participants: Tricia Meyer, Cindy Ballard, Roger Snow)