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If you sit at home, read the newspaper, and cut out coupons, you are missing new and exciting ways to save money. Today's best savings are found not in the newspaper, but online. In fact, modern day coupon clipping is an art form that requires careful comparison-shopping and computer savvy.

To identify the best deals, customers should request placement on the postal and email lists of a favorite store. Joann's, a craft store, offers significant customer savings via coupons distributed in response to customer-initiated email solicitation. Most of their online coupons offer customers 40-50% off the retail price of a selected item(s).

Some online promotions are exclusive to company websites. This means that savings are offered only via website purchase and mail order delivery. Other stores require that coupons are redeemed online, yet the items are picked up in the physical store. It is critical that the customer understand the terms of the coupon. Some coupons, for example, can only be utilized in the physical store even if the coupon was accessed via the web. No matter what the terms of the coupon agreement are, all online coupons delivered to specific customers are delivered only to those customers who opted to receive email notification. In other words, email access is the key to accessing discounts.

Jewelers such as Zales and Helzberg occasionally offer 'secret' sales to their clientele. High-end jewelry items such as gold necklaces, diamond rings, pearl earrings, and luxury watches may be found with discounts between 20-45% off traditional retail prices. From time to time, virtual discounts are cheaper than advertised 'in print' sale prices. In those instances, if you do not look online, you will miss significant price cuts.

Markdowns are also found through 'internet only' coupons located on the websites of Kmart, Joann's and Michaels. Some 'internet only' coupons are available through popular website advertising or through pop-up ads. Unfortunately, those savings are obtained solely by chance.

Other virtual websites are discovered systematically via keyword internet searches. For example, JCPenny often offers its customers reasonably priced portrait packages through their Portrait Studios website. For example, Dillard's, Sears, Express and Gap all have easy to use websites.

Finally, in the quest to save money while online shopping, do not overlook third-party advertisement or price comparison websites. On those sites, you are given the opportunity to search for a particular item and compare selling prices on any number of websites. In minutes, its search engine will produce available price postings from an array of sellers. From there, it is up to the customer to select purchasing options.