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When it comes to online shopping, the undisputed champion in the household has got to be the wifey. She's always on the lookout for great bargains online - a plus since we work during the weekdays and the last thing I want to do is to squeeze with the crowds in shopping malls when the weekends roll along!
Great bargains mean saving a little bit of money here and there... which certainly helps in paying for
Officially launched in Singapore in January 2014, the Rakuten Singapore Marketplace currently carries over 330,000 goods from close to 500 merchants with a diverse mix of product categories, including fashion apparel and accessories, health and beauty products, consumer electronics, toys and games, food and beverages and home furniture.
Simply put, think of it as a massive shopping mall with a lot of individual tenants and shops with 30% of its shops from Japan and the rest local shops.
I admit, a first-time visitor to Rakuten might be initially overwhelmed at the site's tons of product listings. Sure, it can get a tad mind-boggling to figure out where to begin but there is a method in the chaos.
Or rather, there are a few methods actually and I have put together some #RakutenShoppingHacks to make your Rakuten shopping an easy and fun experience but most importantly, allow you to save even more money!
1. Sign up for Rakuten’s electronic direct mail
To start shopping on Rakuten, one obviously has to first sign up. (And stand a chance to win $20 worth of shopping credits too! But more on that later.) But more than just signing up for an account, be sure to subscribe to Rakuten's electronic direct mail as well for even more goodies.
Expect periodic emails containing exclusive coupon cods and even a 20% discount code on your birthday! Get first-hand knowledge of flash sale alerts for the entire Rakuten marketplace as well as curated items for the best buys daily. Sometimes, Rakuten even co-sponsors the discount with the merchants to give greater value to shoppers!
Ready to get started? Great. Because what is better than getting $1 off on every $100 spent? Getting $5 off!
Yes, everyone gets a 5% rebate on all purchases everyday thanks to Rakuten Super Points. For every $1 spent, you get 5 Rakuten Super Points credited into your account. Best part, there is NO limit on the amount of rebates earned daily, monthly or yearly.
Every 100 points earned equates to $1 off your next purchase. So for example, a purchase of $80 will earn me 400 points which translates to a $4 rebate - equivalent to a 5% discount on my purchase!
3. Pay with the correct credit card
Other than earning rebates on your purchases, paying with the correct credit card helps you to save even more too:
- Citibank Rewards and Citibank Clear Platinum Cards: 10% off storewide with Promo Code: RTCITI10 (Valid til 29 Feb 2016)
- DBS/POSB Credit or Debit Cards: 10% off storewide with Promo Code: RAKU10DBS (Valid til 30 Apr 2016)
If you do not have the credit cards from the above-mentioned banks, then the best thing you can do for your wallet is to shop on TUESDAYS. Every Tuesday is Mastercard Tuesday where you can enjoy an additional 5% off your shopping loot if you pay with your MasterCard. Sweet!
4. More rebates from EBates
Who can ever say no to MORE rebates?
Do your Rakuten shopping through Ebates - a cashback website that offers rebates when you shop from over 300+ online retailers - and it keeps track of what you buy and will send your accumulated cash back via your preferred payment method each quarter. And the rebate? Another 5%!
5. Bookmark the 'DEALS CORNER' and 'BUY 1 FREE 1' pages
If there is one Rakuten page to bookmark, the 'Deals Corner' will be it. The best featured deals are updated at least once a day so it will be worth your time to check back from time to time, especially since there are deals that offer up to 80% in savings! Oh, and don't miss the 'Buy 1 Free 1' page as well - from toys and electronics to fashion and beauty products, there are plenty of '1-for'1' promotions to choose from.
6. Take advantage of FREE shipping
Several Rakuten merchants offer free shipping with no minimum purchase and they are conveniently consolidated in one page HERE. Some of the products are even shipped directly from Japan while others like skate scooters are pretty bulky so free shipping is always welcomed!
7. Buy in bulk
Most of the Japanese merchants on Rakuten sell their products in saver packs (3 or more similar items) so it makes sense to rope in friends to share the purchase. And yes, even for diapers!
8. Subscribe to your favourite shop’s R-mail
One does not need to depend solely on Rakuten for discount codes and campaigns. Merchants on Rakuten also run their own campaigns periodically so if you have a favourite shop, it is best to subscribe to its R-mail. (R for Really Good!)
The email comes directly from the shops themselves so you will be the first to be notified of any new arrivals or promotions at the shop. For example, Kuriya Japanese Market sells fresh seafood and meat so subscribers will be notified first-hand of the next air shipment that arrives in Singapore, in addition to other ongoing promotions.
9. Become a Gold member
Achieve Gold member status by making at least 7 purchases and earning 800 Rakuten Super Points within 6 months. With the current 5x Rakuten Super Point-back programme, that means all you have to spend is $160 spread over 7 purchases! And not surprisingly, Gold members get special perks and secret discount coupons mailed to them. So it really pays to be Gold member!
10. Compare prices
At the end of the day, price still matters. While I would not go so far to say that all of the products listed on Rakuten are the cheapest in Singapore, a little research on my part did show that most of the products are indeed competitively priced... and made even more so thanks to Rakuten's various cashback, rebates and offers. Here are a few examples I found:
My monkies (and I) love LEGO and we usually head to Toy Station at Serene Centre to purchase our LEGO sets as it has a perpetual 15% discount off its sets all year round. And a set of LEGO Star Wars Kylo Ren's Command Shuttle is selling for $195.42 after the 15% discount.
The same set is going for $199.50 on Rakuten.
If you pay by a Citibank or DBS/POSB credit card, you get an instant 10% off which means you pay $179.55 - already cheaper! But wait, there is still the 5% Rakuten Super Points rebate which brings the cost of the LEGO set down to $170.57. That's almost $25 cheaper!
Got kids at home not toilet trained yet?
Fairprice's online store is selling a pack of Mamy Poko XXL Diapers (36 pieces) at $21.90. Taking into its current offer of $4.35 discount for 2 packs, that works out to $19.73 per pack.
On Rakuten, it is going for $65.70 for 3 packs. That's also $21.90 per pack.
Again, paying by a Citibank or DBS/POSB credit card gets you 10% off and after including the 5% rebate, a pack only costs $18.72!
We then come to the wifey's fave section - Beauty! She usually buys her beauty products whenever we travel out of Changi Airport because of the duty-free prices. On our recent trip to Pattaya, she purchased the SK-II R.N.A. (Radical New Age) Power Cream (80g) at Changi Airport for $186.
So imagine how her heart ached when she found out that the same product is retailing for $151.11 due to a special promotion!
I did not have the heart to tell her that the real price she would have paid is actually $129.20 after the credit card discount and rebates!
And from the looks of it, there are plenty more gems waiting to be discovered:
Food
Snaffles cheesecakes at 20% off - only online and not at their physical retail shops!
Pre-cooked Seafood
Boneless Salmon Teriyaki - perfect for those lazy days at home when the wifey or I don't feel like cooking.
Beauty
NanoJapan Collagen
Bioderma Cleansing Water
Kenkocom
SK-II
Clothes
Tokichoi - Fashionable and value for money clothes
Electronics
Megadiscount Store
Galaxy
Home and Living
Nissho
Are you itching to get started?
GREAT NEWS! Sign up for a FREE Rakuten account and you may just win $20 worth of shopping credits (in the form of 2,000 Rakuten Super Points)!
All you have to do is the following:
1. Sign up for an account at Rakuten's website HERE.
2. Input the email address you used to register on Rakuten in this form HERE.
If my blog happens to be one of the Top 3 ones which garners the most number of sign-ups, 50 of you will each win a $20 shopping credit at Rakuten!
Simple, no? So do go forth and sign up, especially since there is absolutely no fee involved!
With CNY round the corner, there is no better time to start the festive shopping - minus all the crowds and squeezing at the malls - to land all the goodies and clothes from the comfort of your home.
Better yet, make use of the Rakuten Shopping Hacks I shared above and you will have saved a huge angpow for yourself!