Smart shopping tips for Cyber Monday

Consumers all over the world look forward to Cyber Monday, one of the largest shopping events of the calendar year.

Cyber Monday takes place on the Monday after Thanksgiving. Alongside Black Friday, it’s the biggest event year-round for online purchasing. Consumers spent a record $12.4 billion on Cyber Monday in 2023, with numbers expected to exceed that in 2024.¹

This article is an overview of how to prepare and plan for Cyber Monday shopping, potential security concerns when making purchases, and sticking to a budget while maximizing bargains and savings.

Prepare for Cyber Monday

Given the quantity of bargains and discounts offered, it can be challenging to know how to financially prepare for Cyber Monday.

An initial plan can include making a list of any essential items and being sure to work within the limits of a given budget. Here are a few other important tips:

• Prioritize absolute essentials over less needed items to save money and minimize overspending.
• Create a list based on needs and wants to distinguish the differences on shopping day.
• Make a list of preferred online stores and bookmark them on a web browser for quick and easy access.
• Search specific offers or payment programs that attract unique bonuses, which can help make the deals even better. For example, PayPal users can select and save cash back offers in the PayPal app before they shop.²

Budgeting for Cyber Monday

With all the Cyber Monday promotion and sales frenzy around this time of year, impulse purchasing can be very tempting. It’s a good idea to budget for Cyber Monday with some tried-and-tested tools and personal budgeting tips.

Shoppers may want to:

• Collect information. Spreadsheets, lists, and apps are a shopper’s best friend for strategic purchasing — and preventing overspending — especially on days like Cyber Monday.
• Plan ahead. A wish list of items made in advance can help shoppers stay on track with price comparisons before the big day.
• Pay differently. Buy now, pay later services can help divide larger purchases into smaller payment installments over time, which may help with sticking to a budget.

Research and compare Cyber Monday deals

For shoppers with a long list of items and offers to keep track of, price tracking tools can help. They provide a way to compare Cyber Monday deals while staying on top of desired items and prices.

Consider these smart deal-finding tips:

• Price comparisons. When finding online sales, it’s important to know what the original price was and compare it with the new price to make sure it’s a real deal. Shoppers can check multiple websites and note any price differences between retailers.
• Bonuses and rewards. Deals aren't just price discounts. Cashback rewards, free shipping, and additional item bonuses and bundles may also be on offer to boost savings. Stacking rewards can be a worthwhile strategy too. For example, PayPal users can select and save cash back offers from hundreds of brands in the PayPal app. If a user saves a cash back offer in the app and then checks out with PayPal online using their PayPal Debit Card³, they’ll earn an extra 5% cash back on top if the items are in the same monthly category selected for the PayPal Debit Card.
• Lightning deals. These are time-sensitive discounts that are typically offered for a short period rather than the whole day. Shoppers who subscribe to retailer newsletters and notifications may be more likely to receive information on deals and price drops as they happen. It can help to sign up with preferred stores and vendors to take advantage.
• Reviews. Look at customer reviews and ratings before committing to a purchase to ensure a good deal with a legitimate seller.
• Web extensions. Shoppers can maximize online rewards with the PayPal Honey Shopping Extension, a web browser tool that automatically discovers and adds coupon codes and cash back at checkout with a single click.

Safe shopping on Cyber Monday

To ensure a smooth, safe online shopping experience, adopt these Cyber Monday tips when making purchasing decisions:

• Double-check that purchases made are the items that were wanted to begin with.
• Review vendor return policies on items before purchasing — some may not be returnable or may have certain conditions attached.
• Choose direct retailers and verified sellers.
• Be wary of scam deals and keep an eye out for fake websites that offer non-existent or deficient products.

One way to help ensure online payments are safe is to exclusively use reputable e-commerce retailers that offer secure websites and industry-standard transaction protection technology.

Secure stores usually support SSL certificates and TLS technology.⁴ This means they’ve been independently verified as legitimate and authentic by a reliable third party.

Encryption, tokenization, and multi-factor authorization (MFA) are some of the main forms of payment protection that vendors should support for making secure online payments. This information is usually visible on the retailer’s website or during checkout.