TAMPA, Fla. -- These days, with a little help from technology, online deal-hunting can be made much faster and easier.

Online shopper Sean Estes says he rarely buys anything online without finding a way to save on his purchase.

"I'm an avid researcher," Estes said. "I like to at least compare at least three options to make sure that wherever I'm arriving on a final price that it's the best one."

That requires a lot of effort, and searching for coupon codes can often be a bust when you enter them at checkout.

"You think you're going to save 20 or 30 percent. You've done your research, and then you get to that final step, and it says invalid or expired code," Estes said.

Some of the more popular coupon-code websites include:

Just be sure to check for coupon expiration dates and rules and exclusions on purchases.

(Photo: Kalvin McClure)

Try Honey

Helping to alleviate some of that frustration is one of Estes's favorite go-to's these days: Honey.

Honey is a browser extension that does all the deal-searching and comparing for you. It even checks whether coupon codes are valid.

"It takes away a lot of the homework that I had to do," Estes said. "I've had some success saving on business cards from Vistaprint, and I also saved on some baseball equipment I got from Dick's Sporting Goods. It mostly validates that what I am buying (is) at the best price."

Estes said he especially likes using Honey on Amazon.

"Honey is taking into account the shipping, tax and Prime statuses, as well as the seller reputation, which is key, because you can get some bad sellers on Amazon."

Photo: Kalvin McClure

All about Priceblink

Priceblink is another really helpful browser extension. It finds coupon codes and has a neat price comparison feature.

When you look at a product on a website, it automatically pulls prices for the same product at other retailers and puts them in a little chart for you to compare. If you find a better price, just click on it, and it takes you to that site to buy the item there.

Shopper Janet Gill recently downloaded Priceblink to help her get the best deal possible, and she says she likes it.

"It's doing it for you," Gill said. "It's saving you time. You're not having to go through manually and trying to find other websites with the better deals."

Extra tips

In addition to the browser extensions, there are a few other tricks you can try to save on items you're bargain-shopping for:

  • Leave items in your shopping cart. Prices can fluctuate and go down, or retailers will sometimes send you a coupon to encourage the sale.
  • Sign up for multiple store accounts with different emails. Retailers often send special, one-time use coupons to customers.
  • Sign up for rewards programs at favorite retailers.

Honey will also track price changes for you if you leave an item in your cart. Estes was considering buying a small refrigerator and has been tracking the price through Honey.

"You can actually go and view the price history, so you know whether or not it's a good time to buy," he said, looking at the item in his cart. "Just a few weeks ago, this item was $194, then it jumped up to $260, and right now, it's down to $233. So it probably still has more room to come back down. I'm willing to wait," he said.

There are lots of ways to save when you shop online if you're willing to put in the time and effort. What's especially nice about the browser extensions is that they save you time as well as money.