The little-known online stores that slash £1,000s off tech, clothes and food

YOU might be missing out on savings worth hundreds or even thousands of pounds – just by shopping in the wrong places.

Top tech brands like Apple, Amazon, and eBay all have little-known stores with big savings. And while most of the price-slashing is on gadgets, savvy shoppers can also save on clothes, food, and household essentials.

APPLE SECRET STORES

There are two discount stores available at Apple – if you know where to look.

One of the best ways to slash your bills is through Apple’s Certified Refurbished online store.

This is an entirely separate part of the online Apple Store stuffed with cut-price gadgets.

The catch is that they’re not brand new, but they go through a special Apple process to make sure that you’re not ending up with a dud product.

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“Refurbished devices are cleaned, inspected and tested, and come with genuine Apple replacement parts as needed,” Apple explains.

“All products arrive newly packaged with free shipping and returns.”

The company adds: “All Apple Certified Refurbished products include our standard one-year limited warranty.”

And the upside is that you can save hundreds of pounds on an iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, AirPods, Apple TV HomePod, and even accessories.

Current iPhone savings run up to £400 on certain models, but even the lowest discount right now is £160.

Next up, check out the Apple Education Store.

This isn’t just for uni students, or even just students.

The Apple Store for Education is available to teachers, staff, students, and parents.

Here’s how Apple outlines who can shop at the store:

• Employees of any education institution – Any employee of a public or private education institution in the UK is eligible.
• Tertiary education students – Students attending or accepted into a tertiary education institution in the UK are eligible to purchase.
• Parents of tertiary education students – Parents purchasing on behalf of their child who is a student currently attending or accepted into a public or private tertiary education institution in the UK are eligible to purchase.

You can usually save about 10% on Macs and iPads, but the amount can vary.

Sometimes you can save hundreds on a single product.

And Apple regularly runs education-only deals that include freebies.

So if you’re an eligible shopper, it’s definitely worth checking this store before making any Apple purchase. Otherwise you’ll be missing out on savings.

AMAZON SECRET STORES

Amazon actually has three discount stores, so your chance of finding a saving is very high.

The first is the Amazon Renewed Store, which is a bit like Apple’s Certified Refurbished store.

It’s home to “expertly refurbished products” that Amazon says have been “professionally inspected” and “rigorously tested”.

There are loads of deals across a vast range of gadgets, including phones, laptops, headphones, games consoles, TVs, and smartwatches.

And if you’re not fully satisfied, Amazon says that its one-year guarantee means that you can return your product within the first year for a replacement or refund.

Another great option for saving a bit of cash is the Amazon Buy More & Save store.

This easily-missed option is an exclusive benefit for Amazon Prime members, so you’ll need to make sure that you have an active subscription.

Then once you’re logged in, you can head to the story for special savings.

You get 10% off the price of your basket, but you need to buy four items.

It’s a limited storefront that only contains certain items, so you can’t add any old product from Amazon.

But it has a large catalogue of products including food, clothes, toiletries and other household essentials, and even some electronics too.

Once you’ve hit four items, Amazon will knock 10% off of your total bill.

Lastly, there’s the Amazon Student Store, which isn’t just for students.

It’s actually for anyone with the Prime for Students and 18-22 Year-Olds membership. That means millions of Brits are eligible.

And as the name suggests, that version of Prime is discounted and is available for the following periods, according to Amazon:

• If you sign up as a student, for as long as you are a student or for up to four years (whichever comes first); or
• If you sign up as an 18-22 year-old, until you turn 23.

And it’ll cost you £4.49 instead of the usual £8.99 a month for Prime.

That’ll also get you a six-month free trial to Prime, saving you even more money.

And once you’re signed up to Prime for Students and 18-22 Year-Olds, you can access to the Amazon Student Store, which is packed with discounts.

That includes 10% off clothes, 25% off coach tickets, discounts on smartwatches and laptops, and loads more too.

Amazon says it also cuts the price on personal care products, sports and fitness gear, video games and accessories, and phone accessories.

HOW TO ENROL IF YOU’RE A STUDENT WITH NO OFFICIAL EMAIL

Here’s what you need to know…

If you don’t have an official recognised email for your university or college, there’s still hope.

You can send proof of age and enrolment to amazon-student-verification@amazon.co.uk.

Make sure that you’re messaging from the email address linked to your Amazon UK account (and that the account has an up-to-date payment method).

And attach a scan, photo, or screenshot of either:

• A valid NUS Extra, NUS Apprentice Extra, TOTUM, TOTUM Student or TOTUM Apprentice card (must show your name, institution, and date of expiry). Please note that TOTUM Pro/Professional or UNiDAYS ID cards are not accepted.
• A proof of student status letter (must be printed on official institution headed paper and include student name and address, course details and start date, expected graduation/completion date).
• A tuition bill for the current term (must include institution name, course details and start date, student address).
• A tuition invoice for the current term with your name and your institution’s name on it.
• An official acceptance letter for the upcoming term (must be printed on official institution headed paper and include student name and address, course details and enrollment date, expected graduation/completion date).

If you’re eligible then you should get an email back in a few days to help you complete your sign-up.

Picture Credit: Amazon

But you can only snap them up once you’ve claimed your Prime for Students offer first.

EBAY SECRET STORES

Unsurprisingly, eBay has a a discount store too – and it’s also stuffed with deals.

Loads of top brands sell their wares on eBay.

And you can also get top-brand products at massively discounted prices on the eBay Refurbished Store.

At the time of writing, eBay is knocking 15% off laptops, 5% off phones, up to 50% off smartwatches and as much as 55% off coffee machines.

And there are loads of top brands in the mix, including Apple, Samsung, Garmin, and Sage.

There’s a long list of categories in the refurb store, including Health & Beauty, Garden & Patio, and Sporting Goods too.

So if you’re happy to buy some used gear that has been restored, this is a decent option for shoppers looking to save some cash.

CURRYS DISCOUNT CODES

Currys has an entire webpage set up to showcase exclusive discount codes.

You can find the Currys Discount Codes store here:

There are two different sections.

The first is packed with generic codes that lots of people might be able to use, including regular Brits.

You’ll also find Key Worker Discounts in there. For instance, one recent discount gives you a £15 gift card if you spend over £199.

On top of that, there’s an entire section dedicated to Student Codes, which is full of codes for eligible Brits.

For instance, you can slash 10% off a Google Chromebook worth over £149, or 10% off a Dyson vac.

And there’s also £15 off large kitchen appliances over £299.

But you might miss these discounts if you only shopped through the regular Currys homepage.

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All prices in this article were correct at the time of writing, but may have since changed.

Always do your own research before making any purchase.