Tausi Insider

Photo : Kaspars Grinvalds ( Shutterstock ) Ever opened up a package only to find that the sturdy, beautiful item you ordered is tissue-paper-thin, or far larger (or smaller) than it looked online? We have a few tips to help you make sure that what you receive isn’t going to be a disappointment—whether you’re buying it as a gift or for yourself. Look at a lighter color This excellent tip comes from Reddit, where one smart shopper advises that you shop for dark-colored shoes, bags, and clothing by looking at the lighter colorways. Stitching, texture, material, and other details may not always show up well in photos of black, brown, dark gray, or navy items. But if the same backpack, say, is available in a light gray or beige, the photo there may offer more clues about how it’s made. This is where you realize that part of the bag is cloth where you thought it was leather, or that it only has a one-way zipper where you were expecting the kind with two zipper pulls. On clothing, you...

How Rakuten Works Formally known as Ebates, Rakuten is a cash back rewards app that earns you money when shopping with participating retailers. It’s fairly simple to use: If you’re on a website that supports Rakuten, you’ll see a pop-up appear letting you know how much cash back the stores allows, and offering a button that activates Rakuten then and there. Then, you continue to shop on the site, and anything you buy contributes to your Rakuten cash back. You’ll receive the cash back in the form of a check (no gimmicks!), but you do need to earn at least $15 before the check will be sent. Unfortunately, Rakuten’s biggest deals have come and gone following Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but there are still plenty of opportunities to take advantage of. If you’re already going to shop with these stores, why not make a little cash on the side? Not to mention, the app searches for available coupon codes to add at checkout, a feature central to another app you may have heard of ... ...

Photo : Maksym Azovtsev ( Shutterstock ) As the perils of the winter Jon Snow warned us about begin to fade in late January, deals on winter clothing start to emerge from the retail mists like hordes of ice zombies. Or, for those not well-versed in the lore of Game of Thrones : The best time to buy winter apparel is in January and February , notes Investopedia , because that’s when stores begin trying to move cold weather inventory in earnest to make room for warmer weather wear. That means if you think you’ll need new winter gear come December 2023, now is the time to shop for it, when retailers are offering deals on all the surplus items that already made it through Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, and New Year sales. While that means you might have to do a digging to find a style you like in your size, you can rest assured you’ll be getting a good deal on it—but your options will get slimmer as spring gets closer. Here are the best retailer deals to shop right now. Macy...