Poshmark

The phrase “broke college student” is no joke. We all know that life can be rough as it is but being a full-time or part-time student is a large financial leap that we all take and should be proud of. If you are like me, you are always trying to find ways to make some extra cash. I have found that selling my clothes is a great way to do just that. Going to consignment stores is always an option, but before you go selling or buying clothes at a consignment shop, take a look at this app called Poshmark.

Think virtual boutiques. Thousands, upon thousands of them. Poshmark is a way for people to connect with one another and recycle clothing and other items by selling them through a quick, fun and easy platform. Why not get rid of that sweater that you have worn once or twice and buy a new pair of shoes? Poshmark can be downloaded for free on the App Store for iPhones, and the Google Play Store for Android devices.

Everyone wants to know the condition of the item you are selling. Putting yourself in the buyer’s perspective is a must when posting pictures. Think about the flaws you would look out for in someone else’s closet. It is also important to make use of your creativity. You are more likely to have people gravitate towards your closet if you put some extra work in showcasing your items.

Listing your items is easy. Selecting the size, brand, and price takes only a few seconds. Poshmark allows the user to post pictures of whatever they may want to sell–accessories, wallets, handbags and jewelry– and post it to their followers. Followers can range from other Poshmark users, to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Tumblr followers.

Once you have listed your item, a buyer will have the opportunity to make an offer, comment with any questions, like the listing and make a purchase.

Poshmark allows for sellers to post their listings on virtual parties. These allow listings to be seen by anyone, follower or not. Parties are labeled for specific items. For example, “Best in Sweaters, Jackets, and More.”

Poshmark supplies the seller with a prepaid, printable USPS postage that makes it easy to print, package and send. Thus, there is a 4.99 delivery fee for using Poshmark.

When purchasing through the app, Poshmark keeps the payment safe until the package has been received and accepted. It really is just that simple.

Poshmark is an easy, fun, and quick way to turn around your closet, or make extra cash. It is a great alternative to other options around town.

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RedLaser

The RedLaser app is designed to help you compare prices on any number of items by scanning a barcode with the iPhone’s camera. To start scanning items, tap the small lightning bolt icon on the bottom of the app and line up the barcode within the onscreen arrows provided by the app. When the arrows turn green, you've got the barcode properly positioned. You’ll see a "hold still for scan" message while the app does its magic. After the scan is complete, results pop up in one or two seconds.

I was super impressed with how quickly the RedLaser app posted its results. 

Unlike some other price-comparison apps I’ve reviewed, including the Shop.com app, RedLaser’s results pages are well organized. The app displays both online and local prices for the item you scanned, and you can toggle between the two screens of results (particularly helpful if you need the item right now and can't wait for it to be shipped to you).

Prices are displayed in large green numbers, and it’s easy to see how prices compare at a glance. Each price comes with a link to that store’s website, but whether those pages are optimized for the iPhone or not is dependent on the store, which can lead to some awkward experiences. RedLaser also includes a nifty feature where you can email your scanned items to view later.

The RedLaser scanner works remarkably well. The quality of barcode scanning apps generally comes down to two things: how well the scanner works and how quickly results appear. As noted earlier, results are fast. The scanner is great, too.

Once the product is located, the app displays prices for online and local retailers when available, as well as product details, reviews, and suggested complementary products (below). If customers see a price they are willing to pay, they can even buy it without leaving the app:

The RedLaser scanner seems less vulnerable to movement than other shopping apps I've tested, so you don’t have to hold your hand quite as steady. I scanned dozens of items everything from vodka to store-brand multivitamins and the RedLaser app found a match every time. The scanner isn't perfect: it did have a harder time with glare on shiny or round objects, but you always can enter the UPC code by hand for hard-to-scan items. 

We still have two more shopping aid apps to evaluate. Today we look at Red Laser. This app is available for iPhone, Android, and Windows Phones. It is primarily a tool that helps customers find the best price for products while shopping. Customers can search for prices using a variety of input methods, including scanning a barcode or QR code, entering product keywords, taking a photo of the product of interest, or speaking keywords into the phone:

RedLaser is ​a great app to take along on your next shopping trip. The scanner does struggle a bit with glare, but that’s a problem you’ll encounter with any iPhone shopping app.

The RedLaser scanner is faster than most apps, and the price results are displayed in an organized fashion that makes it easy to compare prices. The inclusion of local prices in addition to online results is also a plus. 

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Shopular

Many couponers tend to avoid the big malls whenever possible, because malls often have expensive stores that don’t offer coupons or deals. Even if some mall shops do have bargains, it can be hard to find out about them because most of these stores don’t have circulars or TV commercials announcing their current specials. If, for instance, your favorite fashion shop has a one-day sale offering 25 percent off everything, you may not find out about it until a friend shows you the adorable jacket she got at a deep discount -- but by that point you’ve missed the deal.

Fortunately, there is a way around this. The Shopular app can give you the lowdown on which stores have the best deals, coupons, and sales at any given time.

Love Tory Burch, True Religion Jeans, Neiman Marcus, and Coach purses, but you never come across deals on them?

Then Shopular is your new best friend.

The Shopular app goes where many of your favorite tried-and-true couponing apps don’t venture. It gathers the latest deals from stores like Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister, and the stores listed above. You’ll find everything from coupons to “one day only” sales, to updates on when particular deals end.

When you log into the app, it will ask if it can track your location (like many apps do), and then it will offer you an option of filtering the deals based on your local malls. A list of malls will come up, and you can click on the one you plan to visit so you can see the very best offers there.

The stores that have money-saving coupons available will show a red stripe in the upper right-hand corner of the offer (as shown in the photo above on the deals for Hollister, Aeropostale, and Coldwater Creek.) The stores with other deals, such as discounts on certain items or deep discounts on all clearance, will just be listed without the red stripe.

In addition, if you want to find out whether your favorite shop is having a sale, you can click the magnifying glass in the upper right-hand corner of the app and then search for a store by name. You can click on the "heart" symbol on any particular coupon or deal, and then it will be added to your personal deals list. To access that, just tap the icon at the top of the page that has a heart with a circle around it followed by the word "list."

One of the coolest things about this app is that it has a link to the week's circulars.

This is helpful for me because it always seems like I have no plans to visit a particular store, so I send the corresponding circular into my recycle bin...only to find that I need to hit that store later in the week but have no circular.

Overall, I find Shopular to be incredibly useful for those treks to the mall. You'll save money on high-end brands that may have cost you full price in the past.

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Shop Savvy

Never overpay for a product again! ShopSavvy makes it easy to price match nearly anything. Use the app to scan the barcode of any product you’re considering purchasing, and ShopSavvy will let you know if the product is available at a lower price at another local retailer, or even online. If the product is cheaper somewhere else, you can buy it there, or with so many brick and mortar retailers price matching these days, you can probably save a good chunk of change right there in the store. ShopSavvy also allows you to track deals, receive sales alerts, check product reviews, and more. Don’t waste your money! Shop savvy!

First, I want to mention the practicality of having a barcode scanner on your iDevice. I’m sure you’ve noticed the QR codes we place at the bottom of our reviews, and the reason we do so is it allows you to quickly access an app we’re reviewing without having to search for it in the App Store or download it on your computer. Barcode scanners are also helpful with comparison shopping, creating grocery lists, remembering products to buy, and a whole slew of other things.

ShopSavvy (Barcode Scanner and QR Code Reader), developed by ShopSavvy, Inc, is definitely an App Store veteran. Combining an intuitive interface with a database of products that can’t be beat, ShopSavvy is a must for anyone who uses their iPhone, iPod Touch, and/or iPad for shopping.

Concept and Functionality:

I’m going to admit that I’ve been a huge fan of ShopSavvy since it first came out. It was one of the first barcode scanning apps I ever downloaded on my prehistoric iPhone 3G. Even with the mediocre camera on my first iPhone, ShopSavvy was able to outperform similar apps. In the years since, ShopSavvy definitely hasn’t lost its touch.

ShopSavvy does all of the things mentioned above and more, and it’s extremely simple to use. When you open the app, you have the option to create an account so you can easily keep track of your activity and store payment information. You don’t need an account to use the app, however, which is great news for users who aren’t keen on the idea.

To scan a barcode, simply press the “Scan” button on the bottom of the screen and focus your camera on the code. Depending on what you’re scanning (website or product), ShopSavvy will either take you directly to the website or show you a detailed product information screen. From here, you can read product reviews, add the scanned product to a list, compare prices both online and locally, and even purchase the product directly in the app.

To help you keep track of items you’ve scanned with ShopSavvy, there’s a useful “History” page. However, it only works with products that you scan, not websites or app QR codes (like you see here). While this isn’t too big of a deal, I still think it’d be handy to allow both products and sites to be stored in this section.

Features:

ShopSavvy is packed with features which make it the Swiss Army knife of mobile shopping. If you’re looking for a product locally, the app provides directions to the store of your choice and even tells you if the product is in stock.

ShopSavvy also features a long list of deals and special offers available at many popular retail stores. This includes coupon codes, shipping discounts, and sales on products. While the list of deals and offers isn’t as comprehensive as other services, it’s still valuable and worth browsing.

As far as barcode compatibility, ShopSavvy can scan UPC, EAN, and QR codes. In layman’s terms, this means that basically every barcode you encounter can be scanned with the app. As I mentioned before, you can even purchase items within ShopSavvy using the Wallet feature.

Lastly, you can search for products by keyword if a barcode isn’t available. Unfortunately this is the only feature that I’m not a huge fan of, mainly because results tend to be very scattered and there can be multiple versions of the same product. It would be great if users could choose specific stores to search, which I believe would help to reduce query clutte.

Value:

I can’t say enough great things about ShopSavvy. Not only will it save you money while shopping, but you can’t beat the price of a free app. Whether you’re an online shopping whiz, looking for an easy way to keep track of products, or yearning to put those QR codes at the bottom or our reviews to use, ShopSavvy is definitely the way to go.

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Key Ring

Key Ring is a popular mobile wallet designed for shoppers who want to maximize their loyalty perks without having to carry around a stack of cards in their wallets. It runs on both Apple and Android phones and has more than 12 million users. You can use it to store your membership and loyalty cards, create and share shopping lists, and find deals at your favorite stores. The electronic wallet can also hold your gift cards. However, this mobile wallet doesn't hold your debit or credit cards.

Key Ring is a virtual wallet that stores users loyalty and membership cards through barcode scanning.

To upload any membership or loyalty card (i.e. gym, grocery store) the users clicks on the card icon and the app’s barcode scanner will appear on the screen.  The app will scan and save the barcode as well as any ID number associated with the card.  Users can name the card as well as take a picture of it so a thumbnail is displayed for an easy search.

A loyalty program feature searches businesses near the user that are offering incentive programs. The users can enroll in the programs from the app.

A local offers feature searches any deals or coupons local businesses are offering and displays the coupon as well as location of the business.

Other features are weekly circulars from big box stores in the users area, and a shopping list where users can save any deals they find.

The digital wallet uses barcode technology and uses your phone's camera as a barcode scanner that you can use to upload the data from your barcoded cards to the app. When you're checking out at the store and need to present a card, the app displays a barcode on your screen that store clerks can scan.

If your family members also install Key Ring, you can choose to share select loyalty cards with them in order to maximize your perks. You can even share a Key Ring account with another user, such as a spouse, if you both have the mobile wallet app installed and you want to share all of your loyalty cards with them.

Key Ring gives you access to coupons from more than 13,000 brands and retailers as well as weekly sales circulars from more than 170 retailers. When viewing the circulars, you can select items to add to your shopping list. You can follow stores that you don't have loyalty cards for. The electronic wallet also offers a free prescription savings plan that can help you save money.

You can create multiple shopping lists and share them with family members or friends. This mobile wallet's shopping lists have real-time syncing, which can be useful if someone adds an item to the list while you're still at the store. It also allows you to add photos of the products on your shopping list, which can help you make sure that you pick up the exact item you need.

Although Key Ring doesn't hold your credit and debit cards or allow you to tap to pay at the register, it's a useful, shareable mobile wallet. You can use it to organize and store your loyalty and membership cards, find savings at your favorite stores, and save money with coupons.

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Amazon Shopping

Once you get the Amazon Appstore up and running on your phone, using it works a lot like Google Play; apps are broken up into categories and you can search for them just like in Google Play. The app selection isn't quite as robust, as there are only about a third of a million apps on Amazon — as opposed to the 1.4 million on Google Play. Among the apps missing are those from Apple and Google — the absence of YouTube in particular has lead to a multitude of client apps. There are some Amazon-only apps, but the biggest one you may care about is the Amazon Instant Video app. If you're a Prime member, then you need the Amazon Instant Video app (and thus the Amazon Appstore) in order to take advantage of the videos your subscription provides.

The design of the Amazon Appstore is a little lackluster compared to the material Play Store — though personally I'm a fan of the dark design — and while it's easy enough to find your way around, the layout leaves something to be desired, especially since the layout between the app and the website varies a fair bit. The UI and categorization of the store highlights how the Amazon Appstore is aimed more at leisure than work, with Games, Music, and Entertainment apps taking the top three Featured categories above the rest of the store. Navigating the store without the pull-out drawer is far more difficult, as you have to open the drawer to access any app category. This means that casual browsing situation is far from ideal, but when looking for a specific app, the Amazon Appstore will get you by.

Now, many a user has cheered the Amazon Appstore for one simple reason: the free App of the Day. And on the rare occasion that the App of the Day is something you want, that's great. However, beyond the semi-annual days when Amazon offers hundreds of dollars worth of apps for free, the App of the Day is usually lackluster. When there's something noteworthy, that's great, but when there is, you should probably go grab a lottery ticket.

When buying an app, you'll have two options: regular cash/credit or Amazon Coins. The value of an individual Amazon Coin varies by market/currency, but in America, one coin equals one cent. 500 coins is worth five bucks, but it cannot be spent in any other part of Amazon's store, such as digital music or Prime video, another contrast with Google Play, whose credit can be used on anything digital. If you're intending to buy someone credit for the Amazon Appstore, skip the confusing and constricted Coins and buy a regular Amazon gift card, which can be used site-wide.

Once you've built up a collection of apps, you'll be able to manage them from Your apps in the menu, and there will be three columns, Cloud (all apps) Device (installed apps), and Updates. From here, you can pick and choose what goes on your device and update apps as needed. Because your Amazon apps aren't tied to your Google Account — even if that's the email associated with your Amazon account — buying your apps through Amazon means that you could share them among your family members — like your children — without them getting access to your Google Drive, or your email. It also means that even if you have separate accounts for work and personal devices, through the Amazon Appstore you could use the same apps between them.

Because not all developers can push updates everywhere instantly, this means that developers sometimes prioritize one app store over another. So, if you bought a game from Amazon, it may get an update more quickly — or more slowly — than if you'd bought the game through Google Play. This isn't Amazon's fault, but it nonetheless is it a factor to consider when buying. Your app may not get new features, bug fixes, or security patches as quickly because of differences in updates.

There are benefits from the Amazon Appstore to be sure — from free apps to app libraries independent of your Google account — and while the store itself could use some work, at the end of the day, only you can decide if its worth your time, effort, and money/Amazon Coin. Being able to pick the best price across app stores is a win for consumers, but the hassles of sideloading a store and remembering which apps get downloaded/updated from on a new device can be a bit of a headache.

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PriceGrabber

Finding the best price in town using your Android phone is an easy task given the bevy of available shopping applications, from the most popular Barcode Scanner app to the original ShopSavvy.  Now we have a new program from my favorite online tool for the price conscious, PriceGrabber.com.  The PriceGrabber application has been available for a while now on the iPhone and iPad, but they recently released an Android version that is available now and is free to download.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with PriceGrabber, it is a website that allows you to easily find the lowest prices for millions of products from thousands of online merchants. With PriceGrabber for Android, you have the same power as the PriceGrabber website, only now it’s in your pocket.

Launching the application takes you immediately to a list of cool stuff just ready to tempt you into your next purchase.  Although my initial list had an iPhone….LOL….I don’t think it has filters… j/k.  A simple tap on an item takes you into a more detailed view of the product and offers easy access to the available merchants and reviews.

From here you can start your search by typing the name of whatever you are looking for into the search box, or you can go into the UPC option and type in a UPC code or scan a barcode using your camera and the built- in scanning function.

Using the camera is just like any other barcode scanning application, simply point your phone’s camera at any barcode and the application does the rest.  When your search is completed, you get a selection of products based on your search criteria. This list can be huge or small depending on how much detail you provided with your search.  A simple search for a Samsung LCD TV returned 158 results.  Clicking on one of the returned results brings you to the product details screen with a list of the best prices the application could find.

    

Various setting allow you to customize your experience by letting you to use your location to find the lowest prices locally, as well as allowing you to specify if you want to use US or UK UPC styles and the type of UPC alerts you want.

Another cool feature of the PriceGrabber application is the Random Gift function.  Drag your finger down the plunger, just like a Vegas slot machine and PriceGrabber goes out a grabs a gift idea for you.  For some reason the application chose a Frozen Drink Maker for me… hmmmmm, Margaritas!

    

Instead of searching, you can also browse through a whole list of categories digging further and further until you reach the area you want.  It’s a nice feature if you just want to browse a particular category of product.  The funny thing is, the application tried to sell me an iPhone once more as I browsed down to the cell phone category.

Overall the application is very easy to use and gives you instant access to the vast library of products and prices indexed in the PriceGrabber system. You just have to ignore their obvious penchant for the iPhone.

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