I Never Buy Online Before Doing These 4 Things

Sep 16

Online shopping is probably one of the staple activities that the majority of us do on a daily basis. And it has grown bigger and bigger, in 2025, it grew by 21% which was led by Shopee, followed by Lazada, then Amazon.

And most people think saving money starts with finding the lowest prices or vouchers, but I disagree.

To me, I feel the biggest opportunity often comes after you've found the product you want, and it’s those 10 seconds before you hit the Pay button.

For me, regardless of whether I’m booking a hotel, buying something on Shopee, or purchasing a flight, I have a simple checklist which I run through before confirming every purchase.

Though it doesn't guarantee huge savings/earnings every single time. But compounded over a period of time, these small savings/earnings do become a little more significant.

Step 1: Find the best price

This is like the most no-brainer part: find the platform that gives you the best prices. This sounds obvious, but it's still the first step.

Compare different platforms for the same hotels and flights, or products that you are purchasing.

Two similar/same products can have different prices on different platforms. Don't pay more than you have to.

Once I'm comfortable with the price, I move on to the next question.

Step 2: Use the right payment method

Similar to platforms and online travel agencies, different credit cards reward different spending categories.

Some are better for travel spend, others are better for online shopping. Some give cashback, while others earn airline miles.

Choosing the right card takes only a few seconds, but it can significantly improve the value you get from the same purchase.

For me, I usually use my go-to cashback card, Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card, which gives me 1.5% on my spending (the usual exclusions do apply).

Step 3: See if you can stack another reward

Being the Singaporean that I am, we have to go 1 step further and maximise our value as much as possible. More often than not, this is where many people stop looking.

But before completing an online purchase, I check whether there's an additional rewards platform that works with the merchant.

One platform I use is Laguna Network. Laguna Network is an affiliate platform that rewards users for using it as an entry point to purchase their hotels, flights or products. Laguna Network get a small fee for sending users to platforms like Trip.com, Shopee, Lazada etc.

In turn, we as shoppers get a small reward distributed to us in the form of Digital Assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and much more.

This is how I ensure that I get the most rewards possible.

I’ll add my item to the cart to save it, so I don’t lose it. Then hop over to Laguna Network to see if the platform is listed on Laguna Network. If it is, I can earn additional rewards on top of whatever cashback, miles or credit card points I'm already receiving from my payment method. So sort of think of it as double dipping for cashback + crypto.

The key point isn't the cryptocurrency rewards, but the idea that you can earn additional or extra rewards on purchases that were already happening.

If the merchant isn't available on Laguna Network, I simply complete my purchase as normal. This entire check usually takes less than 10 seconds but racks up quite a bit of reward for yourself.

Once your have done your purchases, you should receive an email from Laguna Network, telling you that your purchase is tracked. And from here, your rewards will be distributed after 120 days. This might sound long, but for most affiliate platforms, this is to ensure that there are no chargebacks or last minute cancellation of purchase.

Step 4: Ask the most important question

Would I still buy this if there were no rewards at all?

Getting Miles, Cashback, points, or Crypto should never become the excuse to spend more. If you’re spending to get a 5% crypto reward on an unnecessary purchase, it’s a really bad financial decision.

Rewards should improve purchases you were already going to make, not encourage new unnecessary ones.

Small habits compound

People often ask about investing strategies; there are Index funds, dividend stocks, Bitcoin and property.

These are all important conversations to have or discuss. But before we grow our money, we need to plug leaks by getting as much value as possible from our day-to-day purchases.

Optimising how we spend isn't as exciting as finding the next investment opportunity, but unlike predicting the market, this is something you can control every single day.

The biggest gains often don't come from making one brilliant financial decision. They come from making slightly better decisions hundreds of times each year.

That's why I always try to think three steps ahead before clicking Pay.

Transactions that are tracked and pending disbursements

Resources

If you'd like to explore Laguna Network for yourself, you can check whether the merchants you already use are available before your next purchase. And if you use my link, you get 5 USDC as a reward after completing your first purchase

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you sign up through my link, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. I only recommend tools that I personally use and believe provide genuine value.

Jorden Tan