Learn how to take advantage of regional pricing
Stop Overpaying! How to Save Money when Buying Online?
Buying something online? Pay attention to the posted price before paying money!
People LOVE seasonal sales and Black Fridays as they are a perfect opportunity to save your finances. Monitoring sudden discounts via emails is another good way to economize. However, both cases are fortunate turns of events and nothing more. To reliably benefit from online shopping, I recommend you take a look at regional pricing.
What is regional pricing and what does it go with
Regional pricing means that the cost of some items or services could vary depending on your country.
Usually, this pricing strategy is based on the following factors:
Currency exchange rates
- Local sales trends
- The purchasing power of a population
That’s not fair! Yes, but only till you learn how to benefit from regional pricing.
If services set prices according to my geographical location, all I need to do is change my geo-position. Time to start packing!
Wait, wait, that might actually be unnecessary. Websites and online services look at your IP address to find out where you are. Of course, they can’t get your physical address (street, house number), but they may locate the country and city you are in. This information is enough to update your pricing if necessary. Therefore, you don’t have to move to another country; just change your IP address and that is it!
Why use a virtual IP address
- To benefit from regional pricing
- To boost your online anonymity and privacy
- To hide your actual geographical location
- To virtually travel all around the world
- To prevent hackers from monitoring your activities
Now, let’s take a closer look at how to save money with regional pricing and a VPN service with the IP masking feature.
How to save money on flights
Are you an entrepreneur and going to another country with your colleagues to have a business meeting? You can, of course, buy business class tickets. But as they say, a penny saved is a penny earned. So, get started with a VPN service, disguise your real IP address with that of a VPN server, and save money on flights.
Or are you an individual traveler? Then don’t miss the ability to buy cheaper plane tickets and economize.
Which VPN app is better for dealing with regional pricing? VPN Unlimited is on my top list of IP masking VPN services. Since people most commonly book tickets using their laptops and PCs, here are links to download this VPN for macOS and Windows devices.
Extra tips on how to save money when buying plane tickets
- Do not buy tickets on weekends — Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are the most expensive days to book plane tickets.
- Choose tickets at least 47 days before a trip — 47 days before the day of the flight is the cheapest time to purchase tickets.
- Search flights using the incognito tab — The price can go up the second time you open the same Search page.
- Use dedicated services to compare prices (Google Flights, Priceline, Expedia, Skyscanner) — Comparing pricing is the best way to find a cheap flight.
How to save money on hotels
No matter if you are a businessman or an employee, an individual traveler or a member of a tourist group, looking for a hotel or an apartment — all of us like to spend less. A VPN app allows you to get the same convenience and travel at the same comfort but cheaper.
Get it on your macOS laptop, iOS smartphone, Windows PC, Android tablet, or any other device and start benefiting from regional pricing!
Extra tips on how to save when booking hotels
- Earlier booking ensures lower prices — Also you can cancel your reservation and create a new one if the price goes down.
- Use a loyalty program — When traveling to a previously visited country, stay at the same hotel and you may get a loyalty discount.
- Know your days of the week — Typically, hotels offer lower rates on weekdays compared to weekends.
- Always check breakfast — Some hotels already include breakfast in the price, so you can save money on eating out.
How to save money on streaming
Which of you likes TV shows, films, and streaming? And which of you likes discounts? I’m on both teams! So, let’s save money together.
To get a streaming service at a lower price, all you have to do is change your IP address to another country where it’s cheaper. Here are the most popular streaming services and their low-price countries:
- Netflix — This streaming service is available in Turkey for $2.78 only. Compare this to Switzerland’s $12.40 monthly.
- Disney+ — India users can get a monthly subscription for $4. Compared to €6.99 for European users, the difference is $50 a year.
- Amazon Prime — Once again, India is the cheapest place to get an Amazon Prime subscription. Pay $1.76 per month and get the same functions as the US and UK users get for $11.23.
The difference between these two countries is $12 for the Basic subscription yearly, $48 for the Standard one, and $70 for the yearly Premium plan. A considerable difference, isn’t it?
How to save money on games
Do you prefer games or TV shows? I, for one, liked The Witcher series — guess if I’m talking the game or the show ;) However, with a VPN app and some extra tips you can save money on both games and streaming services. Keep reading to see how to buy games for much less!
- Look out for sales — There are holidays when games usually go for cheaper than normal: Cyber Monday, Black Friday, Easter, Thanksgiving, etc.
- Pre-order games — Often if you pre-order a game from a retailer, you get a discount of up to 10% or more (depending on the pre-order offer).
- Use loyalty points or store credit — Play games you’re playing every day, achieve points, complete missions, contribute to the game community, get store credits, and then spend them on new games.
- Benefit from regional pricing — Change your country in the Game Store, disguise your actual IP address, and get games at a less price.
How to buy games on Steam on a budget
- Download a VPN on your laptop, PC, or any other supported device.
- Connect to the cheaper location.
- Log in to your Steam account and navigate to the Account Details tab.
- Click Update Store Country.
- Enter a new billing address in the selected country and click Apply Country Change.
Great! Now you can buy Steam games at a lower price from anywhere!
Frequently Asked Questions
Is regional pricing legal?
Yes, stores can legally offer different prices to different people. There is no obligation to offer tickets, subscriptions, and other items at the same prices.
However, most people aren’t fans of such a pricing policy. And that’s no wonder, no one wants to overpay for the same item.
How to benefit from regional pricing?
To save your money when buying something online I highly recommend you to check prices for the same item in the countries with a lower purchasing power.
How to change the IP address?
It’s a piece of cake!
- Download VPN on your device.
- Open the app and create an account.
- Connect to the appropriate virtual server.
From now on, your real IP address is masked with the virtual one. The same goes for your geo-location. As a result, no websites and online services will have access to your real IP and geo-position.
What other reasons to get a virtual IP address?
The IP address is a key to revealing your online activities and real-life identity. Thus, if your real IP falls into the wrong hands, you are going to have a bigger issue than overpaying. That’s why using VPN services and getting a virtual IP address to mask your real one is essential.
To find out if your IP address is visible to the websites you visit, you can take an IP leak test:
Whether your IP address is leaking or not, just to be on the safe side, I highly recommend you to use virtual IP when surfing the internet.
Thanks for reading and start taking advantage of regional pricing right now!
