You’re toying with the idea of flying to Greece for a well-earned break. You take a peek at flights during your lunch break and again when you get home, but you decide to sleep on it. The following day, you realize it’s now or never, so you go online to book your flight — but ticket prices have soared!
Dynamic pricing — a strategy companies use to increase their profit margins — is one reason for this. Also known as algorithmic pricing, it keeps costs for goods and services in flux based on things like stock levels and behavior predictions. Sometimes, online stores will also tailor prices based on your age, gender, location, and even your income. Seems unfair, doesn’t it? That’s because it is.
Keep reading to find out more about how companies use your private data to adjust their pricing and how you can use a VPN to avoid price discrimination and save money.
Did you know you can use CyberGhost VPN to find better deals when shopping online? You can change your IP address to almost anywhere in the world and compare regional prices before you buy. Plus, you’ll have plenty of time to try it for yourself with our 45-day money-back guarantee.
How Online Stores Use Dynamic Pricing
When you shop online, retailers can see your IP address, which is a set of characters that give away your approximate geolocation and some information about your ISP. Your IP address is unique to your local network, which lets retailers track your activity and manipulate pricing based on your online habits and geolocation.
This practice is different from regular supply and demand pricing. It’s a type of price manipulation connected to factors like your location, shopping habits, and how much you’re usually willing to spend. Yep, that’s right. Some retailers have even come under fire for increasing prices for customers who use expensive Apple devices.
Banks and insurance companies have always charged different rates and premiums based on an individual’s risk profile. While that seems reasonable, online stores don’t have the same level of risk that banks and insurance companies have. So, the way we see it, they don’t have the same ethical reasons to tailor prices to consumers based on data collected about them online.
What Is a Shopping VPN?
A VPN is a virtual private network. It’s an app you can use to encrypt your traffic, which makes all your data unreadable and keeps the prying eyes of third parties off your online activity.
A good VPN provider will have servers in lots of countries, and you’ll be able to choose a server location from the app. When you connect to a VPN server in another country your IP address will change to that location. A VPN provider with a large server network makes for a great shopping VPN because it can help you compare prices between many different regions.
When you connect to a VPN server in a different location, websites will tailor their pricing to that region. They won’t be able to see your real IP address, which means they can’t build an accurate profile based on your online activity. Changing your IP address also prevents websites from linking any past activity to your current browsing session. That way, you can bypass price discrimination and save money.
It’s important to note when you log into an online shopping app or your account on a website, the store will immediately know who you are. This is because you’re logged into your profile, so all the information you’ve already submitted will be linked to your account. A VPN can’t separate this data from your session or hide information you hand over willingly – it can only protect your data while it’s in transit.
The Benefits of Shopping Online with a VPN
1. Compare Regional Prices
Prices can change based on your location, but you can use a VPN to change your IP address to a different region and compare prices before you buy. Depending on the size and spread of your VPN’s network, you can change your IP address to almost anywhere in the world and find the best deal. For instance, CyberGhost VPN has a server network spread over 100 countries, so you can connect from different virtual locations and compare prices to find the best deals when shopping online.
2. Dodge Price Discrimination
Retailers can also see your interest in a product or service based on how often you visit a product page, how long you stay on a page, what other sites you’ve visited, and more. Some companies will use this information against you to get you to buy at a higher price.
That said, you can use a VPN to hide your IP and your online activity from online retailers. That way you can avoid being charged more than is reasonable. Closing and reopening your browser and clearing your cookies helps too, but more on this later.
3. Shop Online Safely
Another reason to use a VPN for online shopping is to keep your passwords and credit card information safe from prying eyes. When you connect to public networks, your traffic can be intercepted by cybercriminals, which is why it’s best to avoid shopping on public Wi-Fi unless you encrypt your connection.
It’s important to note that while a VPN will protect your sensitive information from being intercepted, it won’t help much if you enter your credit card details into a malicious website. Neither will it protect the data stored on your device from malware.
How to Save Money with a VPN
You can dodge dynamic pricing and can get a ton of products and services cheaper just by using a VPN. While VPNs can help you take advantage of local deals, it’s up to you to find good bargains. Here are some areas where you can save money when shopping with a VPN.
1. Flights
Airlines are notorious for using dubious practices like online tracking and dynamic pricing to charge customers as much as possible. An airline may track how long you spent deliberating on a specific flight and use that data to manipulate you into paying more than you should have to.
Flight prices may also vary depending on where in the world you’re booking from. That’s because flight aggregators and airlines can use your IP address to present you with location-specific pricing. For instance, flights may cost more for customers in wealthier parts of the world than they would for people in less affluent regions. Airlines may also charge locals less than foreigners.
You can use a VPN to change your IP address and appear as though you’re paying for flights from a different country. Just remember to clear the cookies from your browser before you begin looking for deals and between every search. That way websites won’t be able to see your browsing habits and you can avoid discriminant pricing.
2. Car Rentals
Global car hire companies change their pricing based on your location. They charge comparatively higher prices in some countries even after the exchange rate has been taken into account. For example, you may be charged more if you book from a country where car rentals are considered a luxury. In other instances, people have been entirely blocked from using car rental services based on their location, which was given away by their IP address.
Let’s say you’re in Egypt and you’re planning to visit the UK. You’re likely to pay more for a car rental in Egypt than you would if you were booking after arriving. If you use a UK IP address, there’s a good chance you’ll get a cheaper rate.
3. Hotel Bookings
Hotel booking sites and accommodation aggregators display different prices based on where you’re booking from. For example, we noticed we could get a cheaper deal on the same room listing when we connected from the US as opposed to the UK.
When booking accommodation online, you can try connecting to VPN servers in different cities, states, or countries, and compare prices between these regions. You may find a massive price difference between some locations and end up saving money on your next trip.
4. E-commerce Goods
Top online retailers track your online activity and often use AI and dynamic pricing to get you to buy products at a higher price than you would normally be willing to pay. This trend is set to continue as more and more online retailers adopt these practices to increase profits. Changing your IP address and encrypting your traffic can help keep your real location and past online activity private while you hunt for the best deals.
The cost of goods can also vary between countries and even between cities and states. Specials may even be exclusive to certain areas, which means you could miss out on deals depending on your location. You can use a VPN to change your IP address, and in effect, switch between counties, states, and even cities to find specials that may not be offered in your location.
How to Use a VPN When Shopping
As mentioned earlier in this post, you can switch on your VPN to browse privately and increase security when shopping online. The following steps will help to compare prices between regions and hunt down the best online deals.
- Clear the cookies from your browser and close the window.
- Open CyberGhost VPN and connect to a VPN server in a country of your choice.
- Open your browser and search for your deal as if you’re in a different country.
- Repeat this process until you find the cheapest deal available.
Still not sure if CyberGhost VPN is right for you? Our 45-day money-back guarantee gives you plenty of time to see how you can save money on flights, car rentals, games, and more.
FAQ
Yes, you can and you probably should. You can use CyberGhost VPN to secure your traffic and keep your sensitive information safe from snoops and cybercriminals when shopping online. It can also help you save money on flights, hotel bookings, car rentals, and more. Simply mask your IP address with one from another country to compare prices between regions and find the best deals.
CyberGhost VPN works seamlessly with Walmart’s website and apps. You can install the VPN on your preferred device and connect with just one click to encrypt your traffic with military-grade VPN encryption. That way you can shop in private and keep prying eyes off your passwords and credit card details.
Yes, you can, but not all VPNs will work well with Amazon. Poorly configured VPNs can accidentally leak your real IP address and data. Many VPNs also have small networks and may not have servers in the locations you want. Some free VPNs may even sell your data to third parties, which will put your privacy and security at risk.
Instead, you can get CyberGhost VPN and rely on our strict No Logs policy, which guarantees we’ll never collect your traffic logs. We also have built-in DNS leak prevention and a Kill Switch, which kicks in if your connection drops unexpectedly. CyberGhost VPN’s massive server network across over 100 countries, means you can compare prices between many different regions and find the best possible deals.
Connect to a VPN server before you shop and you’re ready to go. After you connect, the VPN routes your traffic through a private, encrypted tunnel. This way you can pay for products and services securely, even on public Wi-Fi. You can also easily switch between VPN server locations to change your IP address and find cheaper deals in other countries. Read more about how you can use a VPN to stay safe and save money when shopping online here.
Always. When you’re online, your IP address is public, which means stores and advertisers can track your activity and present different prices based on your shopping habits and your location. Cybercriminals can also intercept your traffic on public Wi-Fi and steal your credit card details and passwords.
Use CyberGhost VPN to mask your real IP address and encrypt your traffic. That way you can shop online privately and compare prices between regions. You can also shop safely online without worrying about someone intercepting your traffic and stealing your sensitive information.
A VPN encrypts your traffic which can prevent your credit card details from being leaked when shopping online. However, not all VPNs are created equal. Some use weak and outdated VPN protocols like PPTP. On the other hand, CyberGhost VPN uses 256-bit AES encryption and the fastest and most secure protocols including the lightweight WireGuard®.
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