Shopping online has a lot of pros. On the plus side, we don't have to leave our home to get things that we want.
We can order just about anything from the bedroom or even the bathroom if we wanted to. Also, there are always ways to save a bit of money when you are shopping online. Thanks to promo codes, we can always get a little bit off.
For those who don't know, promo codes are promotional codes that can give online shoppers discounts on their purchases. Sometimes, new customers get discounts for shopping for the first time. Other times, if you sign up for newsletters, you can get a discount.
Many websites online have promo codes that are shared by other shoppers so that we can all bask in the glory of saving money. Who doesn't want to share the wealth with other people who could use a few dollars off?
Sometimes, we fail when using multiple promo codes. Some websites get wind that everyone is using them, and they deactivate the codes. Other times, they just don't work for specific items.
On TikTok, user @hummusbirrd said that it's really not hard to "guess" promo codes when shopping online. Some websites pretty much use the same kind of codes for 10-15% off many times. These are things like "WELCOME10" and other common words and phrases.
TikTok user @tylvvr says that many websites and companies use codes to test the website and make sure that they work. Sometimes, these codes are pretty simple and easy to figure out, just like the others.
"Test" obviously may work because some development teams on websites are using simple codes to make sure everything goes through. If you combine the "test" or "devtest" with numbers as high as 100 or 99, there is a chance it could take almost your entire total off.
Some commenters on TikTok said these codes will not work because development teams wouldn't use the codes to test on the product websites—for reasons that people would find out and try to get free stuff.
“These dev teams aren’t as sophisticated as you think they are. These codes have worked for me on two different websites, I’ve gotten $4,000 worth of merchandise delivered to my house for literal pennies," @tylvvr shared.
"I haven’t found any websites where they work on currently, the websites that I have used them on have since deactivated the codes so it’s not even worth me outing myself to what websites I used," he said.
Smaller boutiques and businesses are not the ones that you should target, the TikTok user said. It's more for the big businesses and the ones who have multi-million dollar companies and can stand to lose a few.
Many people commented on @tylvvr's video saying that they have previously worked in development and product testing, and they shared that it's true, this happens. They do test on product sites. And, the more who work on the team, the more likely something like this will "slip through the cracks."
“About 8 years ago I used EMPLOYEE80 on a website for 80% off like $2k worth of clothing. Idk about today but it’s worked in the past," said one person on the video.
“I received a PR package once that had an online order packing slip in it and the 100% off code literally was like “INFLUENCER” or something,” a commenter wrote. Most influencers do get some free merch.
“‘Test2’ got me 100% off one time but it was a smaller company and I was just looking for a little discount so I emailed them and snitched on myself,” said one person. How sweet.
If you want to shop a little bit and give yourself a nice treat, start testing out some simple combos of promo codes and numbers. Who knows, you may end up saving a bunch of money!
