The holidays are fast approaching, and if you haven’t started your shopping yet, now is the time! After all, if you’re looking to save, planning your gift purchases ahead of time and keeping an eye out for sales are smart ways to cut costs during this expensive time of year.
Online shopping is a great way to do your Christmas shopping. You’ll probably be less tempted to make impulse purchases than if you were shopping in the store. You also may need to do your shopping online because of health concerns or your schedule.
Of course, you always have the option of buying all your gifts online from Amazon. But for one reason or another, you might not want to buy all of your Christmas gifts from the massive online retailer. You can also always buy directly from other major retailers on their websites, too.
But there’s another option out there, and this new way to buy your gifts for the holidays can do a whole lot of good for the world.
That option is the browser extension Goodbuy. But how exactly does it help you do good for the world? Take a look at what we’ve found out about Goodbuy and how it can help you shop ethically and even save money this holiday season.
What Is Goodbuy?
Goodbuy is a browser extension that you can download through the Google Chrome store (or on Safari iOS), but it’s also so much more than that. It’s a tool that connects shoppers with small businesses that need your support!
How Did Goodbuy Start?
Two working moms were tired of buying from major companies that they couldn’t support in good conscience. With limited time to spend looking for ethical alternatives online (balancing a job and raising children is very time-demanding!), they came up with the idea for a tool that will allow shoppers to quickly find ethical online shopping options.
Who Are the Founders?
The founders, Cara and Cary, have a history as successful businesswomen. Cara Oppenheimer has worked as a creative director for major brands and deeply understands the importance of branding. Her co-founder, Cary Fortin, has experience as an entrepreneur and founded a successful design company.
Both of these mothers and businesswomen want a better world for their children – which is why they built Goodbuy and are committed to supporting small businesses.
What Does Goodbuy Do For You?
Buying holiday gifts online from major retailers isn’t necessarily a fulfilling experience. By shopping with Goodbuy, you can feel good about where your dollars are going. Plus, actually giving the gift will be more meaningful if both you and the recipient can feel proud of where it came from and what the dollars spent on the gift support.
How Does Goodbuy Work?
It’s not hard to get started with Goodbuy. There are five key steps:
- Install the extension.
- Start shopping. You can go to Google and search for gifts as you normally would.
- A tab will pop up when there’s a match.
- Click on the match.
- Check out – and possibly buy – the product on the small business’s match page!
Goodbuy is connected to over 185,000 small businesses, so the chances are good that you’ll find a gift you can feel good about buying with this extension!
How Do They Decide Who Is a Small Business?
The founders take their stance on vetting businesses seriously. They don’t want to promote any businesses that are misrepresenting their identities, and they take steps to make sure that they are only featuring truly ethical businesses.
The founders prioritize certain qualities in the businesses that they connect to. One of those qualities is that the business must truly be small.
According to the founders, a small business makes less than $50 million a year. That’s 25x less than what Amazon makes in a day. The Goodbuy extension will only show product matches for products offered by companies that make less than $50 million a year.
Why Is American-Made Important?
In addition to small businesses, Goodbuy also promotes businesses that embody certain values, such as making their goods in America. But why is that important?
Buying American creates jobs, decreases pollution, and ensures that your money goes directly into the hands of business owners. American goods are also held to higher health standards. Buying American creates a ripple effect.
According to St. Paul Federal Credit Union, “When you choose ‘Made in USA,’ your money does more than create manufacturing jobs. The wages those American workers earned because of your choice go back into our economy. American taxes are paid. More American products are purchased. The economy grows, thanks to your choices.”
Read More: Holiday Shopping: Start Early, Save Money
What Identities Do They Highlight?
American-made is one of the values that Goodbuy supports, and it’s one of many. Goodbuy wants you to be aware of the difference you’re making in the lives of small business owners. They highlight business owners who identify as a member of certain groups.
The business identities they highlight are:
AAPI-owned (Asian American Pacific Islander)
Black-owned
Family-owned
Indigenous-owned
Latina/o/x-owned
LGBTQIA+ owned
owner(s) with disability(ies)
veteran-owned
woman-owned
They also support businesses that have specific values, including businesses that provide products that are American-made, certified ethical, cruelty-free, local, sustainable, or vegan.
How do they really know that the businesses they promote are actually owned by people in these identity groups or that they actually support these values? Again, the founders take this seriously. Their team randomly audits the small businesses they support to make sure that the owners are who they say they are and that the companies are being honest about their values.
How Does the Company Survive Financially?
Goodbuy isn’t a store – it’s a tool that connects shoppers with stores. So just how do they survive financially?
Like many other tools that connect shoppers with products – whether they’re an Instagram influencer or a blogger – they take a commission. Their fee is 10% on all sales facilitated by the goodbuy extension.
Is Goodbuy Really as Good as They Say They Are?
Reading online reviews can be a bit of a mixed bag. Many disgruntled customers vent all their frustrations on the internet, and sometimes their stories aren’t quite the whole truth.
For the most part, Goodbuy’s reviews are overwhelmingly positive. They have a 4.5-star rating on Trustpilot out of 26 reviews and a 5-star rating from 46 upvotes on ProductHunt. One negative review on Trustpilot stated that the idea behind the extension was great, but the search results didn’t match what she was looking for.
Other Money-Saving Browser Extensions
Ethics are one consideration when you’re shopping, but price is also an important consideration. These extensions can help you save on your Christmas shopping.
Honey
Download the Honey extension from PayPal, and you’ll see lower prices in your cart before you know it. The extension will automatically look for coupons and apply them to items in your cart. Honey also provides price comparisons and gives you the chance to earn Honey Gold points, which you can redeem for gift cards.
Ibotta
Similar to Honey, Ibotta allows you to clip digital coupons and activate cash-back offers. As you spend more, you earn more. Once you reach $20, you can deposit it into a bank or Paypal account or exchange your savings for gift cards.
CouponCabin
CouponCabin is another browser extension that’s useful for finding great deals. You can get cash back on certain eligible purchases, receive automatic coupons, and benefit from price comparisons with CouponCabin as well.
CapitalOne Shopping
CapitalOne Shopping operates on a similar basis to the other money-saving extensions. It allows you to earn shopping credits, which act like cash back, on certain eligible purchases. You can also earn automatic coupons and price comparisons. Your shopping credits can be used to purchase gift cards.
Rakuten
Rakuten offers the same benefits as the other money-saving browser extensions, but you are only able to cash out on your rewards every three months. You can receive that money either through a check or a PayPal payment.
Which Browser Extension Should You Choose?
Here’s the truth – you can download them all and constantly switch between them to see where you’ll get the best deal. However, in most situations, loyalty pays. If you build up all your shopping credits, points, or cash-back offers using one extension, you’re likely to see faster payouts using that specific extension.
The browser extension that works best for you will depend on your specific spending habits. Across the board, Honey is a popular option. According to Newsweek, “Honey claims that users save an average of $126 annually using discount codes fetched by its web extension. Its outreach expands to over 30,000 participating merchants, and it earns money through commissions from stores every time you checkout using its discount codes. Since its vision and business model revolve around data privacy, you may also rest assured knowing that your data won’t be shared with Honey’s partner stores.”
Read More: PayPal Reaches Agreement With Amazon, Setting up Future of Online Commerce
