As college students, budgeting is a part of our daily lives, and with Christmas coming up, shopping for our loved ones can be challenging. Luckily, some smaller online stores have surprisingly good deals and items such as Lenovo wireless earbuds for $3.99 (on the Temu app) or even gifts for simply having the app (Wholee)!
Whether you’re looking for good gifts for friends and family or finding something cute for yourself, any of these three options are relatively cheap to try out and have a lot of great options! Plus, they’re all having their Black Friday sales now, so go check them out! First orders on most of these lesser-known apps have free shipping on top of that, so you can get a few smaller gifts for cheap.
1. Blush Mark: Women’s Clothing
Blush Mark has a rating of 4.8/5 in the Apple Store and is known for high-quality women’s clothing for relatively cheap. Along with clothing, they have beautiful jewelry for cheap prices. The largest issue this store has is that there’s anywhere for a 1-2 month shipping wait. There is also an issue with customer service when it comes to returns sometimes, so make sure you know your size beforehand! They’re relatively accurate in sizing, although a few reviews do say some of the brands run a little large.
2. Temu
Temu is currently the #1 shopping app in the Apple Store, although few people know of it. It has a 4.6/5 star rating, and to get you started they offer free shipping and a 30% discount on your first order. The only major complaint is that their customer service unit isn’t managed well. This is a relatively safe app to order from, just be aware that shipping does take two to three weeks, but prices are generally half of what Amazon has items for. For example, they have Lenovo earbuds for under $4, and most of their sweatshirts are $10. Once the item has reached your house, you have 90 days to return it for a full refund.
3. Wholee
Wholee is another app that had a bad reputation during the COVID pandemic but has improved within the last six to eight months. They currently have a 3.7/5 star rating in the Apple Store. When you first download the app, you’re awarded a gift. There’s no shipping fee, and all you owe is 1 cent to get your free gift shipped out. Once you’ve done that first order, there’s a flat shipping fee of $2.99 and you’re given a weekly gift. Unfortunately, after the first gift, you do have to pay the shipping fee. Their clothing isn’t as nice of quality as that from Amazon, but sweatshirts are generally between the price of $10 and $15 and almost nothing on the app is over $20. You can also play free slot games that give you money off per day on what you order, although if you don’t use it within the next 24 hours the reward goes away.
If you’re interested in looking into a few more lesser-known apps, CloudMall would be a good place to start, and although AliExpress is better known, it is also a far cheaper alternative to Amazon or other brand-name sites.