Best ASOS shopping hacks to save money
Want to save some cash on your next ASOS shopping spree? Buying clothes online has never been so easy, and we'll show some easy hacks to make the most out of your next ASOS order.
Credit: (background) LMWH, (left) NoonBuSin, (bottom right) 2p2play, (top right) Nor Gal– Shutterstock
ASOS can give you everything your online shopping basket has ever dreamed of with one click. They stock brands like Nike, & Other Stories, adidas, Reebok and more. The possibilities are endless.
The reason most of us choose to order clothes and shoes from ASOS over physically going to high street retailers is that there's a high chance the goods will be cheaper online. Add in an ASOS student discount code and there can be pretty big savings.
However, there's more to buying cheap clothes than waiting for online sales or for an ASOS discount code to roll your way. Read on for the best ways to save money on ASOS.
How to get discounts and cheap clothes on ASOS
These are our top tips and tricks for getting the best prices and secret sales on ASOS:
-
Buy from the multipack section
Credit: ASOS
The multipack section often goes unnoticed but it's an actual godsend.
To locate said section, select whether you're shopping for men or women, then hover your mouse over the 'Clothing' button. Multipacks are located under 'Loungewear' for both sections (we missed it the first thousand times we went shopping on ASOS so we thought we'd save you the work).
This multipacks section on ASOS is really good for saving money on wardrobe essentials. It's a great place to buy cheap underwear, socks, plain t-shirts, hair scrunchies, multipacks of jewellery, leggings and even trackies.
For example, a plain white organic cotton ASOS DESIGN women's t-shirt costs £8* when bought by itself, but a pack of two t-shirts comes in at £15* and a pack of three comes in at £22*.
The same can be said for men's staples, too. An ASOS DESIGN t-shirt comes in at £8* when bought individually, but a pack of five shirts comes in at £32*.
And it's not just the ASOS brand that comes in multipacks. They have all sorts of different high street and designer brands on there.
Here's a list of the best brands for men and for women we've seen on there so far:
Best ASOS multipack brands
- Abercrombie & Fitch
- Calvin Klein
- HUGO
- Hollister
- Levi's
- New Look
- Nike
- Reebok
- Tommy Hilfiger.
-
Getting cheaper ASOS delivery
There are a couple of ways you can go about saving money on ASOS postage and packaging (and even get free delivery if you play your cards right). One includes Premium Delivery, and one does not.
ASOS Standard Delivery
We'll start with the latter. As we're sure you're more than aware, ASOS offers free Standard Delivery (usually £4.50) on all purchases over £40*. Delivery is usually within three working days of your order being placed.
Standard Delivery also includes ASOS' Click & Collect. This is when your order is delivered to a selected store so you can collect it at your convenience (in case you're scared you'll miss the postman).
There are two options here: you can order over £40 worth of clothes to get ASOS free delivery. However, if you don't need £40 worth of clothes, this could be a slightly wasteful approach.
Instead, you could team up with a mate who's also planning to order some clothes to push your grand total over the £40 benchmark.
ASOS Premier Delivery
The second option: PREMIER DELIVERY.
Premier Delivery costs £11.95* for the whole year and gets you free Next-Day Delivery, Standard Delivery or Nominated Day Delivery (whereby you select a delivery date of your choosing) to a UK address.
Keep in mind that there will still be a minimum spend of £15 per order. And that's after any discounts.
If you have housemates who also love ASOS, this is a no-brainer. Sign up for Premier Delivery on one person's account, split the bill and you'll all pay next to nothing for a whole year.
Or, if you don't have housemates who are willing to split the price, another way to get free ASOS delivery is to see if you've got uni friends who are willing to go halves/thirds/quarters on Premier Delivery on one of your accounts.
You can use Premier Delivery for multiple addresses, although ASOS' terms and conditions do state that Premier Delivery should be used for personal use only.
We reckon that as long as you're not using the service for business, re-sale or wholesale purposes (which the T&Cs explicitly forbid), ordering items to a few different addresses here and there should be fine.
Even if you don't have anyone to share with, Premier Delivery pays for itself after a few deliveries if you regularly order under £40 worth of items.
The only way this isn't worth it is if you order from ASOS less than twice a year, or if you're an avid ASOS Marketplace customer.
Unfortunately, Premier Delivery doesn't work on ASOS Marketplace as you're ordering from private sellers and not from ASOS itself.
Here's how much you could save if you buy ASOS Premier Delivery:
Will ASOS Premier Delivery save you money?
Annual orders worth under £40 Standard ASOS account Premier Delivery Savings 1 £4.50 £11.95 -£7.45 2 £9 £11.95 -£2.95 3 £13.50 £11.95 +£1.55 4 £18 £11.95 +£6.05 5 £22.50 £11.95 +£10.55 10 £45 £11.95 +£33.05 15 £67.50 £11.95 +£55.55 20 £90 £11.95 +£78.05 -
ASOS Outlet and ASOS Sale
In the ASOS Outlet, you can either browse by category of product or click on 'Further Reductions: Up To 70% Off' which will lead you to the full catalogue of reduced items.
It's actually possible to find reductions of more than 70%. We've seen items being sold at 80% off.
This section is great for shopping for ASOS discounts on out-of-season stock the way you would at a regular outlet shop.
If you're browsing in January, for example, and know you're going to need a new bikini for your summer holiday, start here. They tend to drop the biggest sales on the items that people are the least likely to be in the market for...
ASOS Sale
There is indeed another discount section: the ASOS Sale. This section is separate from the Outlet and can usually be found on the homepage. If you can't find it on the homepage, simply search for "ASOS sale" on Google.
You can always tell the difference between a standard Sale item and an Outlet item when looking at the item itself.
Outlet items always have the acronym "RRP" (crossed out) next to the original price. Sale items, however, just have the original price crossed out, without "RRP", as shown below.
Credit: ASOS
Products advertised on the ASOS Sale section of the website are items that ASOS has chosen to reduce the price of. Outlet items, on the other hand, are end-of-line stock that ASOS has received, so the price has to be below the RRP.
Both sections offer significant reductions (we've also seen items going for 80% off in the Sale section), so it's worth scoping them both out before you commit to buying anything.
-
ASOS Flash Sales and promo codes
Flash Sales are mini-sales that last anywhere between a couple of hours to a few days.
When one occurs, an ASOS promo code will be advertised that can be used on a particular product or range (e.g. 20% off activewear), or the items themselves will be reduced directly on the site before you put them in your basket.
They can happen pretty much anytime throughout the week. Although, we've noticed that there tends to be a 20% off ASOS sale on Sunday evenings from 7pm – 9pm. Look out for ASOS voucher codes at lunchtime too, between the hours of 12pm – 2pm.
Flash Sales also happen around bank holidays and other 'special' days like Valentine's Day, Halloween, April Fools' Day and so on.
The best bit about Flash Sales is they can apply to items that have already been reduced in the Outlet section and the Sale section. So, you could get up to 70% off plus an extra 20% off.
ASOS tends to offer specific discount codes at the end of a big sale as a last push to draw in customers. During big sales, it's worth waiting right until the last minute to potentially get an additional 20% or 30% off.
ASOS student discounts and voucher codes
ASOS offers a 10% discount to all students with a UNiDAYS or Student Beans account, or TOTUM.
Once you sign up and activate either of these accounts, you'll be sent a special ASOS discount code which will be valid until you graduate. So you'll get at least 10% off every time.
Unfortunately, even if you have all three student discount accounts, you can't stack these offers to get 30% off, nor can you combine them with the Flash Sales.
Want to stay up to date with all the latest deals and discounts? Join our Telegram or Facebook group, where we share sale codes as soon as they come out. -
ASOS birthday discount code
When you sign up for an ASOS account, opt in to Your Exclusives and make sure you enter all of the key details – including your birthday.
Two weeks before your birthday, you should be sent a code that gets you 10% off selected full-price items on the day of your birthday. The code will likely expire at 11.59pm on your birthday, so take some time out of celebrating to get shopping.
By opting in, you'll receive frequent emails from ASOS, which brings us to our next point...
-
Sign up to the ASOS newsletter
Tick all of the boxes under 'Contact Preferences', especially the 'Discounts and Sales' box, which signs you up for the ASOS newsletter.
When you sign up for their newsletter, ASOS' way of saying "thank you" is usually sending you a new customer promo code entitling you to some money off your first purchase.
We recommend you sign up for this once something's already caught your eye, though, as the code is only valid for a certain amount of time after you receive it. Also, keep in mind that it may take a few days for ASOS to send you the code.
Yes, we know promo emails are annoying, but do you know what's even more annoying? Paying more money for something because you didn't receive a discount code in your inbox.
If you're really not keen on receiving these emails in your inbox, you can always create a second email account and have them sent there to avoid promo emails being mixed up with your essential mail.
-
'Save for later' button
Credit: ASOS
This one requires a lot of self-control.
If what your heart desires isn't absolutely urgent, click on the little white heart at the bottom right of its picture, which should then turn black.
This will move it into the 'Saved Items' basket, where it'll be stored for 60 days if you're not logged into your account, or for six months if you are.
Saving an item for later doesn't mean you've reserved it, but it does let you see if it's low in stock so you can grab it before it disappears. If you're willing to risk it, leave it in there until a discount code gets sent your way or a flash sale rolls around.
We have a sneaking suspicion that, as with most online retailers, when you "favourite" an item or move it into your basket and leave it there without buying, the site will do everything in its power to get you to complete the purchase. This could include sending promo codes to your inbox...
If you're keen to find ways to save time, money and energy, see our guide to the top life hacks. -
Buy through cashback websites
About to head to checkout? Stop. Right. There. Leave the item in your basket. Now shut down the window and open a new one.
Don't buy anything on ASOS without going through a cashback website first.
Both TopCashback and Quidco offer cashback for purchases made on ASOS. Both usually offer between 1% and 15% cashback. The rates often change so it's best to check before making an order.
It's essentially free money every time you buy something on ASOS.
-
ASOS Marketplace for cheap vintage
Are you more of a vintage lover and less of a high-street shopper? Then ASOS Marketplace is the one for you.
ASOS Marketplace is home to over 1,000 'boutiques' run by independent brands selling pre-owned and reworked vintage clothing. Think of it as a very chic online charity shop.
Unlike charity shops, though, vintage tends to be pretty expensive. The prices of clothes on ASOS Marketplace often aren't that much cheaper than in your average boutique. But they do have what most vintage shops don't: a permanent sale.
Under 'Clothing' (for both the women's and men's sections), there's a red 'Clearance' button which takes you to discounted clothes and accessories.
Clearance items are in their final 30 days of shelf-life and have been reduced by 50% or 70%. This section seems to be particularly good for vintage women's Levi's jeans and high-waisted shorts, as well as retro tops for men.
Accessories and shoes are also included in this section. Score!
-
Check how much the original price is
It's worth checking whether ASOS really is offering the best price – especially during big sales.
In general, ASOS will either be selling at the cheapest price (especially during a Flash Sale) or at the retail price set by the brand.
But, on rare occasions (and we've seen this mostly during the Christmas and January sales), if a retailer puts an item on sale, the new discounted price doesn't always appear on ASOS.
So, if you're buying something that isn't the ASOS DESIGN home brand, check on the original retailer's website to see if you really are getting the best price out there.
Looking for more stores to try? Check out the best sustainable fashion brands.
* All prices were accurate at the time of writing.
