Companies are increasingly adopting strategies like dynamic pricing. This means depending on various factors, including your country or region, you may be paying more for the same product/service. This can feel unfair.
Thankfully, there’s a workaround. You can use a virtual private network (VPN) to spoof your location and unlock massive discounts. Here’s how to save money with a VPN:
- Subscribe to a VPN. We recommend NordVPN as it has a vast network of servers, allowing you to enjoy discounts from everywhere in the world.
- Log in to your VPN account.
- Connect to a server in a country where the product/service you want to purchase is cheaper. For example, connect to an Argentinian server to get a YouTube Premium subscription for $2.50/month.
Continue reading to learn more about how to save money with a VPN and how to find the best discount deals.
Dynamic pricing and price discrimination tactics are quickly becoming the norm in online retail. According to e-commerce analytics firm Profitero, Amazon adjusts its prices a jaw-dropping 2.5 million times daily. Many other companies change their prices frequently, too.
E-commerce stores, airlines, hotels, and other digital outlets capitalize on user data to determine the best price to sell their products and services online.
Data such as your location highly influences the price of an item online. Do you know you can change your location and unlock huge discounts? Yes, a VPN allows you to spoof your location and enjoy the best discount deals in the world.
In this article, we will look into the pricing tactics used by online retailers and show how you can save money with a VPN.
How to Save Money With a VPN: Step-by-Step Guide
User location plays a significant role in online pricing across different industries. A person from a developed country is thought to have more disposable cash than someone from a low-income country. But this is not always the case.
Here’s how to combat this indiscriminate profiling and save money with a VPN:
- Pick a VPN service. We recommend NordVPN. This VPN has a vast network of servers spread over 60 countries, which ensures you can find deals from everywhere. NordVPN also offers blazing fast-streaming speeds and a user-friendly interface.
- Choose a subscription plan and download the VPN app. You can take advantage of NordVPN’s 30-day money-back guarantee to try it out for free.
- Launch the VPN app and log in.
- Connect to a server in a country where the product or service you’re trying to get is cheaper.
You can use a VPN for shopping, buying subscriptions, flight tickets, and just about any other online transaction.
1. Online shopping
Online retailers such as Amazon use the data they collect from users to determine their prices. Sometimes, Amazon updates the prices of items multiple times daily.
It’s not just Amazon, though. Competitors such as Walmart, Target, Best Buy, and others across the world are using dynamic pricing to increase their revenues.
For example, here’s a price comparison for Adobe Creative Cloud in the US and the Netherlands.
As you can see, the same product costs more in the Netherlands than in the US. In some cases, one product can have different prices across different zip codes in the same country.
Also, discount offers on shopping sites are usually geo-restricted. This means Amazon could have a sale on certain items in the UK but not in the US.
A VPN allows you to access discount offers in other parts of the world and find the best prices for products and services.
2. Airline tickets
Airlines are known for price gouging and discrimination. They use different data points, such as your location, to determine the price of a flight. People in high-income countries tend to pay higher prices for flights compared to those from developing countries.
So, can you use a VPN to get cheaper flights? Yes! In our tests, we successfully used a VPN to find and book cheap flights.
We searched for a flight from Atlanta to Mumbai from the US without any VPN. The best price we got was $689. We fired up NordVPN, connected to a VPN server in India, and looked up the same flight. The best price for the flight was $635. That’s a difference of $54! If you fly a lot, this can add up.
3. Streaming services
Streaming platforms are notorious for regional pricing and geo-blocking restrictions. Granted, factors such as distribution rights and purchasing power play a big role. But, the price differences can be substantial.
Below, we’ll briefly show you how the prices of popular streaming platforms vary based on location. Read our guide to saving money on subscriptions with a VPN for additional information.
Spotify Premium
The price of Spotify Premium varies wildly across different countries. For example, a Spotify Premium individual plan costs $10.99 monthly in the US. The same plan costs about $1.44 in India, $1.51 in Turkey, $4.83 in Poland, and $8.64 in Greece.
Not only does a VPN allow you to save on your Spotify subscription, but if the streaming service is unavailable in your country, you can use a VPN to unblock Spotify and access its vast library of content.
Apple Music
The same goes for Apple Music. While users in India only pay around $1.20 per month for the Apple Music Individual plan, those in the UK have to pay over $13 per month for the same service.
Netflix
Netflix has different prices in every country it operates. Netflix Premium subscription costs around $8 in Kenya, $4.93 in Turkey, and up to $19.99 in the US.
In addition, Netflix’s content library varies from country to country. For example, the 1994 crime drama Shawshank Redemption is available on Netflix Canada but not Netflix US.
Thankfully, you can use a VPN to access the Netflix libraries of different countries and save on your Netflix subscription. Netflix frowns on the use of VPNs and has been actively blocking VPNs from accessing its network. As a result, some VPNs don’t work with Netflix.
You don’t need to try different VPN services to find which ones work with Netflix. We’ve conducted extensive tests to determine the best VPN for Netflix.
YouTube Premium
Are you tired of YouTube ads? Would you like to play videos uninterrupted? YouTube Premium amplifies your YouTube experience in every way. However, users in different countries pay different prices for the same service.
While YouTube Premium costs $13.99 a month in the US, it costs $7.19 monthly in Argentina.
But you can change your virtual location with a VPN and get YouTube Premium cheaper.
For more information, read our step-by-step guide to getting a YouTube Premium discount.
4. Dating apps
Dating apps and websites also use similar pricing strategies. With some platforms, you’re charged a different subscription price depending on your country.
Tinder is one of the most popular dating apps accused of personalized prices — i.e., charging different prices for its premium services based on users’ demographic data like their age, race, sexual orientation, and location.
While Tinder has denied this, a 2022 study by the Mozilla Foundation recorded 31 different prices for Tinder Plus in the Netherlands. While age is one of the key factors behind this personalized pricing, the researchers noted that the role of location is worth further investigation.
You don’t have to pay significantly more money to find love online. You can spoof your location using a VPN and enjoy premium features on international dating apps like Tinder, Match.com, My Single Friend, and eHarmony at a cheaper price.
5. Hotels
Just like airlines, hotels have perfected the art of dynamic pricing and price discrimination. Location plays a big role in the price you’ll get for hotel bookings online.
In our tests, we noticed that booking a hotel in the US from South America can save you over $100. However, when it comes to rental cars, it’s cheaper to book from within the country than from outside, as foreigners are charged more for car rentals compared to locals.
NordVPN: The Best VPN for Saving Money
Besides enhancing your privacy and security online, NordVPN can save you hundreds of thousands of dollars on online purchases.
Wondering how this works? Assume you’re in the US and connect to a NordVPN server in the UK, Canada, or Australia. Any website you visit will detect you’re in those countries and show you the corresponding prices.
That’s it! That’s how you can change your virtual location and access discounts online.
We’ve tested dozens of VPNs, and NordVPN is our favorite VPN for shopping and finding discount deals online. Here’s why:
- A vast network of servers: NordVPN has 5,000+ VPN servers in over 60 countries. This allows you to access discount deals in various countries across the world.
- Obfuscated servers: Online retailers are catching up with VPNs. Luckily, NordVPN’s obfuscated servers hide the fact that you’re using a VPN, ensuring you can access various platforms without any restrictions.
- Compatibility: NordVPN has an app for all major devices, including Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, and Android. No matter your device, there’s a NordVPN app for you.
- Simultaneous connections: You don’t need a subscription for every device you have. NordVPN supports up to six different devices under one account.
- Dedicated IP addresses: For an extra cost, you can get a dedicated IP address that’s unique to you. This is recommended when accessing streaming platforms abroad or when browsing retail sites with advanced anti-VPN detection tools.
- NordVPN Threat Protection: This feature blocks malicious sites, third-party trackers, intrusive ads, malware, and other cyber threats. It also prevents sites from collecting data about you that can influence the prices of products or services.
- Kill switch: This is an important security feature that protects personal information, such as your location, if your VPN connection suddenly terminates.
- Unblock geo-restrictions: Streaming platforms and shopping websites don’t just use your location to determine the prices you get but also the content you see. For example, when you travel abroad, you’ll be blocked from accessing your favorite Netflix shows. NordVPN helps you bypass these restrictions and access these shows as if you were home.
If you’re looking to pay less online, you’re probably conscious of spending money on additional services like NordVPN. Thankfully, this VPN is relatively affordable. Plus, NordVPN has a 30-day money-back guarantee that allows you to test it with no risk.
Read our comprehensive NordVPN review to learn more about our experience with this VPN service.
What is Dynamic Pricing?
E-commerce websites and other online services are increasingly adopting dynamic pricing. This pricing tactic is especially common with airlines and concert ticket sites.
For instance, have you ever looked at the price of a flight online just to come back a few days later to find the price has gone up? Have you bought a ticket to a concert just to meet your friend at the concert with the same ticket, but they got it for a cheaper price?
Companies collect a lot of data about you to determine their prices. These data points may include:
- Time of purchase: Believe it or not, items online are priced differently throughout the day, week, month, and year.
- Browser history: The type of websites you visit can paint a picture of how much you can afford to pay.
- Device type: Using expensive devices, like the latest iPhone, to access an e-commerce store can result in higher prices.
- Cookies: Websites track you online using cookies saved on your browser. Cookies collect information such as how often you’ve looked at a particular page, similar sites you’ve visited, and more. This information can influence the price you’re charged for a product or service.
- Location: Your IP address is a unique number that can be used to determine your location. You may be charged higher prices if your IP address indicates that you live in a high-income country or zip code. A VPN masks your IP address and hides your location.
Other Tips for Saving Money Online
With troves of data harvested from users online, dynamic pricing is becoming intrusive and predatory. To protect yourself from these pricing tactics, we recommend you use a top-rated VPN like NordVPN and consider using the following:
- Incognito mode: When you browse in incognito mode, your browser doesn’t store any browsing data. This means cookies and other data are wiped once you close the page, ensuring websites can’t track you.
- Different devices: Try accessing websites using different devices and browsers to see if you’ll get a different price.
- Discount apps: Use discount apps like the Honey browser extension to automatically find and apply coupons and compare prices across different stores.
Is it Legal to Save Money With a VPN?
Using a VPN to buy things cheaper is generally legal. VPNs are legit tools to enhance your online privacy and security. They are commonly used to protect sensitive data, access blocked content, and secure private data on public Wi-Fi.
The legality of using a VPN to save money online primarily depends on how you use it and the specific terms and conditions of the platforms you visit.
Final Thoughts: Save Money With a VPN
In the age of AI, dynamic pricing is becoming more accessible to online retailers and e-commerce websites. Companies no longer need a huge team and sophisticated algorithms to implement these pricing tactics.
Today, more than ever, it’s important to use a VPN to get the best deals online and avoid predatory pricing.
Check out the FAQ section below to learn more about how to save money with a VPN.
Yes! In our tests, we were able to use a VPN to get a cheaper flight and save $54 on a flight from Atlanta to Mumbai. However, many airlines and travel booking websites know these tactics and have implemented measures to counter them. Check out our guide to booking cheap flights with a VPN for additional tips and step-by-step instructions.
We tested 15+ VPNs to determine the best VPNs for shopping, and NordVPN stood out. It has an extensive network of servers scattered across the globe, so you can compare prices and buy products from anywhere in the world. It’s also user-friendly and offers blazing-fast speeds.
While you can use a free VPN to access most websites and apps, it may not work for finding discounts on platforms that use geo-blocking technology or sites that actively block VPNs. Moreover, most free VPNs have a small server network, so you’re limited to finding discount deals from a few countries/regions. Some free VPNs also harvest and sell user data to third-party companies.
