At Ben’s Bargains, we’ve worked 24/7 for the last two decades to bring you the best deals on the Internet. But for the past two weeks, we’ve also been working to bring attention to items that aren’t necessarily on sale, but simply in-stock and selling out insanely fast due to coronavirus-related demand.

We know many people around the U.S. are having difficulty finding common items like toilet paper, hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes, hand soap, paper towels, tissues as well as medical supplies.  We want to lend you some of our expertise in how we hunt for in-stock home essentials, ideally to help you snag something you need without having to go to a grocery store, drugstore, warehouse club or any other public venue.

1. Look for the bulk options

We’ve discovered that bulk options are shifting in and out of stock more frequently than single-item options. Referencing some of our expired deal posts, this 10-pack of tissues would be a good example of that type of option. We’ve seen this trend occur at Amazon, Walmart, Target and other large retailers on items like 4-packs of hand sanitzer or 3-packs of disinfecting wipes.

On average, you will pay more for a bulk option, but less per item compared to the single-item option. If you won’t have enough space to store a bulk option, consider sharing with your friends or family. You could also take what you need and donate the rest to a charitable organization.

2. Check your local delivery services

One of our deal editors landed a great deal on toilet paper simply by checking to see if Amazon Fresh did delivery in their area. They scored a great price on 24 rolls of toilet paper and never had to leave the house. Amazon is currently working to expand the Amazon Fresh service area as well as increase capacity (currently available in over 2,000 cities, $35 minimum for free delivery).

Another option is Instacart (assuming workers aren’t on strike as of next week, currently available in 40 states, $4 delivery fee on $10+ orders), Walmart Grocery (available in 1,600 cities, $8 to $10 delivery fee) and FreshDirect (available in NY, NJ, CT, PN, DE and Washington D.C., $6 to $16 delivery fee).

It’s possible you may have to order additional products in order to qualify for free shipping minimums when placing these types of orders. Alternatively, we advise you also check through Prime Pantry (an Amazon service for bulk items) to see if Amazon has allotted any inventory specifically for Prime Pantry customers. It’s rumored that Subscribe & Save customers do receive inventory allotments ahead of other customers, assuming you can subscribe while an item is in stock.

3. Use In-Stock Alerts on Retailer Sites

Amazon doesn’t have these, but Walmart definitely does. When you visit a product page on Walmart, you will see a red “Out of Stock” label under the price if it’s sold out. Underneath that, you will find a big, blue “Get In-Stock Alert” button. Click it, enter your email address and you will get an alert when it comes back in-stock.

Target also has this option, but only on select items. Look for the “Notify me when it’s back” button. Target does exclude this option on high-demand items, so it may not appear on all pages for essential items.

4. Use 3rd Party Tracker Sites

There are a handful of in-stock, tracker sites that are useful to reference when trying to find in-demand electronics like the Nintendo Switch. As of a few weeks ago, many of those sites have shifted to tracking in-demand home essentials, everything from cleaning supplies to bulk food items.

Two helpful options are NowInStock and ZooLert. If you bring up one of the product category pages on those sites, you will notice the site tracker updates every minute. It’s literally scanning 20 to 40 product SKUs and updating inventory data as quickly as possible.

5. Simply Be Online

Just like so many of the best online deals, simply being online at the right time can be massively important when searching for deals and especially in-stock items. Over the past couple weeks, we’ve seen products stay in-stock as short as two minutes before selling out again!

If you have a job that allows you to work from home, dedicate an alternate screen (secondary laptop, second monitor, tablet, etc…) to monitoring email alerts as well as the Ben’s home page or any additional 3rd party tracker site. You can also sign up for deal alerts on Ben’s and we will fire off an automatic email as soon as a new post appears. We also have a specific category for household essentials.

Organization also helps. Open up an Excel sheet or Google doc and make a list of all the items you need. Add links to those items at your favorite retailers and simply click through the URL list a few times a day. You may get lucky. We advise you to focus on the larger retailers at this time (Amazon, Target, Walmart, etc…). We’ve had extremely limited success in finding in-stock items online at smaller retailers.

Good luck and stay safe!

5 Tips on finding in-stock toilet paper, hand sanitizer and other essentials while shopping online

We know trying to snag deals on Thanksgiving and Black Friday can be overwhelming. Some retailers, like Kohl’s and Newegg, already rolled out Black Friday prices as of Monday. Some retailers, like Best Buy, are rolling out deals to members of their Elite shopping program.

However, there are a number of tips you can rely on in order to snag some of the best deals of the year. We’ve put together a list of ten helpful suggestions to help you save money and grab those deals before everyone else.

1. Timing is everything!

The best online deals start the night before Thanksgiving (Wednesday). While stores schedule their Thanksgiving Day deals to begin at midnight EST (9 p.m. PST), many retailers will jump the gun and start an hour or two earlier. Start keeping an eye out for those doorbusters around 7 p.m. PST on Wednesday; an ideal task for mobile devices.

2. Prep your accounts in advance!

There’s nothing worse than missing out on an amazing online doorbuster because you had to set up a new account with shipping / payment details. If you plan on shopping at a specific retailer this year, visit a day or two before Thanksgiving / Black Friday and update all your details. Around 6 p.m. PST, go log into that account and you will be ready to quickly make a purchase before online doorbuster inventory runs out.

3. Try adding doorbusters early!

This trick will vary between online retailers. Add the doorbuster to your cart on Wednesday night and simply refresh the page to see if the price drops in your cart. This could end up saving those previous seconds that will help you snag the deal before inventory sells out. However, you should also open a second tab in your browser to refresh the price on the main product page just in case it doesn’t update in the cart.

4. If something sells out, don’t give up!

Starting Wednesday night through Friday night, the most aggressive doorbuster deals will happen at random times online. Stores often plan on having inventory saved for specific times of the day. In addition, online retailers will often compete with price drops. Amazon may lower a price on a product and sell out within an hour. However, Target or Walmart may decide to price match it later in the day.

5. Don’t forget the little guys!

While massive retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Target and Best Buy are certainly great places to score online Black Friday deals, some smaller retailers have online deals just as good, sometimes even better (and less likely to sell out!) In the last couple years, Staples had some excellent cheap laptop deals, and 6pm had the best prices on shoes and apparel. Other retailers to keep an eye on include the Microsoft Store, OfficeMax, Google Shopping and Kohl’s.

6. Choose gift card bundles wisely!

Many of the most popular items won’t necessarily be on sale with a major discount, but will come with a hefty store gift card. This is especially true for trendy electronics like the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Bose/Beats headphones, GoPro cameras, Nest Thermostat and pretty much anything Apple related.

Retailers are banking on the fact that many gift cards go completely unused. Make sure you choose a gift card deal for a retailer where you regularly shop. For example, Target or Amazon are likely to have tons of other items from your shopping list, while a gift card for a retailer like Best Buy might not be as useful.

7. Activate your credit card’s promotional discount!

Many cards offer discounts specific to seasonal periods, but require activation to use. For instance, Chase Freedom offers 5% back at department stores, Paypal or Chase Pay on purchases during Q4. Discover offers 5% cash back on Amazon, Target and Walmart.com during Q4. American Express offers store-specific coupons (Ex. Spend $50, get $20 credit) all year round. All of these have to be activated though by logging onto your account and clicking the activation link. Here’s a complete list for this year.

8. Take advantage of price-matching programs!

Target recently announced an expansion of the retailer’s price matching policy, now including stores like Amazon, Walmart.com, Sam’s Club and Costco. Walmart is attempting to do something similar, but internally price matching items. If you read up on price matching before checking out, you may end up combining your price matched item with other discounts, like credit card rewards.

9. Always check for coupons!

Before checking out online, do a quick Google search for coupon codes (or in the Ben’s deal box description). You’d be surprised at how many online merchants routinely have 10% to 20% off codes available, and most of the time they stack with sale prices and other promotions. Examples of stores that almost always have coupon codes (even if they’re not advertised on the site) include Kohl’s and Macy’s.

10. Save 5% to 15% on top of sale prices using discounted gift cards!

Most frequently found on eBay during the holiday season, discount gift cards will typically sell up to 20% off. While this practice requires a predictive strategy to deciding where you will eventually spend your holiday purchasing dollars, it’s great for stores that you constantly visit every year for holiday shopping.

The Insider’s Guide to Shopping Online on Thanksgiving & Black Friday 2019