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, Bershka, adidas and more. The possibilities are endless.
One major bonus of shopping online rather than in high-street stores is that clothes and shoes are often cheaper. 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 for getting the best prices and making the most of the next ASOS sale:
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Buy from the multipack section
Credit: ASOS
The multipack section on ASOS often goes unnoticed but it's incredible.
It's ideal 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 shorts.
For example, a plain white 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 sell loads of high street and designer brands in that section, too.
Here's a list of the best brands for men and women we've seen on there so far.
Best ASOS multipack brands
- Abercrombie & Fitch
- Calvin Klein
- HUGO Bodywear
- Hollister
- Levi's
- New Look
- Nike
- The North Face
- Tommy Hilfiger.
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Get cheaper ASOS delivery
There are a couple of ways to save money on ASOS postage and packaging (and even get free delivery). 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 a Click & Collect option, so you can pick up your order from a selected store at a time that suits you.
The best way to save money on Standard Delivery is to get an order over £40 worth of clothes.
However, if you don't need £40 worth of items, team up with a housemate who's also planning to order some clothes. If, together, you can push the total basket over the threshold for free delivery, you'll both save money!
ASOS Premier Delivery
Premier Delivery costs £9.95* for the whole year. It gets you free Next-Day Delivery or Nominated Day Delivery in the UK for orders over £15, after any discounts.
For orders under £15, you'll get free Standard Delivery instead.
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 very little 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 have 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.
Tom Allingham, our Communications Director, shares his experience using Premier Delivery on ASOS:
I hate shopping for clothes, and even when I have to buy something for an event, or to go on holiday, I often still leave it until the last minute. That's the main reason I'm an ASOS Premier member – for the unlimited free next-day delivery.
The annual subscription pays for itself within two next-day deliveries, so I'd say it's definitely worth it on that basis alone.
You also get access to exclusive sales, but I'm not quite as convinced you need to be a Premier member to get a good deal on ASOS. They seem to have big sales on every other week, so it may not be worth becoming a paid member just to get a discount on clothes.
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 £9.95 -£5.45 2 £9 £9.95 -£0.95 3 £13.50 £9.95 +£3.55 4 £18 £9.95 +£8.05 5 £22.50 £9.95 +£12.55 10 £45 £9.95 +£35.05 15 £67.50 £9.95 +£57.55 20 £90 £9.95 +£80.05 -
Find deals in the ASOS Outlet and ASOS Sale
If you're looking for ASOS discounts, make sure you check the outlet.
The ASOS Outlet is great for finding cheap out-of-season stock, just as you'd expect at a regular outlet shop. You can find items with huge discounts of up to 70%.
In the Outlet, you can either browse by category of product or click on 'The Outlet List' which takes 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.
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 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.
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Save money with 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 often be advertised that can be used on a particular product or range (e.g. 20% off activewear). Alternatively, the items themselves might be reduced directly on the site before you put them in your basket.
It's hard to predict the next ASOS sale, as 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 potentially 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 in case you can get an additional 20% or 30% off.
Our Digital Marketing Manager, Lauren Nash, managed to get an incredible deal using a Black Friday promo code on ASOS:
Recently I got an All Saints t-shirt down from £32 to £16 and then got an extra 20% off with a Black Friday code, making it just £12.80.
To hit free delivery, the purchase needed to be over £15 so I ordered 2 of them and then sent the other back. It'll make a lovely gift!
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 one 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 each order as a student.
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 Whatsapp or Facebook group, where we share sale codes as soon as they come out. -
Get an ASOS birthday discount code
When you sign up for an ASOS account, opt-in to email communication and make sure you enter all of the key details – including your birthday.
Two weeks before your birthday, you should be sent a code for 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...
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Sign up to the ASOS newsletter
After you sign up for the ASOS newsletter, they usually say thanks by sending you a new customer promo code for 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 period 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 main inbox, you could always create a second email account. By arranging for the newsletters to be sent there, you can still benefit from the discounts without the emails getting mixed up with your essential mail.
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Use the 'save for later' button
Credit: ASOS
If your purchase 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.
After you save an item, it will 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. However, it does let you see if it's low in stock so you can buy it before it sells out. If you're willing to risk it, leave it in there until a discount code gets sent your way or the next ASOS sale rolls around.
We have a sneaking suspicion that, as with a lot of online retailers, when you "favourite" an item or move it into your basket and leave it there without buying, the site will try 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. Don't buy anything on ASOS without going through a cashback website first.
Before buying any items, leave them in your basket, shut down the window and open a new one.
Both TopCashback and Quidco offer cashback for ASOS purchases. 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.
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Explore ASOS Marketplace for cheap vintage
Do you prefer vintage and independent labels to high-street brands? Then ASOS Marketplace is the one for you.
It's home to over 800 'boutiques' run by independent brands selling new and vintage clothing.
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 usually reduced by 50% or 70%. This section seems to be particularly good for vintage women's Levi's jeans and jackets, as well as retro tops for men.
Accessories and shoes are also included in this section. Ideal!
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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.
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Visit the ASOS sample sale
Recently, ASOS launched a new website for their Sample Sale for UK customers.
While you do have to make a new account, ASOS has confirmed it's totally legit and part of their brand.
The Sample Sale is a way for ASOS to get rid of excess stock, or pieces that were used as samples for models and manufacturers.
You have to be ready to jump on it as the items sell out quickly (which isn’t surprising as most of the items go for just £5).
However, you unfortunately can't apply student discount codes on the ASOS Sample Sale site.
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Rent ASOS clothes
When you're getting an outfit for a special occasion, like your graduation, you may not be planning to wear it very often. Instead of buying it for one-time use, you can rent an outfit for a fraction of the price.
Hire Street UK has a large selection of ASOS clothing that can be rented from as low as £15 for 10 days. As around 70% of the carbon footprint of clothing happens during the production process, this option is much better for your wallet and the planet.
Looking for more stores to try? Check out the best sustainable fashion brands.
* All prices were accurate at the time of writing.
