Ride the wave
Tips on how to adapt to dynamic price surgesDynamic price surges commonly cause Uber and Lyft prices to spike at peak times. But now the practice — which causes pricing for goods or services to rise based on market demand — is starting to catch on in other, once-steady markets, such as concert tickets, grocery stores, toys, video games, and even fast-food restaurants. Here are a few strategies for not breaking the bank when faced with it:
  • Search from within a different ZIP code to see if you get a better price.
  • Set price alerts in monitoring apps, browser extensions and deal-tracking services to let you know when costs drop.
  • Use discount or price search engines to navigate online retailers.
  • Clear your web browser’s cache so online stores don’t know how eager you are to buy an item.
  • Abandon online shopping carts. It may prompt merchants to offer you a better deal later.

Pro tip: Discount and deal-monitoring services such as Hopper, Kayak, and Trivago can help you track airline, hotel, vacation, and car rental prices to ensure you’re getting the best deal. Likewise, a host of free web browser extensions and online price comparison services can help you score big savings here.

— Scott Steinberg