People aren’t just spending more time online shopping—they’re spending more money, too. 70% of shoppers believe they get better and cheap shopping deals online than in stores, but it turns out online shopping isn’t as cheap as you’d like to think.

Clever marketing approach like free shipping, exclusive price drops, add-ons, and promoting how cheap shopping can be done online can fool consumers into thinking they are getting the best deal, but we’re here to help you method the duplicity. Continue reading so you can learn how to avoid overspending on your online shopping this holiday season.

1. Free Shipping is not actually Free

A remarkable 85% of consumers say free shipping makes them more willing to shop online, a factor even more critical than same-day shipping and simple return processes. Retailers push you to “spend just $6.99 to qualify for free shipping,” often promising you to purchase something you don’t really need all in the name of avoiding those annoying shipping costs. And it works.

But the adage “nothing in life is free” holds true. To offer free shipping, many sellers in the market increase the price of products in order to compensate for the overall expense. This isn’t to say that all free shipping deals are a rip-off—just remember to take free shipping offers with a grain of salt.

2. Quantity Does not Mean Cheaper

One of the most popular tips for living frugally is to buy in bulk, but it isn’t that cheap rather it turns out that’s not always the cheapest option. When shopping online, you may be seduced to buy the 142-pack of batteries instead of the 14-pack to save money in the long run. Your line of thinking is spot on, but sometimes the math just does not add up.

Often, by using your handy-dandy calculator, you will find buying 12 12 packs is surprisingly the cheaper option. True story.

3. Promotion aim You When You are Most sensitive

You have heard that you should never to go supermarket shopping when you are hungry, right? Well, online shopping attacks when you are hungry(metaphorically speaking, of course). Those wonderful cookies (food again, I know) across the web enable promotions to follow you everywhere.

For example, while innocently Googling local rout for the upcoming family hike, promotions bombard you with deals trying to sell you the latest boots. When trying to find a delicious recipe, promotions target you with crucial cooking and baking gadget.

And the worst part is that you are just a click or two away from navigating to the page, thinking that you are doing cheap shopping you drop the item in your cart, and exiting the online store with a little less money in your bank account. One study found that consumers spent twice as much money online as they thought they had.

With the increasing trend of online shopping people thinks that doing cheap shopping will be easy online, you need to always have a constant check on your spending.

4. That dumped Shopping Cart Follows You

The entertainment department always attracts you in supermarkets. You pick up the new movie you have wanted to see and cast it into your shopping cart. But before leaving the store, you decide you will just rent the movie on Redbox instead, and you remove the movie from your shopping cart. The decision is made—out of sight, out of mind.

The same is not true with online shopping. Now, if you add an item to your online cart and decide not to make a purchase, the retailer is not going to let you forget about it soon. You can expect computerized emails reminding you to finish your purchase, push-notifications via apps, retargeted ads informing you of price drops, or limited-time coupons explode up on Facebook. Rest assured, that item will never be out of sight out of mind.

Despite the potential danger mentioned above, online shopping is not all bad. You can find excellent deals on the products you want and need – just remember that the price tag might not be as cheap as you think. Now go forth and spend carefully.