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When a friend and I were both recently shopping ASOS for matching cat jeans (my best purchase of 2016), our final receipts didn't match up. Mine came out to $65 while hers topped out at $53. That almost 20% difference was because she had been hoarding an ASOS trick for American shoppers that gets her a steeper discount. When you check out on the site using your American location, but choosing to view the price in British pounds, your purchase ends up being 20% cheaper than if you selected to keep it in American dollars.
As a disclaimer, this discount has absolutely nothing to do with Brexit and the sudden decline of the pound. The one silver lining to a miserable situation seems to be the supposed shopping spree that non-Brits could take advantage of. But, discounts have largely been disproven as international brands have recalibrated their pricing to account for the 1:1.3 exchange rate between dollars and British pounds. In fact, ASOS experienced hiccups with its site in the days following the referendum, and while many customers postulated on the brand's Instagram account that site outages had to do with Brexit, ASOS has maintained that it was a coincidence.
We're assuming this roughly 20% markup makes up for certain international shipping and processing fees, since ASOS states that it provides free standard shipping for orders over $40, no matter where you are. And as such, this little tip has worked for my friend for ages now. While I try to rebuild the trust I had in her and our friendship (I take discount tip-offs very seriously) before we both receive our cat jeans and have to selfie in them together, please enjoy this hack while you still can.
For more smart shopping this weekend, check out our guide to the best Fourth of July sales.
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