VPN for Holidays: Get Better Deals for Seasonal Shopping with a VPN
The holidays are a major strain on your wallet, but we’ll show you how to get shopping deals by using a VPN. After all, you could be paying a significant upcharge, just based on where you live! We’ll teach you to install and use your VPN to spoof your IP to a different country so you can get those sweet local deals.
“Tis the season to be jolly!” So goes the famous Christmas carol, although “‘tis the season to go shopping” might be more appropriate. With Halloween and Thanksgiving now behind us, and with Black Friday and Cyber Monday done with for another year, retailers and advertising are now focusing on the Christmas rush. With the Christmas countdown now firmly underway on advent calendars around the world, everyone is in a panic to get their Christmas shopping before it’s too late.
Fortunately, online shopping has saved many of us the angst of fighting through the Main Street crowds, but there are still plenty of risks involved. As quite a few online retailers have suffered data breaches in recent years, security should be top of mind whenever entering sensitive payment details in at checkout. This is where a VPN can help. In this article, we will explain everything you need to know about Holiday season shopping with a VPN as well as recommend the best VPNs to use when shopping online.
Fool shopping sites into thinking you’re in a different country to snag better deals with these affordable and secure VPNs:
- NordVPN – Best for Shopping Online – No VPN’s network can match NordVPN pound for pound. They offer tens of thousands of spoofable IPs around the world, with incredible server uptime and unbreakable security via NordLynx encryption. Score incredible deals in complete anonymity.
- Surfshark – A dirt-cheap VPN with some serious spoofing ability, as well as advanced configurations to give you surgical control over which apps get encryption, and on what networks.
- ExpressVPN – Need to snipe that eBay auction? Rely on the fastest VPN, with turbo-charged servers dotting the world.
- IPVanish – An outstanding generalist choice for high security and good performance.
- VyprVPN – Shopping from heavily censored countries? Break through to hot deals with the Chameleon protocol.
Best VPNs for Holiday Season Shopping
We’ve spent time combing the market for the best overall VPNs that can be used to boost your security online while holiday shopping. We checked for strong encryption protocols, massive server networks, great speeds, and comprehensive no-logging policies. Our results point to the following providers as the top 5 VPNs for safer holiday shopping online:
1. NordVPN
NordVPN has been around a while, and hugely popular thanks to their enormous network and great value-for-money service. They offer 5,100+ servers available in around 60 countries around the world. Speed was once an issue, but they’ve rapidly improved their network quality and have even launched the super-fast NordLynx encryption protocol. Now, they set the industry standard for performance.
Privacy is the real strong point for NordVPN too; they are based in Panama which means they can retain no user information whatsoever.
NordVPN offers 256-bit encryption on OpenVPN with 2,048-bit Diffie-Hellman keys as standard. They also offer a great range of additional security features including a kill switch and shared IP Addresses, as well as Double VPN servers (which twice encrypt your data and reroute it through two servers for extra protection), and Onion Over VPN servers (which redirect your online data through the TOR Network as well as a VPN for additional security). All of this is available at great low prices too, a cracking Christmas combination. Unblock foreign sites in complete anonymity, and snag deals you’d never know about otherwise.
Read our full NordVPN review.
- Highly affordable plans
- Over 5,400 servers in 61 countries
- Connect up to 6 devices at once
- Strict zero logs policy on both traffic and metadata
- Customer Service (24/7 Chat).
- Some servers can have average d/l speeds
- Refund processing can take up to 30 days.
2. Surfshark
Surfshark hits the mark for deal-seekers in quite a few ways. First, it offers an expansive server network of more than 3200 servers in 65 countries, allowing you to pick and choose quite a few different locales to sniff out better deals on games, software, or even physical products.
Additionally, it offers top-shelf 256-AES-GCM encryption, zero logging, plus IP/DNS/WebRTC leak protection and a kill switch for complete security, all at rock-bottom prices. It’s the cheapest VPN on our list, but you can have it cheaper by splitting the cost (and benefits) with a few friends, thanks to Surfshark’s consumer-friendly policy allowing for unlimited simultaneous connections.
Shopping on the go? Configure different VPN settings for individual Wi-Fi networks: speed at home, security everywhere else. And if you have banking or shopping apps that don’t play nice with encryption, you branch off the VPN protection to specific apps with Surfshark’s Whitelister. Handy!
- Break through harsh censorship to securely access social media and foreign news sites
- Server selection is dead simple and quick
- 30-day satisfaction guarantee
- Absolutely no logging of connection data, IP addresses, bandwidth used, or traffic
- Helpful 24/7 live chat with an actual human being.
- Growing network doesn’t have same coverage as more mature VPNs
- New-kid-on-the-block status may not instill same trust as larger providers.
Read our full Surfshark review.
3. ExpressVPN
Online shopping sites get busy over the festive period, and having a fast connection can help you snap up that last item in stock before someone else does. And if you want a VPN which offers fast connection speeds, you simply won’t find a much faster provider than ExpressVPN. They offer super-fast and consistent speeds across their entire server network, which numbers 3,000+ strong in 94 countries worldwide. With some providers, fast speeds can mean security and privacy compromises, but not ExpressVPN.
Their entire network features nigh-unbreakable 256-bit AES encryption. They also offer a kill switch as standard. ExpressVPN maintains a no-logging guarantee; being based in the British Virgin Islands means they are not legally required to retain any user data at all. Their huge server networks means you won’t find many websites that you can’t access, no matter where in the world you are. These features combined are why ExpressVPN is always a popular choice for the privacy-conscious online shopper.
Read our full ExpressVPN review.
- SPECIAL OFFER: 3 months free (49% off - link below)
- 94 countries, 3,000+ servers
- Very simple and easy to use
- Strict no-logs policy
- Customer Service (24/7 Chat).
- Max 3 simultaneous connections
- Slightly more expensive than some other options.
4. IPVanish
IPVanish is one of the biggest VPN names on the market–and one of the best too. Their reputation is based in no small part on their top-notch security and privacy provisions, making them a great bet for online shoppers this festive season. Their encryption offers both L2TP and OpenVPN protocols using 256-bit encryption available as standard. In addition, they also offer users a few other nifty security features including a automatic kill-switch, which will cut your internet connection automatically if the VPN connection goes down, as well as built-in features which allows users to switch IP addresses periodically for extra online privacy.
If that isn’t enough to convince you of their merits, they also have privacy policies which are second to none, with one of the most comprehensive no-logging policies you’ll find anywhere. They have fast and consistent connection speeds across their comprehensive network of servers, which numbers more than 1,300 servers in 60+ countries around the world. This means no matter where you are, you should be able to access the online retailers you want to and the scope to make savings is high. You can use IPVanish on almost every device and each subscription offers 5 simultaneous connections, so the whole family can be protected while they buy each other’s presents.
Read our full IPVanish review.
5. VyprVPN
VyprVPN is budget-friendly VPN recommended for online shoppers, but it still has plenty to offer. Like the other offerings on this list, they offer ultra-strong 256-bit AES encryption, as well as a handy kill switch feature. Privacy nuts will appreciate that they keep no logs as well. What really sets VyprVPN apart is their Chameleon protocol, which works to encrypt not online your data packets as they’re sent, but the metadata that some governments like China use to sniff out VPN users.
Like NordVPN, their connection speeds can sometimes be less than perfect, but they are also working hard to improve this aspect of their service. And with a network of more than 700 servers around the world, there are plenty of servers to pick from if you get a slow one. Overall, VyprVPN still has plenty to offer, especially to the price conscious online shopper.
Read our full VyprVPN review.
Why Use a VPN for Holiday Season Shopping?
Online shopping has fundamentally changed the way we get ourselves ready for Christmas. Nowadays, we can buy all our Christmas presents online and get them wrapped and sent directly to friends and family. We can also do the huge Christmas food shop online too and have everything bagged up and delivered to our door. Indeed, it is perfectly possible to buy everything to prepare for the festive season without ever leaving the house.
But online shopping does not come without its risk. Just as you could find yourself pickpocketed in a busy shop, so there are plenty of hackers out there looking to steal from online shoppers too. This year alone there have been data breaches from Saks, Brooks Brothers, Kmart, Whole Food Market and Forever 21 to name but a few. And let’s not forget the infamous 2013 hacking of Target, which is still thought to be the biggest retail data breach in history.
Protect Your Personal Information Online
Unfortunately, it is impossible to do online shopping without sharing certain personal information with retailers. And as we’ve seen, many retailers have woefully insufficient data protection, which means these credentials will be vulnerable. But there are still steps we can take to protect ourselves!
While most retailers implement some form of encryption to ensure secure checkouts, some use stronger protocols than others. Using a reputable VPN guarantees that your data will be protected by the highest levels of encryption, regardless of which online store you shop at. In this day and age, using an encrypted tunnel to handle all online purchases should be standard practice. However, there are also a number of other scenarios where using a VPN can be advantageous to the festive shopper.
Enhance Security on Public Wi-Fi
Despite the convenience of online shopping, most people still like to see and touch something before they buy it, especially if it is an important gift for a loved one. As such, many folks will head into town to look at things in shops before making a purchase. They might opt to spring for an in-store purchase, but most likely they’ll wait to pop onto the nearest public Wi-Fi connection to snag their gift for cheaper.
This is a big mistake. Public Wi-Fi is the most insecure method of going online and makes your activity and any personal information open to even the most novice of hackers. A VPN encrypts your data no matter what type of internet connection you are using, and so can make even the most insecure public Wi-Fi network safe to shop on.
Peace of Mind when Using a New, Small, or Unknown Site
Christmas time is peak season for online retailers, so it is no surprise that there are new sites popping up all over the place to capitalize on the increase in shopping traffic. Many of these are reputable small business trying to find a place in the market, but others may not be so legitimate. Many of us are a sucker for an online bargain and hackers know this better than anyone.
It is not unknown for hackers to set up online websites offering tempting bargains to draw us in. Once we enter our personal and financial details, they can then drain our accounts in seconds. Even visiting such a site can lead to malware being downloaded onto our system and all our online activity being tracked. If you willingly hand over such information to a dodgy site there is not much that can be done (though you can set up fraud alerts ahead of time to help detect a breach) but the encryption offered by a VPN makes it much harder for dodgy websites to plant malicious software on your device. So, with a VPN and proper due-diligence of new sites, it is possible for the consumer to protect themselves online.
FULL GUIDE: How to Recognize Malware Links
Bypass Geo-blocking to Save Money
Retailers charge different prices in different countries, giving savvy consumers an opportunity to make some significant savings. If you know what you are wanting to buy, it is possible to shop around internationally to find the best bargain. This might mean looking at local retail sites or the country sites of a global retailer and working out where the price is best. But this is impossible without a VPN, as all retailers will geo-restrict content to ensure local consumers are the only ones who can access and buy content.
But with a VPN, you can change your IP Address to make it appear as if you are in another country and therefore access sites, content, and prices which are restricted to that country. For example, if you want to buy a new MacBook Pro laptop from the UK, you will be looking at a cost of about £1,400. But in the USA it is just $1,400, which works out as being several hundred pounds cheaper. You will need a US delivery address, but if you can find someone to send it on to you, there is still a big saving to be made. Spoofing your location with a VPN makes it all possible!
Evade Region-specific Blocks
If you live somewhere like China, Iran, or Pakistan, you may find accessing a lot of the best online retail sites is all but impossible. These governments block a wide variety of online shops that are otherwise freely accessible elsewhere. Equally, if you want to use online payment methods such as PayPal, you may also find access is restricted.
But a VPN can help to unblock all of these sites, including PayPal and other such online payment services. By connecting to an overseas VPN, it is possible to circumvent blocks put in place by oppressive governments and enjoy the open and free internet access that everyone is entitled to.
Conclusion
Tell us which VPN you have found best to protect yourself while shopping online. Have you managed to save money by using a VPN to change location and get the best price possible? Are there any other tips or tricks you have used your VPN for this festive season? Leave your comments in the box below.
If you need a VPN for a short while when traveling for example, you can get our top ranked VPN free of charge. NordVPN includes a 30-day money-back guarantee. You will need to pay for the subscription, that’s a fact, but it allows full access for 30 days and then you cancel for a full refund. Their no-questions-asked cancellation policy lives up to its name.
