I found £6,000 of savings in 10 MINUTES with two dupe-hunting Google tricks that transform your home, garden & wardrobe
That's why I got a robot to do it for me.
27
The Sun's tech editor Sean Keach has been hunting for deals online
Credit: Sean Keach
To see if I could save some cash, I set Google's AI systems to work, hunting for product alternatives, "dupes", and
lookalikes
.
It managed to track down thousands of pounds of savings in a matter of minutes using a clever combination of free online
features
.
I used two different tricks – one using Google
Gemini
and the other using Google Lens.
Gemini is Google's chatbot. You can find it
And Google Lens is a special version of Google Search that you'll find inside the official Google app on your phone.
You can take or upload a photo, and then Google will hunt for it (and lookalikes) online. Just tap the camera icon in the app.
Both of these tools are perfect for dupe-hunters looking to save a bit of cash.
They can identify your product and trawl the web to find items that look just like it – only at a much lower price.
First, I tried it on a few products in my house to see if I could find places where I would have saved
money
.
But I also had a go with ritzy items I'd seen online – all in a bid to find bargain versions of the same products.
Let's start with what I had at home first.
Google's Gemini AI app lets you chat out loud with shockingly humanlike virtual helper
HOME ITEM #1 – LIVING ROOM LAMP
I love my living room lamp. It's the Made Java Arc Overreach Floor Lamp, which normally retails for £179. That's a fair sum of money, but it looks great.
For this, I had better luck with Google Gemini.
I asked for lookalike lamps that didn't cost as much, and it served me up with three decent options.
27
You can chat to Google about products – and hunt for cheaper ones
Credit: Sean Keach
27
Google's Gemini chatbot can serve up lookalike products
Credit: Sean Keach
27
This isn't an exact dupe but it's far cheaper than the one we bought
Credit: Studio / The Sun
Two looked reasonably similar and came in at £59.99 and £84.99. Honestly, I would've been happy with either.
But there was a near-identical one up for £109.99 that would easily double up as the real thing.
Nice
work, Gemini.
Potential Saving: £119.01
27
This attractive lamp is similarly styled but far cheaper
Credit: Online Light / The Sun
27
This looks almost identical to the lamp we actually bought
Credit: Mano Mano / The Sun
HOME ITEM #2 – BROWN JACKET
Next
up, I snapped a pic of my Wrangler Buffalo Trace jacket. This one cost me about £120.
This time, I plugged it straight into Google Lens.
What I thought was interesting here was that I took a pretty rubbish photo of the jacket.
And not only did it find a very similar alternative on Asos, it also identified the actual jacket and listed that too. Spooky.
The Asos option was just £45. An absolute steal. It's not whiskey-themed, granted – but what a bargain.
Potential Saving: £75
27
Google Lens can quickly identify an item in an image
Credit: Sean Keach
27
Google Lens quickly serves up cheaper alternatives
Credit: Sean Keach
HOME ITEM #3 – ORANGE POUFFE
We have an orange pouffe that works as a footstool or a spare seat if we've got a load of people round.
It's the Dunelm Eliza Pouffe Orange Umber, which goes for £40 online and in stores.
27
We bought this pouffe, but there were cheaper options online
Credit: Sean Keach
27
This similar pouffe is on sale for just £25.99
Credit: RUComfy / The Sun
Google Lens managed to find one that looked almost identical (but a slightly different shade of orange) for £25.99.
But I actually prefer a slightly different design that showed up on Google Lens via Etsy, which was only £22.99.
So there's a small saving, but the original was already pretty cheap, in my
opinion
.
Potential Saving: £17.01
27
There was en even cheaper Etsy option that looks very stylish
Credit: Etsy / Kosiproducts / The Sun
HOME ITEM #4 – DINING CHAIRS
Another Dunelm buy for us was our dining chairs.
We've got the Dunelm Shea Set of 2 Dining Chairs, which are £119. We have six chairs, so that's £357.
27
Google Lens gets to work right away, hunting for similar products
Credit: Sean Keach
Google Lens managed to find a fairly similar-looking pair from Debenhams for £100 – so that would've been £300 for six seats.
If we'd gone for those, it would've saved us £57.
It's not a massive saving, and honestly, I prefer the ones I bought.
But if I were really sticking to a budget, every little helps.
Potential Saving: £57
27
Debenhams had a pair of very similar chairs for just £100
Credit: Debenhams / The Sun
ONLINE ITEM #1 – GREEN SOFA
We recently went sofa hunting, and it was hard not to be impressed by Swoon. They've got some lovely gear.
I was just looking online and found a very tempting three-seater Swoon sofa in green (or "fern") velvet, sold by John Lewis.
I love it, but it's hardly cheap at £2,139.
27
This Swoon sofa is dreamy – but it's priced very high
Credit: John Lewis / Swoon / The Sun
My first attempt was with Gemini, but it struggled to come up with much, no matter how I worded my prompt.
It showed a couple of sofas that didn't look similar enough.
27
Google Gemini suggested this sofa, but it wasn't quite right
Credit: Daals / The Sun
27
Another Google suggestion missed the mark – although it was cheaper
Credit: Habitat / The Sun
But when I tried it with Google Lens, I spotted two very nice options.
There was a pricier sofa from Brand Alley at £1,599 that looked good.
But my favourite was the even cheaper Lutyens Moss Green three-piece sofa from Daals, which was a thriftier £1,399.99.
It's beautiful, and far closer to the original Swoon sofa.
Potential Saving: £739.01
27
Google Lens tracked down this bargain offering, though it's not quite as stylish as the Swoon one
Credit: Brand Alley / The Sun
27
This Daals option undercut Swoon significantly, and it's beautiful to boot
Credit: Daals / The Sun
27
Google Lens is a savvy shopper's dream
Credit: The Sun
ONLINE ITEM #2 – OUTDOOR DINING SET
Next, I went really posh.
We recently moved and we haven't got any garden furniture yet.
There's a very roomy outdoor set from Bridgman called the Richmond Modular Sofa Set, but it costs a frankly bank-breaking £5,299. Ouch.
27
This posh garden set would look great...if you've got the room for it
Credit: Bridgman / The Sun
27
You'll need a big budget for it too
Credit: Bridgman / The Sun
Straight to Google Lens I go.
One option was a decent (but smaller) option for £1,399 from another retailer.
27
This one cost £1,399, but I was hopeful I'd find something even cheaper
Credit: Honeypot / The Sun
But I was more impressed by a similarly spacious £1,185 alternative that included a fire pit table.
Sadly, I couldn't find anything that matched the original bang on. So maybe I went too posh here.
However, I do think that the cheaper set looked very nice, and I could do a lot with the spare £4,000 if I were buying this.
Potential Saving: £4,114
27
This more budget-friendly option included a fire pit
Credit: House of Glitz and Glamour / The Sun
27
Google Lens looks for products at a whole range of prices
Credit: The Sun
ONLINE ITEM #3 – COFFEE TABLE
After the dining set drama, I thought I'd look for something quite fancy – but that might be dupe-friendly.
I found an extremely pretty Porta Marble
Coffee
Table, which retailed at a whopping £999.
Come on Google, sort me out - and of course, it did.
27
This is a gorgeous marble creation but few people have £1,000 to spare on a coffee table
Credit: Luxura Home / The Sun
27
The price is very high for most Brits – so I went looking for a cheaper buy
Credit: Luxura Homa / The Sun
It instantly surfaced an Erie coffee table for £675, but that was still too high.
So I scrolled on and found a stellar bargain from Daals.
It's the Maru Round Oak Pedestal Coffee Table in Washed White for £189.99.
This obviously isn't marble, but it has a lacquer effect that gives it a white shine like the original.
27
This oak coffee table gives off a similar effect to the posh marble one – but at a fraction of the price
Credit: Daals / The Sun
This is a brilliant example of a lookalike with a massive saving. Importantly, it's unlikely I would've found this – as I wouldn't have searched for oak while looking for an alternative to a marble coffee table.
Potential Saving: £809.01
That brings the grand total savings to £5,930.04, courtesy of Google's online brain.
WHAT ELSE CAN YOU USE GOOGLE GEMINI FOR?
Here's the official tip list from Google...
Go Live with Gemini to brainstorm ideas, simplify complex topics, and rehearse for important moments.
Connect with your favourite Google apps like Search, Youtube, Google Maps, Gmail, and more
Study smarter and explore any topic with interactive visuals and real-world examples
Unlock a world of expertise and get tailored information about any topic
Plan trips better and faster
Create AI-generated images in seconds
Get summaries, deep dives, and source links, all in one place
Brainstorm new ideas, or improve existing ones
Picture Credit: Google / The Sun
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