Yahoo Finance 23 Secret Ways To Save Money on Amazon
Visit Amazon, and you’ll likely find tons of deals on your favorite items — from electronics, books and toys to clothing, jewelry and home goods. Although you’re probably already getting a good deal on an item if you buy it on Amazon, there are still other ways you can save money when shopping at this online retailer.
Read More: 24 Ways To Make Money Off Your Shopping
Check out 23 secret ways to get the best deals on Amazon.
Last updated: March 3, 2021
1. ‘Subscribe and Save’ on Your Regular Purchases
Sign up for the Amazon "Subscribe and Save" program to get discounts on thousands of everyday items, like laundry supplies and baby products. Not only will you get free shipping, but you can also save up to 15%. Save money instead of throwing it away.
Check Out: 11 Inexpensive Things You Can Buy on Amazon Right Now
2. Sign Up Then Cancel Your Free Trial of Amazon Prime
Shoppers can sign up for a 30-day, free Amazon Prime trial, which offers free two-day shipping and special discounts. You can take advantage of the freebies and offers before the trial runs out, and then cancel before the $119 annual fee or $12.99 monthly fee is automatically charged to your card.
Compare and Contrast: Walmart+ vs. Amazon Prime
3. Get Deals on Kid and Baby Stuff With Amazon Family
The Amazon Family program offers Amazon Prime members great deals on baby registry items and essentials such as diapers, wipes and other gear. Once you see how good up to 20% off your diaper order feels, you might never go back to a big-box store.
Read: How Amazon Changed Our Shopping Habits -- For Better and Worse
4. Check Out ‘Today’s Deals’
The "Today's Deals" link is usually at the top of most Amazon pages and typically includes Amazon "Deal of the Day" offers, "Lightning Deals" and other limited-time Amazon offers.
5. Find Discounts on Amazon’s Coupons Page
Amazon shoppers can find coupons on useful items, including cleaning supplies, groceries, household items, supplements and more. Simply click the "Clip Coupon" button and add the item to your cart to use the Amazon coupons.
6. Shop on Amazon, and Donate To Your Favorite Charity
Instead of donating money to a charity separately, donate through Amazon. With the AmazonSmile program, 0.5% of your purchase price is donated to the charitable organization of your choice. Simply visit smile.amazon.com, and shop products that are eligible for donations. There are nearly 1 million charities to choose from, so there's sure to be a cause that will appeal to your heart.
Save: Americans’ Savings Drop to Lowest Point in Years
7. Use Deal Tracker Sites
Prices for items on Amazon can go up and down, so sites like CamelCamelCamel.com will alert you when an item you want drops in price. This website also offers millions of items' pricing histories to help you determine when is the right time to buy.
8. Get a Prime Student Account
If you're a college student, you can sign up for a free six-month trial of Prime Student, which offers free two-day shipping, access to unlimited photo storage and other benefits. After your free trial ends, Prime Student costs just $6.49 per month.
9. Watch Out For Sales Taxes
You might have to pay sales taxes on items sold by Amazon and its affiliates that are shipped to states with sales tax. However, you won't be hit with sales taxes when you purchase gift cards.
10. Shop Amazon Through the Rakuten Portal
Rakuten is an online shopping site that offers cash-back rewards on your purchases. If you shop Amazon through the Rakuten portal, you can get up to 5% back on select purchases, depending on what you buy. You can also use the Rakuten app to save money on Amazon directly from your smartphone.
11. Use a Price Comparison Browser Plugin
To make sure you're getting the best price on an Amazon item, install a price-checking plugin, like Honey. It instantly checks prices at other retailers to help you find a better deal.
Read: 10 Amazon Items To Buy -- and 10 To Skip
12. Turn Your Loose Change Into an Amazon Gift Card
Instead of letting your loose change sit at the bottom of your purse, bring it to a Coinstar kiosk. After putting in your loose change, you can get an Amazon gift card. Best of all, you won't pay the usual Coinstar fees if you convert your change into a gift card instead of cash.
13. Choose No-Rush Shipping and Get Rewards or Discounts
Amazon Prime members who choose free no-rush shipping instead of free two-day shipping earn rewards on future Amazon.com purchases or immediately receive discounts. Once the item ships, your rewards are automatically added to your Amazon account.
14. Trade In Your Old Stuff
Through its Trade-In program, Amazon offers gift cards to customers who trade in certain items such as tablets, phones, books and video games. You won't get actual cash in-hand, but considering you can buy pretty much anything on Amazon, a gift card is the next best thing.
15. Take Advantage of Cheap Add-On Items
Amazon sells tons of everyday, affordable "add-on" items, including vitamins and toiletries, that you can add to your cart with any purchase with $25 or more of items shipped by Amazon.
16. See If You Can Return Your Item for Free
Some Amazon products are free to return — you just have to make sure they're eligible by looking for this detail on the product's page. So if you're not happy with your Amazon order, make sure the product is in new or unworn condition and ask for a full refund. Keep in mind Amazon will not refund original shipping fees, though.
17. Read Free Books With Prime Reading
If you're an Amazon Prime member, there's no need to pay for Kindle books. Your membership automatically grants you access to Prime Reading, which lets you read from a selection of over 1,000 books, magazines and books with Audible Narration for free.
18. Share Your Amazon Prime Benefits
Amazon Prime members love the free two-day shipping other Amazon customers can't take advantage of. You can share the love with your spouse or kids by visiting the Amazon Household page and inviting household members to share your Prime benefits. Your Amazon Household can include up to 10 members total.
19. Shop Amazon Warehouse Deals
Amazon Warehouse is Amazon's store for open-box items, including TVs, tablets, laptops, home goods and more. It usually features items that have been returned or used or have cosmetic damage. Items are sorted by condition, so you'll know if the item you purchased is in good shape. If you're not satisfied with the quality of the product when you receive it, you can return it within 30 days.
20. Order Easily With Dash Buttons
Add Dash Buttons to your Amazon account for the items you order the most frequently, and your item will be shipped with one click. Buttons are free to use for Prime members and can be added and deleted at any time. Dash Buttons make it easier to spend your money on Amazon.
21. Earn Cash Back With a Prime Rewards Credit Card
When you shop on Amazon.com with an Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card, you'll get 5% back if you're an eligible Prime member. Cardholders get 5% back at Whole Foods, 2% back at restaurants, drug stores and gas stations, and 1% back on all other purchases. With no annual fee, shopping with the Prime Rewards card could really pay off for frequent Amazon shoppers.
22. Get Free Shipping Without Amazon Prime
You don't need to pay an annual Amazon Prime membership fee to enjoy free shipping. The site offers free shipping on all qualifying orders of $25 or more. Simply add the eligible items to your cart and select the "FREE Shipping" option at checkout. Orders typically will be delivered five to eight business days after all of your items are available to ship. Offering free shipping is a clever way Amazon gets you to spend more.
23. Store Unlimited Photos for Free
Before you pay to up the photo storage on your smartphone, consider taking advantage of Prime Photos. The Amazon photo storage service is free for Prime members and allows you to store unlimited photos and up to 5GB of videos. Photos can be accessed from your desktop, browser, Fire device or mobile device. You can also invite up to five friends or family members to receive photo storage.
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Gabrielle Olya contributed to the reporting for this article.
This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 23 Secret Ways To Save Money on Amazon
