Most People Don’t Know About These 12 Money-Saving Amazon Tricks

Check third-party sellers

When you’re making a big purchase—say a washing machine, a new part for your car, you name it—you probably shop around for a few quotes before whipping out your credit card. So why not apply that same logic to Amazon? As Kari Quist, the president of PriceBlink says, Amazon can be a little tricky and misleading since it doesn’t always show the cheapest price on its product pages. “Sometimes, there are third-party sellers that offer the product for a lower price than what is shown on the main product page,” she explains. She suggests looking for a message that says “Available for a lower price from other sellers” on the bottom right of the page. And guess what? She says many of the lower-priced alternatives still qualify for Prime Two-Day Shipping. These 61 Amazon products you’ll use almost every day are a guaranteed bargain.

Use Keepa

Ever come home with ten things you didn’t technically need—but you couldn’t resist because they were on sale? It’s the temptation that we all have to resist, and Amazon makes it harder to say “no,” reminding you of the products you’ve looked at constantly and popping up in your social media feeds. However, Sara Skirboll, shopping and trends expert for RetailMeNot says it’s worth the extra effort to ensure something is truly a remarkable discount on Amazon before giving in. As she explains, a free price tracker like Keepa will give you a quick overview of how the price of the product has changed over time. “Just because something is on sale, doesn’t mean it’s a great deal, and it’s easy to get caught up in the shopping holiday hype,” she explains. “Use Keepa to see if the product is discounted often, or if the price has been lower during other times of the year. The Tracker app is another one that monitors prices for many of the big retailers, including Amazon.”

Compare, compare, compare

You probably don’t think twice before buying hand soap off of Amazon since it’s fast, easy, and reliable. But like you would with any other purchase, it’s important to compare prices on other sites to ensure you’re actually getting the best deal ever. There are many browser add ons, including PriceBlink, InvisibleHand, and others that will do the research for you. This saves you time—and, of course, pennies on the dollars.

Use Rakuten

Want to save between 3 and 7 percent every single time you buy something on Amazon? By using the Rakuten shopping site (formerly Ebates) and going through their portal to Amazon, you’ll get cashback and discounts on select items. This simple plug-in also works on hundreds of sites, eventually saving you major moolah. You’ll never regret buying these 30 brilliant buys on Amazon with practically perfect reviews.

Use the subscribe and save option

Perhaps you always use Amazon to refill your pantry or your bathroom cabinet. After all, they have the toilet paper and the olive oil you love, so why make it more stressful? Quist says while some people are hesitant of the “subscribe and save” option when filling up their shopping cart on Amazon, it can actually save you megabucks. Even if you’re doing a one-time purchase, Amazon offers up to 15 percent off for using the “subscribe and save” function. “You sign up to have the item delivered at regular intervals. So for things you purchase regularly, like laundry detergent, you may want to have them delivered every month to save you time and money,” she recommends. And if it’s not something you plan to buy again soon, you can even choose a longer replenishment interval, like every six months. You can always skip a shipment or cancel the subscription down the line.

Use the Amazon assistant browser extension

Did you know there was an Amazon Assistant browser extension? We didn’t until Skirboll raved about its helpfulness. It allows you to see related items while you’re browsing on Amazon or Google, in real-time. It shows you the best offers, ratings, reviews, and will give you an update—in real-time—as a price drops or changes. You can also save as you browse, no matter if it’s a product on Amazon or not, giving you a one-stop shopping basket for everything you have your eye on.

Explore cashback offers and flash sales

Wouldn’t it be great if you could get paid to shop on Amazon? Well, good news: you can—sort of, anyway. There are many companies that partner with Amazon to provide savings on products and various deals. One example is Chase, which connects to the Amazon platform and allows you to use your points as dollars to shop. RetailMeNot will also partner for flash savings and cashback opportunities at various points throughout the year, like on Prime Day or during the holidays.

Look for coupons

Believe it or not, there are always coupons on Amazon floating around—you just have to be on the lookout for them. When you search for Amazon coupons, you could find discounts on everything from supplements and cleaning supplies to other must-have goodies for the everyday shopper. When you stumble upon one, click “clip coupon” and add then add to your cart. When you find a coupon outside of Amazon for the site, say on RetailMeNot, you can always add a promo code at checkout, too.

Sign up for a free Amazon Prime trial

If you haven’t jumped on the Amazon Prime bandwagon yet, you’re falling majorly behind. As Skirboll puts it, if you shop frequently at this mega online retailer, you could be losing out on a large amount of savings by not subscribing to the $119/year program. Not only do you get free two-day shipping on many, many items, but you will also enjoy free Prime Video streaming, free access to thousands of e-books, and these other Amazon Prime benefits you might not know about. As a bonus? You can totally do a free trial to get started! And another perk? Through the settings page for “Amazon Household,” up to two adults and up to four teens and four children can share a single Prime account.

Check out “Today’s Deals”

When you’re on the hunt for a hairdryer after yours bit the dust this A.M., you probably don’t pause on Amazon’s home page to see the deal of the day. This could be a missed opportunity, as Amazon changes the selection every 24 hours, Skirball says. “Visit ‘Today’s Deals’ on Amazon to see ‘Lightning Deals,’ the ‘Deal of the Day’ and other limited-time offers. You can even monitor these limited-time offers by clicking “Watch this deal” for ultimate savings,” she shares.

Consider the Amazon Student perk

If you or your kiddo are currently in college, Amazon offers major savings for those studying. For six months, you get a free Amazon Student membership, which includes many of the perks of Amazon Prime. Once you’ve made it through the first half of the year, you’ll be upgraded to the traditional Amazon Prime but at half-the-cost until you graduate. Win-win!

Trade-in your old for new

Though technically you won’t get cash in your pocket, per se, but you can trade-in your old tablets, phones, TVs, video games, and books to newer upgrades or Amazon credit. Talk about an easy—and productive—way to organize your workspace and home. Read on to find out the 13 things you can get for free on Amazon.

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