Amazon is the undisputed shopping king. With millions of Amazon Prime subscribers, they can offer massive deals across their entire website that saves you and your family money. With a little work, you can save even more. Amazon offers dozens of great, yet relatively unknown, services to lower prices even more. Before making your next purchase, consider the following eight tips to get the best prices possible.
Amazon Warehouse
If you do not mind buying something used to save a little extra money, Amazon Warehouse deals might be perfect for you. Amazon’s Warehouse store offers furniture, home goods, and electronics that have been opened, damaged or returned in the past, providing substantial discounts in return.
Before worrying that you might receive something dirty or broken, Amazon lets you filter your search based on item condition. Also, each item has different comments detailing any defects so you can have confidence in your purchase. For some items, Amazon even offers an extended warranty through Square Trade.
Amazon Outlet
The Amazon Outlet store is similar to the Warehouse store. Both offer deep discounts on opened, defective, and used the merchandise. Unlike Warehouse deals, Outlet sales focus on smaller goods like clothing, jewelry, and kitchen tools.
Like all Warehouse products, Amazon fulfills all Outlet sales themselves, meaning you get to use your Prime shipping here as well. Discounts on some Amazon Outlet items can reach 80 percent or more, so before you purchase something on regular Amazon, be sure to visit their Warehouse and Outlet stores to see if you can save even more.
Amazon Family
If you have a Prime subscription and have infants or small children, then Amazon Family can save you even more on products you use all the time.
Amazon Family’s primary money saver is their deal on diapers. All Amazon Family members can save 20 percent on all diaper purchases when ordered through a subscription. In addition to the diaper savings, Amazon Family gives exclusive discounts and coupons on common, everyday items.
Trade-In Programs
Like GameStop and Best Buy, Amazon also offers exchanges on books, movies, and electronics. If you are looking for some extra spending money, consider trading in your unused electronics in return for Amazon credit.
Amazon makes it easy. You can enter the item you want to trade in, describe its condition, and get an instant quote on how much Amazon will give you back. Once you tell Amazon what you want to trade in, they will make you a free shipping label for you to mail unused items. After they have received your goods and verified their condition, they place the funds directly into your Amazon account.
Subscribe and Save
Some items that people tend to buy frequently like toilet paper, pet food, and toothpaste can be even cheaper if you subscribe to the item on Amazon.
Subscriptions are items that Amazon will reorder for you after a specified period. Adding a product to your subscriptions will add up to a 35% discount on that item. Combining Amazon coupons with subscriptions are a great way to save even more and save you trips to the store.
Amazon Coupons
A reason why some people do not buy more everyday items on Amazon is the belief that you cannot use coupons. Contrary to that belief, Amazon has coupons as well.
Amazon.com/coupons offer many of the same manufacturer’s coupons that come in the mail or Sunday paper. Visit the coupon section of the store and search for what products you need. Once you found the coupon, click “Clip” and add the item to your cart. The discounts will not appear until you get to the final checkout screen.
Daily and Lightning Deals
Amazon offers thousands of different deals every day for every type of item at Amazon.com/deals. While providing daily deals, Amazon also offers lightning deals; huge discounts on items that last for only a short time.
Each item shows you how many people have purchased it, how much more are in stock, and how long the deal continues. If you missed a sale or want to know when a deal will start, you can have them notify you, so you never miss an opportunity to save money.
Price Trackers
Many prices on Amazon’s items fluctuate often. It is common for some item’s prices to change daily. While you could check Amazon every day to see if the price has dropped, there are free, third-party websites and apps to help you.
One of the most popular sites is CamelCamelCamel. They let you check the price history of most items, let you know if it has even been on sale, and will alert you if the price drops again. You can have notifications sent to your email or Twitter account.
Amazon’s low prices, selection, and convenience can save you time and money. Although having Amazon Prime is necessary to receive maximum benefits, savings, and free shipping, many of the above services do not even require Amazon Prime.
With a few more clicks, you can save even more money by using Amazon’s often-missed services. Before you make your next big shopping trip or online purchase, consider the above tips, and you can save the most money possible.