Amazon has made its name as one of the leading online shopping platforms.
It has everything you need, is easy to navigate, and offers many opportunities to save money.
Follow me as we explore every secret Amazon hack that will allow you to save more as you shop online. The more you shop, the more you save!
1. Become an Amazon Prime Member
First and foremost, many of the hacks we will be unlocking will require you to be an Amazon Prime Member.
Do not worry about the measly $14.99 monthly fee. If you are a constant Amazon user, this will give you a ton of benefits that will far outweigh this monthly charge!
In fact, before becoming a regular Prime member myself, I signed up first for a 30-day free trial to check out its benefits.
Aside from a 2-day delivery or faster guarantee, I get a ton of perks, such as exclusive discounts on hundreds of items, free music and movie streaming, and full-resolution photo storage.
Here are a few money-saving details on the perks of being an Amazon Prime member:
- Prime Video: Why spend more on other movie streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu when you can enjoy hundreds of movies, TV shows, sports, and Amazon Originals with your Prime membership?
- Prime Music: With about 2 million songs in its library, you won’t need any other music streaming app. You won’t even need to worry about troublesome ads!
- Prime Reading: If you are a bookworm, you’ll be delighted to know that Amazon Prime offers you one free e-book every month,
- Amazon Photos: As an Amazon Prime member, you have free access to unlimited cloud storage for all your precious pictures.
Pro Tip: If you are a student or between 18 and 24 years old, you can avail of the Amazon Prime Student free 6-month trial!
Get exclusive discounts and offers that suit your college lifestyle, including a one-month free AI-powered study help through Course Hero.
2. Take Advantage of Your Cash-Back Opportunities
If you haven’t tried it yet, you may be surprised by how much you can save through cash-back tools and apps that you can use at Amazon!
Here are just some of the ones you can take advantage of:
- Ibotta: Shop through the Ibotta app and upload a photo of your receipt. You can then earn cash-backs, which you can redeem for Amazon gift cards.
- Capital One Shopping: Download the Capital One Shopping browser extension, then go ahead and shop on Amazon as usual. It will scan your cart for products that contain coupon codes. Apply these codes to your cart for huge savings!
- Fetch: Link your Amazon account to your Fetch account, and you will be rewarded with points every time you click the “online purchase icon.” With Fetch, you have hundreds of brands at your disposal!
Once you start using these apps and enjoy your savings, you will likely wonder why you didn’t do this sooner.
3. Get a Free Prime Membership Extension
As an Amazon Prime Member, you are guaranteed a maximum of a 2-day delivery window.
What if they miss this window? Pick up the phone, and Amazon’s customer service will compensate you by crediting your account with $10 or extending your membership by a month!
This is proof that Amazon treasures you as a customer and will definitely want to keep your relationship with them.
4. Check Out the Amazing Warehouse Deals
Amazon’s Warehouse or open box deals are a gold mine for those who want to score huge discounts but do not mind small imperfections either with the product or with its packaging.
The products under Amazon’s Warehouse are those that have been refurbished or returned but have been tested by Amazon as “functional.”
They have been categorized based on their condition — Like New, Very Good, Good, and Acceptable.
Based on their rating, their prices can drop by as much as 40% of the original price!
If you are patient enough, you may find untouched and undamaged items with mild dents in their packaging being sold at insanely low prices!
Note: You will be happy to know that Amazon’s return policy also applies to open box items!
5. Get as Much as 80% Discount With the Amazon Outlet
Once you hear of an outlet store, the first thing that comes to mind is clearance items at huge discounts.
What if I tell you that an Amazon Outlet store exists? Yes, you heard that right! This outlet store gives you up to 80% off on overstocked deals!
Amazon Outlet has a very user-friendly interface, and you can shop based on the category you are interested in, such as clothing, shoes & bags, electronics, toys, books, and even those under $10.
What makes the deal even sweeter is its free delivery for Amazon Prime members!
Pro Tip: Try to catch “lightning deals” on Amazon Outlet for bigger discounts! These limited-time offers usually happen when there are a few stocks left for a particular item.
6. Clip Those Amazon Coupons!
Amazon is known for its amazing coupons that you can clip and use for a particular item when you check out.
These coupons either contain a set amount or a particular percentage of discount.
Before you check an item out, always double-check if there is a coupon that can save you a lot of money!
Amazon also makes it easy to browse through the available coupons, which are arranged into categories. You can even check out the most popular ones.
7. Avail of No-Rush Shipping Credits
Not in a hurry? Then go for the free no-rush shipping instead of the usual free 2-day shipping.
This earns you credits/discounts that you can use for digital products on Amazon Prime, like movies! Yes, you need to be a member of Amazon Prime to enjoy these digital credits.
Sign up for Amazon Prime now, get a free 30-day free trial, and enjoy your movie nights!
8. Subscribe and Save on Repeat Purchases
Do you have items on your grocery list that you keep repurchasing weekly or even monthly?
Wouldn’t it be nice if you got up to 15% off on these essentials every time? That is what Amazon’s Subscribe & Save has to offer!
With Subscribe & Save, I maximized my savings by scheduling at least five of my most used products to be auto-delivered to my address every month.
I also enjoyed free shipping and an email reminder with the items, prices, and applicable discounts for my upcoming deliveries.
If you need to opt-out, no worries! You can always skip your deliveries or cancel your subscriptions through the “Manage Your Subscriptions” link.
9. Maximize Your Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card Perks
Though we do not encourage the use of credit cards, responsible usage of one still has a lot of perks.
When it comes to savings, the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card may indeed save a lot of money through the following:
- 5% cash back on Amazon purchases: If you are a regular Amazon user, imagine how much money you can earn for every 5% cash back from your purchases over $100.
- 5% cash back on Amazon Fresh: Amazon Fresh is Amazon’s grocery section. Through the Prime Rewards card, you can also get 5% cash back for all your grocery purchases.
- 5% cash back at Whole Foods: If you love shopping at Whole Foods Market, the good news is that Amazon Prime has a partnership with them where you can get unlimited 5% cash back on groceries.
- 5% cash back on Chase Travel: When you book your flight with Chase Travel, you also get a cash back of 5%, saving you a lot of money if you are a frequent traveler.
- 2% cash back on gas, restaurants, and local transit and commuting: Whether you have your own car or you are commuting, you get cash back of 2% on your gas and fare. This also applies to both dine-in and take-out purchases at restaurants.
- 1% on everything else: So long as Visa is accepted, you get a 1% cash back on virtually wherever you swipe your card. If you use your Amazon Prime Rewards card a lot, imagine how much you can save with the accumulated 1% cash back.
- No annual credit card fee: Most credit card companies require an annual fee of at least $100 for similar types of credit cards that offer this many rewards. For the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa, there are no annual fees or even foreign transaction fees.
On top of all these many perks, once you get approved, enjoy a free $100 Amazon gift card right away!
10. Score Free Amazon Gift Cards
This particular hack is something you would need to do outside of Amazon to secure their gift cards.
Aside from welcome cash back bonuses from many of these apps, you can also collect free cash back every time you shop and then redeem them for Amazon gift cards.
Some examples of these apps that you can use to exchange for Amazon gift cards are Rakuten, Ibotta, and Dosh.
11. Type in Secret Search Parameters
If you are tired of browsing through Amazon manually for discounts, I discovered this handy trick that will take you straight to all items discounted within a particular price range.
Once you select a category you want, add this text to the end of the URL “&pct-off=50-80” and hit “enter.”
This will take you to a list of items that are discounted from 50% to 80% off.
You can also adjust the numbers to reflect any range you want. Try it for yourself!
Pro Tip: Alternatively, you can also type “Amazon.com + 50% off or more” into your browser’s search field to view the existing products in this category.
12. Benefit From the Amazon Trade-in Program
Are you already considering replacing your old gadgets and electronic or gaming devices?
This can be very costly and time-consuming if you plan on selling your old device and buying a new one separately.
Amazon’s trade-in program makes this process easier by allowing you to trade in your old device with a new one, along with a 20% discount!
When I availed of this promotion, I even got an Amazon gift card that came with my new phone. This is a good deal, considering the convenience of the process.
Note: You can use the trade-in program even if your old device is non-Amazon.
13. Go for a Less Popular Color at a Lower Price
Many Amazon items come in different colors. The less popular colors will sometimes be sold at a lower price to make them more saleable.
If you are not too particular about colors and quality matters more to you, know that the quality of the item in the most popular color matches that of the least popular.
I saved a lot when I once bought a queen-sized dove gray bedsheet for only $19.54, whereas its black counterpart was priced at $30.99.
That is a great deal considering that I get the same quality as that of the black one.
14. Exchange Your Other Gift Cards for an Amazon Gift Card
Amazon has the most amazing deals when it comes to discounts and offers. However, what if you only have gift cards from other stores?
Do not fret! Amazon solves this by allowing you to exchange your other gift cards to avail of an Amazon one.
What you have to do is click this link (CardCash.com), provide Amazon with the details of your other gift cards, verify your identity, and enjoy your Amazon gift card that will be mailed to you within one business day.
15. Be Part of Amazon’s Affiliate Program
If you are not familiar with affiliate marketing, it is a sales strategy in which you promote the products of another vendor and earn a commission for every successful sale.
With a wide range of items available, Amazon Associates is said to be one of the largest affiliate programs in the world.
Bloggers, publishers, and content creators must have a qualifying website or mobile app to be part of the program. Once you are in the program, you can earn as much as 10% in commissions.
Note: Social media influencers can also avail of the Amazon Influencer Program.
They can earn competitive commissions by publishing livestreams, videos, and other promotional content on their personalized page on Amazon!
16. Shop on Major Savings Events
Just like major sales events in malls, Amazon also has its own set of mega-sale events that everyone is looking forward to year after year.
You can save up to 80% off when you shop during special sale events, such as Black Fridays and Cyber Mondays.
Once or twice a year, there is also the Amazon Prime Day sale, which is exclusively available for Amazon Prime Members.
17. Try Buying Used Textbooks or Rent Them for a Lower Price
If you need textbooks that you will use for just a semester or two, buying used textbooks at Amazon is a cheaper alternative than buying a new one.
Renting textbooks is an even more frugal option and can save you as much as $80.
Not only that — if you rent a textbook that is over $25, you also get free shipping and returns.
18. Fit Your Clothes Before Buying Them!
Who knew that trying on clothes and accessories before actually buying them was possible online?
Amazon makes this work through its Prime Try Before You Buy benefit for Amazon Prime Members.
As you avail of this program, you get seven days to try on the new wardrobe you selected.
After fitting, you must decide which to keep and return what you don’t like to Amazon’s pre-addressed package.
Note: This applies to eligible items from the women’s, men’s, kids’, and babies’ clothing, shoes, and accessories categories.
19. Set Alarms for Amazon Price Reductions
Using the free third-party application CamelCamelCamel, you can easily monitor the price drop of your favorite items on Amazon.
Instead of paying full price for an item, this free price tracker will monitor it for you. You will receive an email alert as soon as the prices of your selected items go down.
This app will also show you the price history of the item.
20. Sign Up for Amazon Registries
During life’s most precious events, such as weddings or births, signing up for a registry becomes a smart move since it allows your family and friends to give you the things that you really need as gifts.
Signing up for Amazon’s Wedding Registry or Baby Registry gives you a big selection of items at your disposal.
Further, if you are an Amazon Prime member and you sign up for the Baby Registry, you also get a welcome gift full of surprises for both the parents and the baby.
You also enjoy a 15% completion discount for the Baby Registry and a 20% completion discount for the Wedding Registry.
This means that you get this much discount for all other items in your registry that have not yet been purchased.
21. Combine Orders for Cheaper and Efficient Shipping
If you are not an Amazon Prime member and are purchasing two or more items on Amazon, there is a hack you can use to save up on shipping costs.
My technique has always been to purchase multiple items and then select the normal shipping option for all except one.
For your last purchase, select the 1-day shipping option. Amazon will attempt to pool all your orders together 99% of the time to make shipping cheaper.
After doing this, welcome all your items in one package the very next day!
22. Take Your Chances With Amazon Giveaways
Every now and then, Amazon sellers promote their products by giving them away for free.
Visit this page and sign in so you can get a shot at winning these freebies.
Different mechanics apply to different freebies, like random selection, being asked to watch a video, or following the seller’s account on social media.
Pro Tip: To get notified of a new giveaway on Amazon, tap the app’s main menu (three bars in the upper left corner).
Under “Settings,” click “Notifications,” then turn on “Personalized Notifications.”
23. Go for Amazon Essentials and Amazon Basics
For shoppers who are not too brand-conscious, Amazon Essentials and Amazon Basics are good options for you if you wish to save more money.
These two pages contain white-label versions of the same branded items you love — same quality, lower price!
Whenever I have the budget to spare to buy myself a new shirt or a pair of shoes, I go to Amazon Essentials, which focuses on clothing for all members of the family.
On the other hand, Amazon Basics carries your everyday consumer electronics, toys, accessories, and home and office needs.
With all these amazing Amazon hacks, you can now shop smarter and save money!
Do you have any other Amazon hacks not on this list? Share them with us, along with any questions you may have!
