51 Amazon Hacks That Will Save You a Ton of Money (#33 Is the Best Kept Secret)

Last Updated May 16, 2017

Today, we’re going to share some Amazon hacks to help you save more money when shopping online on Amazon.
Amazon is one of those go-to websites, as it’s so convenient and has a great selection of products.
It’s even better if you subscribe to the Prime program and can get the additional benefits of fast, free shipping.
There are a number of ways that you can save even more money when shopping on Amazon, and there are sure to be some here that you haven’t thought of.

50 Amazon tips & tricks for saving more money on Amazon

Some of the hacks and tips you are about to read only apply to Prime members (which by the way, if you are a frequent shopper of Amazon, you definitely want to become one since it will save you a lot of money on just shipping fees alone), but there are also some that anyone shopping on Amazon can use to save.

1. Quickly and easily filter out discounted products

Here’s a trick so that you can quickly find the best discounts…
You have to add a code to the end of the URL, and that will narrow down your search results.
The code is “&pct-off=” (without the quote marks) followed by the amount of discount you want to see.
As an example, say you wanted to see only items which are discounted from 40% to 70%. When you do the search, go to the end of the URL and put in “&pct-off=40-70”, again without the quote marks, and it will narrow the choices.

2. Get an automatic refund if price drops

There is even a website that you can register with that will track the prices, and put in a claim for a refund on your behalf.
It’s at Paribus.co, and it is easy and free to register with.
You have to allow Paribus password access to your email account, and then it will review the purchase emails you receive and let you know if it finds and submits a claim.

3. Get discounts by not checking out right away

Here’s an interesting idea…
try adding items you want to your shopping cart, but then don’t go through with the purchase.
After a few days, you’ll get a reminder email from Amazon telling you that you have items left in your cart, asking you to complete your purchase.

This is known as the “shopping cart abandonment” in the industry.
Amazon, like most business, want you to buy. So, in order to entice you to go through with it, they’ll give you exclusive coupons and discounts that only people who have abounded their shopping cats will receive.
So if you don’t mind waiting to get what you’re buying, it might be worth the wait.

4. Get paid to shop on Amazon

If you don’t yet shop through a cashback/rebate site, you’re missing out on free money!
Cash back sites are basically shopping portals where for every customer they send to a business/website, they earn a commission.
And in order to entice people to shop through them, they give some of that commission to the buyers in the form of cashback.

For a shopper, it’s an easy way to make/save money.
I mean, if you’re going to buy something anyway, you may as well go through a cash back site and get a few dollars back.
It won’t cost you a dime. And the process is basically the same. The only difference is that instead of going straight to Amazon.com (or any other site), you go to the cashback site first so you can click the Amazon link and do your shopping as usual.
One of the most well-known ones is eBates.
You can earn as much as 5% cashback when you go through eBates.

5. Green isn’t always the color of saving!

You may not have noticed, but items that are available in a variety of colors sometimes have a different price on different colors.
If you don’t care about the color of the item you are shopping for, you can sometimes save up to 10% simply by choosing a less popular color.

6. Get a refund if the price drops

Amazon is always changing prices, and if the price on something you buy falls in the following week, you’re entitled to a refund of the difference.
You can claim this in one of the several ways, including email, chat, or on the phone.
Note that this only applies to items sold and shipped by Amazon. Amazon also provides a selling outlet for many third-party suppliers, who would have their own price match policies, if any.

7. Get an additional 5% off by using Amazon store card

You can get an Amazon Store Card which gives a permanent rebate of 5% on anything you buy.
It covers every item, at all times, not just a select few items.
And unlike other credit card rebate plans, you don’t have to opt into a category that changes,
Of course, as it is a store card it has a high-interest rate, so you should make sure that you pay it back each month as a priority.

8. Get a $20 Amazon gift card free, instantly

Going for that Amazon store card not only gets you 5% off on anything you buy, but it also earns you a free $20 Amazon gift certificate that gets added to your account instantly.

9. Get free Amazon gift cards

There are tons of ways to get free Amazon gift cards.
One easy way is to use Swagbucks.
Sites like Swagbucks pay you for watching videos and trailers, shopping, signing up to websites – basically, things you already do online.
It is free to join, and you can convert your earnings for prizes such as Amazon gift certificates delivered instantly to your inbox.

10. Share your Prime account

Don’t pay twice to get the benefits of a Prime account for both you and your partner.
Amazon allows you to share your Prime account with another adult in your house. They will get full benefits, including free two-day shipping.

11. Don’t miss exclusive Prime discounts on hardware

Prime has the additional benefit that Amazon will often send out exclusive discounts for members, even on hardware that hasn’t been released for general sale.
This happened for both the Fire TV stick and for Amazon Echo, which were initially offered for 50% off the MSRP to Prime members.

12. Get 1 month of free Prime when 2 days shipping is late

By the way, if Prime fails you and doesn’t get you your order within 2 days, you should contact customer service.
They usually offer you an extra month of Prime for free, or sometimes they’ll just give you credit or a free gift card.

13. Get Prime for free if you’re a college student

Did you know college students (well, anyone really with a .edu email) can get 6 months membership of Prime for free?
It’s not the full Prime membership, as it doesn’t include Instant Video, but it does get you free two-day shipping.
If you want to get the full membership, you can get it for 50% off the normal rate.
You can even get a referral credit of $10 for every friend you bring into the plan.

14. Convert that $0.22 leftover prepaid Visa gift card to Amazon gift card

You’re welcome to buy Amazon gift cards at any time, but did you know you can use your old prepaid Visa gift cards from other stores to buy Amazon cards?
This is particularly helpful if your old card is due to expire or is one of those that is devalued over time.
The minimum required for converting is $0.15.
Here’s how to convert your gift cards to Amazon GC…

1. First, check the balance of your gift card (usually there is a number on the back of card that you can call)
2. Login to Amazon and click on “Your Account”
3. Click “Purchase a Gift Card” under “Payment”
4. Choose to send via email (so you can get your code instantly)
5. Then simply enter your cards info (number and the security number on the back) and the balance of your card and hit submit.
6. You will receive your Amazon code within seconds in your email. To use it, simply go to your account and click on “Apply a Gift Card to Your Account”.

The great thing about this little trick is that your Amazon code will never expire. So you can keep it in your account and use it whenever you actually need it.

15. Get 1 free book every month from the Kindle lending library

You may know that Amazon has a program called Kindle Unlimited which costs $10 per month.
It allows you to borrow any books that are in the Kindle library (which is a lot!)
But as a Prime member, you can use the Kindle Lending Library without joining Kindle Unlimited, and you are entitled to one free book download a month.
There’s also a program called Kindle First, which gives Prime members access to books that have not been generally released yet. They feature six books each month, and you can choose to download one of them.

16. Enjoy the benefits of Amazon Mom without paying a cent

Amazon Mom is a service for Prime members that will save you quite a bit.
If you are expecting, you get a 15% discount on all baby registry items within 2 months of your due date.
You can also get a 20% discount on diapers using the Subscribe and Save program – and just think, you don’t have to haul them all home.
There are other perks to being an Amazon Mom member, such as exclusive offers and coupons for baby items, and a $10 credit if you enroll another mom.

17. Store your videos and pictures for free

You know how much storage space photos take on your computer?
As an Amazon Prime member, you have access to the cloud, which lets you store an unlimited amount of photos on an Amazon Cloud Drive for free.
Amazon also allows you to use the cloud for storing other files, such as videos, up to 5 GB, and you can access them from anywhere using an app, which lets you share them when you see friends.

18. Get notified when prices drop

Tracktor is an online tool which you can use to track Amazon’s prices.
It lets you track by name, by the URL, or by the ASIN, and is available for all the items that Amazon sells.

19. Enjoy free Amazon Instant Video

Amazon Instant Video for Prime members is similar to Netflix, allowing you to choose from a library of streaming content, including original series exclusive to Amazon. It also gives access to other content, such as older HBO shows.
You can stream the instant video on to a smart TV, your tablet, or other devices.

20. Save up to 15% by subscribing

If you know how to work it, Amazon’s Subscribe and Save program is another way to save money.
All you have to do is commit to buying a product at regular intervals, and Amazon will take 5% off the price.
You will typically find this program available on grocery items, so all you have to do is work out how quickly you use the product and set a schedule.
As well as saving, this saves you the hassle of remembering to buy the things at the grocery store and of carrying them home.
You can save even more as you may get a bonus additional discount on your first order, and if you have 5 or more different items on your subscription, the discount goes up to 15% each time.

21. Score free ebooks, movie, and music credits

If you are a Prime member, and you’d like to get digital content such as e-books, music, and videos free, did you know you can get free credits for these things quite easily?
Provided you don’t want other items you buy shipped with 2 day shipping, the standard for Prime members, you can change this when you check out to FREE No-Rush Shipping, which delivers in 5 business days (although in my experience, the items arrive within 2-3 days max), and receive a $1 credit for digital content.
There is no limit on the number of credits you can receive, and they can mount up. Sometimes Amazon changes how they do it, but this is the usual basic offer.
You receive credits after your items have been shipped to you.

22. Want the price to drop? Tell CamelCamelCamel!

Sometimes it happens that you don’t really want to buy something unless the price falls to a certain level. The problem is, you don’t want to keep looking it up day after day to see if the price has dropped.
This is where CamelCamelCamel.com can help you. Simply set an alert there, and it will notify you if the price falls.

23. Amazon has coupons too

When you’re shopping on Amazon for groceries, often you will be presented with clickable coupons on the product page. Make sure that you click these, as they will give you a discount in the cart when you come to check out.
The discount is usually in the range of $.25 to $5.
You can also go to Amazon.com/Coupons to browse all the available coupons.

24. Use Amazon coin promotions to snag free app downloads

Amazon Coins are for the game players amongst you, although you can also get apps with them.
You get 100 coins for $1, and sometimes there are deals where you can get more. Occasionally, you’ll get Coins for downloading a free app.
You can check your Coins balance whenever you visit an app product page.

25. Pre-order to get free shipping

This program from Amazon requires you to spend at least $25 to qualify for shipping – it’s items that Amazon would lose money on if they ship them separately.
But say you don’t want to spend $25 right now; You can pre-order something, say a game or movie that isn’t out yet, to get up to the $25 limit. You won’t be charged for the preordered item until it ships.
If you change your mind and cancel the pre-order, that doesn’t matter either!

26. Textbooks on Amazon may be cheaper in other countries

Amazon is a great place to go to buy textbooks, and you may be able to score a deal on the used book prices. But if you’re looking at buying new, you should know that some books are cheaper if bought in other countries.
There is a website that will help you with this, called Cheap River.
It will search Amazon’s international sites and find out the prices there for the same book.
It may be slight differences in the book from another country, but the contents should be mainly the same.

27. Shipping delayed? Get a replacement item shipped out ASAP

Last year, I ordered a 65 inch Samsung Smart TV. After a week of waiting and not receiving it, I contacted Amazon. They took care of the “missing” TV, sent me another one with Expedited Shipping (I got the new TV on my door step in 24 hours), and they also refunded me $75 from the original price for my “troubles”.
Any time that your purchase is delayed beyond the delivery date you were quoted, you have the option to contact Amazon and get a shipping upgrade. If they can’t even track your order, then they’ll send you a replacement with next day shipping.

28. MyHabit: An Amazon site you haven’t heard of but you should use

There is a little-known Amazon website called MyHabit, where they generally sell upmarket products such as designer clothes.
It’s not the sort of place you’d expect to find on Amazon.
They have inventory that constantly changes, so you have to keep an eye on it or get on their newsletter list. But the things they have are usually offered at a good discount.
For instance, at the moment, there is up to 70% off Kitchen & Dining.
And if you find something that is also on the main Amazon site, MyHabit will generally have it at a lower price.

29. Make money when friends and relatives shop on Amazon

Like many major stores, Amazon has an affiliate program known as Amazon Associates.
This means you can become an affiliate and provide links to Amazon goods, and if someone uses your link and buys you get a commission. All you need to become an affiliate is a website which you can use to post your links.
You can’t use this directly to save yourself money, as it is against Amazon’s rules to buy through your own links and get the commission back. But say you had a friend who was interested in doing the same thing, it is possible that you could buy through his links and he could buy through yours, and you both finish up getting about 8% commission back.
Just don’t shout about it, so they don’t change the rules!

30. Million of free tracks on Prime Music

Amazon has a program called Prime Music which gives you access to more than 1 million songs with your Prime membership. This may not be as many songs as on the largest Internet music sharing sites, but it is included for free.

31. Get free/discounted Amazon products

There are a few dozens Amazon review sites that give you free or heavily discounted Amazon products in exchange for your review.
One of the better ones is SnagShout.
Basically, they give you a discount if you promise to submit a review of whatever you’re buying.
You should note that they require honest reviews, and are not incentivizing you to give five-star reviews, which would be unethical.
SnagShout is typically used for new products, where there aren’t any or many reviews to start with. Companies that are selling the products agree to a large discount just so they can get the reviews started.

32. Birthday coming up?

When your child’s birthday is coming around, you might like to know that Amazon allows you to create a present wish list that you can send out to friends and relatives.
It’s called Amazon Kids’ Birthdays, and it’s available under the Lists tab.
In fact, it will even recommend gifts to you which you can add before sharing the list with others.

33. Score free shipping all the time!

It will be nice to get free shipping on Amazon all the time, but if you don’t have Prime you have to spend $35 to do this, and sometimes the items you’re buying fall just short.
There is a service that can help you out here, and it’s called the Amazon Filler Item Finder.
You simply have to put in how much short you are, and it comes up with a list of suggestions of popular items that will make up the difference, and allow you to qualify for free shipping.

34. Get discounted Amazon gift cards

There are several sites on the Internet that sell discounted gift cards.
This is where people have unwanted gift cards, and they would rather sell them for perhaps 80% to 90% of the value, rather than waste them.
Sites such as GiftCardGranny allow buyers and sellers to come together. This will give you a discount on whatever you buy at the store.

35. Get free stuff via Vine Voice

This is not an easy way to get free stuff, but a long-term possibility.
You may have noticed when looking at reviews that some of them are identified by a little badge, noting them as a “Vine Voice”.
These are the elite reviewers, selected by Amazon as people who are consistently helpful in their reviews. Almost without exception, they have posted 100 or more reviews.
When you are a Vine member, you receive regular emails notifying what goods are available for review. You can apply for the ones that interest you, but no more than two at a time and you have 30 days to submit your review.
Popular items are taken quickly, so you have to request as soon as you see them.
As to becoming a Vine reviewer, there is no guaranteed path.
If you are an active reviewer, presenting honest assessments that are also acknowledged by others checking the Helpful box, then you may be invited by Amazon.
And if you fail to keep completing reviews, you can be dismissed from the Vine group. But it’s a good reason to leave reviews on any items you purchase, whether you buy them on Amazon or not.

35. Order items separately to get faster shipping without paying for it

Again not guaranteed, but it often works.
If you want to get your items quickly, but don’t want to pay for upgraded shipping for them all, try doing this…
Order each of the items separately, one after another, but only pay to upgrade the shipping to one-day on one of them.
Amazon will often combine orders to save its shipping costs. If you’re lucky, they will combine all your orders into one package, which you will receive on the following day.

36. Join Amazon’s mailing list to get deals in your inbox

You can get savings by getting on a mailing list from Amazon.
They will send out deals direct to your email, and you can choose what types of items they include.
Just go to https://www.amazon.com/gp/gss to see the categories and to sign up.

37. Use Amazon’s Trade-in to get the most value for your used stuff

There are various trade-in programs that you can use for your old iPad or smartphone, Gazelle being one of them.
But Amazon also has a Trade-In program and generally will offer you more value for your used electronic goods, DVDs, video games, etc.
You get the value as an Amazon Gift Card rather than as cash, but if you buy much on Amazon that’s probably worth it.

38. Jump to more savings with Savings.com’s Amazon price jump tool

Just in case, you felt that someone, somewhere, was selling things cheaper than Amazon, then there is a tool to ease your fears/prove you are right.
The website savings.com has an “Amazon Price Jump Tool”.
You simply copy the URL of a product page on Amazon and paste it into the tool. It then scours the Web for a better price.
You can get this tool as a browser extension for Google Chrome or Firefox, and there is also an app version. This makes it easy to check whether you are getting the best deal around.

39. Get diapers at 20% off & have them delivered free

If you have a Prime membership you can ask Amazon to deliver diapers to you and get 20% off.
Just register with the Subscribe & Save program and set how often you would like them delivered.
The shipping is free and you can cancel anytime, and best of all you don’t have to carry a big box of diapers home from the store.

40. Get bigger discounts through Amazon warehouse/outlet section

Looking for larger discounts?
Take a look at Amazon Warehouse.
This division of Amazon is limited to used, refurbished, warehouse damaged and open box items, but often they are as good as new.
If you find that you don’t like the condition of the item, you can return it within 30 days for a full refund.
Another good place for discounted items is the Amazon Outlet, where they discount new items that are out of season or discontinued.

41. Save money with the double browser trick

Amazon can be a little deceptive with you when you are a Prime member.
It has been known to inflate product prices to compensate for the two-day shipping that Prime members get.
To catch this one, you’ll need to open two browsers on your computer, or one on your computer and one on your smartphone.
On the first, you log into your Prime account and find the product you want, then make a note of the price.
On the second, you can check the price of the same product after you make sure that you are not logged in as a Prime customer. You may need to clear your cookies to make sure of this.
If the price is less than the first you were given, add the item to your cart and then log into your account before buying – the price shouldn’t change, but if it does make sure you complain and get it fixed.

42. TV and cell phone price matching

Amazon will do price matching with other suppliers when you’re buying something like a television or cell phone.
If you find a better deal elsewhere, simply tell them and they will match the price or give you a refund of the difference if you’ve already bought it.

43. Get groceries delivered for $5.99

Another side to Prime membership, this time at additional cost, Prime Pantry will ship you a large box of virtually any grocery store items at a flat $5.99 shipping fee.

44. Keep an eye on special promotions

Any time you’re buying on Amazon when you are on the product page make sure you read all the details. Sometimes you will find that an item is eligible for a special promotion, such as buy two and get a third one free.
Keep your eyes peeled for this one!

45. Problems with the item? Get a new item and keep the old one

When you get your purchase, and you find it is damaged or broken, then you should get in touch with Amazon customer service.
They will usually send you a replacement item right away, and may even send it overnight if you ask them.
Even better, if the item costs less than $50 they might let you keep the damaged item at no additional cost, rather than sending it back.
You should note, however, that this is Amazon’s policy, and applies to items sold directly by them. If you bought from a third-party supplier through Amazon, then you will be subject to their conditions, which would usually be a full refund or a replacement item with standard shipping.

46. Don’t trust the search results for the best deals

You should know that Amazon doesn’t always show you the best price straightaway.
For instance, if you are specific in your search, Amazon realizes that you’re probably going to buy and steers you towards its highest profit items.
What can you do about this?
Don’t buy the item straightaway.
One trick is to look through the “Customers Who Bought This Item Also,” as well as the “Sponsored Products” on the product page.
Quite often you will find the same or similar item offered at a cheaper price, available from a third-party seller.

47. Back-ordered doesn’t mean unavailable!

When it appears that Amazon doesn’t sell an item, it may simply be out of stock.
When an item is on backorder, Amazon will show you a third-party seller, if they can ship out quicker.
The Amazon sale link will be buried in the third-party list.
While this will get you the item faster, it’s not necessarily the cheapest.
You might find that the best price is offered by Amazon selling it directly, and if you’re prepared to wait for the stock to come in you will save money.

48. Third-party sellers may save you more money

If an item is not sold or stocked by Amazon, then you may find it offered by a third-party seller through the Amazon website.
The thing is, Amazon may not show you the cheapest third-party seller, as it will display a featured seller which will usually be one from the Fulfilled by Amazon program (this is the program where Amazon warehouse products for other suppliers and send them out).
If you look further, you might find another third-party seller who is not in the program and has the item cheaper.

49. Buy used

A lot of people tend to forget that you can buy used items on Amazon.
Sure, not everything should be bought in used condition, but certain things like Books, DVDs, and Movies are totally fine.
And you can save a lot of money by buying some things used.

50. Trick to meet the $35 minimum for free shipping

Most people just buy a small item or two that they don’t really need/want just so they can meet the $35 requirement for free shipping.
Next time you’re in that situation, instead of buying stuff you don’t need/want, buy a gift card for a site/store that you shop from – Netflix, Google Play, Spotify, Starbucks, and even Amazon.
And don’t forget to buy with a credit card that gets you cash back. Yes, buying gift cards from Amazon also earns you cash back.
This is a simple strategy that turns a problem into a double win for you.

Even more tips

As this post becomes more popular, some of our readers have started sending us other Amazon tips and tricks that they use to save money. So we will be adding them here.
If you have a tip, please don’t hesitate to contact us through our Contact page, Facebook, Twitter, or by leaving a comment below.

51. Use an accurate Hourly Amazon Price Tracker

Amazon prices can jump around from hour to hour because there is often more than one seller offering deals and discounts at any one time. This means that, in order to catch the really big price drops that might only last an hour or two, you need fine-grained price tracking.
Get to the front of the queue when it comes to big discounts on big ticket items, like this Wii console:

Sales chart courtesy of RankTracer – Amazon Sales & Price Tracker

As you can see there’s currently around $30 off (in the last few hours).
Of course, the price may snap back to where it was, or go even higher.
To show you just how volatile pricing can be, here’s a chart for a popular business book called, The Lean Startup:
As you can see, it’s changed price more than 30 times in the last week – with a range from $6.99 to $13.93.
Free price trackers tend to grab one or two price points daily, which means you miss out on a lot of what’s going on.
Using an hourly price tracker like RankTracer can save you money by providing more accurate data, and costs as little as $5 per month.
Basically the savings on a single book (let alone office equipment & supplies, electronics, clothes, software, games, etc) can make back the cost of the service.
Bonus tip
Buying when prices are low saves money, but you can also earn money back using a good price tracker. For re-usable items, like books, simply resell on Amazon at a good price when the price is high.
Using our example above, you could buy The Lean Startup at $6.99. Read it. Resell it on Amazon for, say $5, meaning you only pay a dollar or two for a book that has a recommended list price of over $23.
Not bad, right?

Please use Amazon Smile to donate to charities while you shop

Finally, here’s a way you can give to others at no cost to yourself.
Every time you shop on Amazon, instead of going to amazon.com go to smile.amazon.com.
Everything else is the same, except that 0.5% of the profit from your purchase will automatically be given to a charity of your choice (you can choose which charity when you visit Amazon Smile for the first time – you can change this later).
On its own, 0.5% doesn’t amount to much, but when you consider how much money is spent on Amazon every year, it can become big.
If everybody registered with Amazon Smile it would make a big difference to many worthy charities.
This is such a simple and quick thing to do that it should be a no-brainer.
As an animal (especially dogs) lover, I have Stray Rescue of St. Louis (an amazing organization that rescues so many abused and neglected dogs in the St Louis area) as my charity of choice. I know it’s a small thing, but it makes me feel good.
I wish more people would do this.
I mean, if you are buying something no matter what, and you can have a small portion of the profit they make off of your purchase go to a charity you love, why not do it.
It’s the right thing to do!
It doesn’t cost you anything.
It doesn’t change anything about your shopping.
But it makes a huge difference in the work that these awesome organizations are doing.
And it makes you feel good inside, knowing you did something to help.

Pro tip

If you are forgetful and think you may not always remember to go through smile.amazon.com, there are a few useful free browser extensions that help with this.
First install the add on for your browser.
Then every time you type in amazon.com in your browser, it automatically gets redirected to smile.amazon.com
So even if you forget and just type in amazon.com, you’ll automatically go to smile.amazon.com.
Here is where you can install them:

• Always Smile: for Google Chrome
• Smile Redirect: for Firefox

Your turn

Have you ever used any of these hacks?
What Amazon hacks and tricks do you use to save money when shopping on Amazon?