Amazon’s solid customer service, detailed product descriptions and reviews, reliable quality, and competitive prices make it hard to stop shopping there. Today, let’s talk about some Amazon shopping tips to help you save even more.

ama1[Updated 6/18/2017] Amazon Prime members can use a Checking Account linked to their Amazon account to Auto-Reload their Amazon balance (reload gift card funds to the account) and earn an extra 2% bonus. If you do not have a credit card that earns elevated rewards at Amazon and cannot buy discounted Amazon gift cards, this can be another option. Details below:

Overview of Ways to Save on Amazon

There are many ways to save money on Amazon. The most common strategy is to add an item to your cart and check back from time to time to see whether the price has dropped before buying. But beyond that, there are plenty of other ways to save on Amazon. As a long-time Amazon user, I have a pretty good understanding of how Amazon promotions work and how to save on payments when shopping there. Today I’ll summarize how to maximize your savings on Amazon.

Amazon Memberships

Amazon offers several types of memberships, each with its own advantages, such as saving on shipping, getting early access to deals, and discounts in certain categories.

  • Amazon Prime (annual fee $99): The biggest benefit is 2-day shipping, plus some good deals specifically for Prime members.
  • Amazon Student (free!): If you are currently a college student in the U.S., congratulations: Amazon offers a free-to-join Amazon Student program. Your first signup comes with 6 months of Prime, and after that you can renew for just $49.
  • Amazon Mom(Amazon Family): If you have Prime, you can enroll in this membership for free. Benefits include 20% off diapers with Subscribe and Save, a 5% off baby registry completion coupon (non-members get 10% off), extra coupons, and more.

Choosing the right membership can help you save more on Amazon. If you are not sure, you can try these memberships first:

If you want to learn more about the benefits of these memberships and ways to save when signing up, see this article:

Subscription and Save (S&S)

This is one of my favorite features. Subscription and Save (S&S) has the following characteristics:

  • Extra discount: Using S&S saves 5% compared with buying directly. If you have five items scheduled through S&S in the same month, all five items get 15% off.
  • Free shipping: Whether you are buying lightweight tissues or a heavy case of drinks, S&S gives you free shipping.
  • Scheduled delivery: Your S&S orders for the month will all ship on the same day each month, so if you need something urgently, S&S may not be a good fit.
  • Can be canceled anytime: Your S&S items can be canceled at any time. So you can use S&S to save on shipping, then cancel it after the item arrives.

So how do you use S&S? It’s simple. For snacks and household consumables, you will usually see the S&S option on the right side. Just choose S&S and the 5% savings will show up right away.

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Canceling S&S: Just find Manage your subscription in your account.

Using Smart Payment Methods

Everything above is fairly standard, and anyone with some Amazon experience probably already knows it. But the savings methods below are not used by everyone. If you use them well, you may be able to save 20% in one shot. And unlike Amazon memberships, which cost money, these techniques are free.

On Amazon, you can generally pay with a credit card, debit card, or gift card. There is a lot of room for optimization here. Usually, you can save 5%-20%.

Paying with Credit Cards (save 5%-10%)

Here are some credit cards that can effectively give you discounts when shopping on Amazon:

  • Amazon Rewards Visa: 3% back on Amazon purchases, 2% back on gas, no annual fee (co-branded with Chase)
  • Amazon Store Card: automatically upgrades if you have Prime, giving you 5% on Amazon purchases
  • Chase Freedom: 5% back on Amazon in Q4, no annual fee
  • Discover it: 5% back on Amazon in Q3 (10% back in the first year), 5% back on online shopping in Q4 (10% back in the first year), no annual fee
  • All AMEX cards (sometimes there are offers like Amazon 72-25, which is effectively saving $25)

A simple comparison shows that the co-branded Amazon/Chase credit card is actually not very compelling (only 3%). The Amazon Store Card gets 5% only if paired with Amazon Prime, and its use case is too narrow. Discover it and Freedom, on the other hand, cover the main shopping seasons and are still quite competitive. If you do not have any of the cards above and you spend a lot on Amazon, current recommendations are Discover it (double cashback makes Amazon effectively 10% back, plus a $100 signup bonus) or Chase Freedom (currently up to a $175 signup bonus). As for AMEX cards, the Offers are not available regularly, so there is no need to apply for one just to save money at Amazon.

Paying with Gift Cards (save 5%-20%)

Amazon gift cards can also be used to pay for Amazon orders, including shipping. So if you can buy Amazon gift cards at a discount, you are effectively reducing your Amazon spending. Below are several ways to buy discounted Amazon gift cards.

  • Select grocery stores and supermarkets (save 3%-6%): If you have a credit card that earns strong rewards at grocery stores, such as AMEX BCP, AMEX BCE, AMEX EDP, BofA Cash Rewards, and similar cards, you can first buy Amazon gift cards at the grocery store (with no extra fee), then load them into your account for purchases. How much you save depends on your card’s rewards rate, usually 3%-6%.
  • Make good use of AMEX Offers: AMEX sometimes has offers at major retailers (Lowe's, homedepot,Kohl's) such as 100-25 or 50-10. By buying Amazon gift cards at those stores and activating the AMEX Offer, you are effectively saving around 20%. Most importantly, all AMEX cards can add these offers, so the savings can really add up. For details, see “AMEX Offer Guide”.
  • Use MPX to buy Amazon gift cards: Through the MileagePlusX app, you can buy Amazon gift cards and not only earn your credit card rewards, but also get an extra 2x UA miles from the app. Holders of a UA credit card can also get an additional 25% bonus in miles. If you use a Citi AT&T card for the purchase, you can earn up to 2X UA + 3X TYP + 25% extra UA miles. That works out to 5.5X in points, worth around 8%, effectively making the Amazon gift card 8% off. For an introduction to this app, see: MileagePlusX Guide

Cashback Portals

Major cashback portals have gradually added Amazon.com, but only certain categories are eligible for cashback. Before buying, you can check the product category and then decide which cashback portal to use.

  • Ebates: 3% cashback on clothing, outdoor gear, personal care, and sporting goods; 25% cashback on magazines
  • TopCashback: 8.5% cashback on clothing, outdoor gear, and personal care; 6% cashback on sports/outdoors; 30% cashback on magazines
  • Upromise: 3% cashback on clothing, outdoor gear, personal care, and sporting goods; 25% cashback on magazines
  • Giving Assistant: 3% cashback sitewide that can be donated (details here)

Overall, these cashback rates are not especially strong, and the restrictions are fairly significant. Still, a little savings is better than none. If you do not have accounts with these portals yet or are not familiar with how cashback works, you can refer to this article: “Beginner’s Guide to Cashback Portals”.

Amazon Best Deals Roundup

Best Amazon Deals Roundup

Deal Link Quick Take
Amazon App: Get $5 One-time per account. Phone number verification required, and basically anyone can claim it.
Amazon Shop With Points $25 off $50 Requires an AMEX Membership Rewards card and is a targeted offer. If you get it, it’s a great deal.
Amazon One Click $10 off You may be able to trigger a $10 off offer for Citi or Discover.
Amazon Gift Card Deal These deals usually last only a short time, and Prime gives you a strong 30-minute early-access advantage.
Free Amazon Sample Box You get the credit back after purchase, so it’s basically a free sample box.
Amazon Dash Button Moneymaker Come out $3 ahead, plus it has other useful applications.
Amazon Registry Get a 15%-20% off coupon plus free baby items.
Amazon Cash: Add $20, Get $10 Free $10, and you may also be able to stack it with credit card bonus rewards.
Amazon Assistant: Get $5 An official promotion: get $5 for free. Just install it, then uninstall it.