If you’re addicted to online shopping like me, you probably think Amazon is the bee’s knees. It’s true, of course – no other shopping destination can rival their combination of affordable prices, quick delivery times and impeccable customer service. However, a lot of people take Amazon at face value and don’t bother looking for opportunities to save some cash. Surprisingly enough, taking advantage of their deals and discounts is not hard at all. Here are four tips that will help you get more bang for your buck on Amazon, whether you want to buy a double bottle warmer for your twins or simply some fresh groceries:
1. Amazon Fresh
Simply put, Amazon Fresh is a grocery delivery service available to Prime members. The main thing that sets it apart from the competition are the Amazon Fresh Deals, a feature which lets you purchase your food at sizable discounts. For example, I already took advantage of today’s 50% discount on General Mills cereals and a 30% discount on Jansal Valley’s dried fruit. If you’ve yet to place your first-time order, you can use a “FRESH25” Amazon coupon and save another $25. With Amazon coupons you can get up to 70% off discounted prices. Another nice thing about Amazon Fresh is that you can test it out for a month before deciding if it’s the right service for you. For orders worth $40 or more, the shipping is free. The groceries themselves arrive in well-organized green boxes, with just enough ice packs to keep them fresh.
2. Buy Used
Many people are opposed to the idea of used items, but Amazon really goes out of its way to make buyers feel comfortable with their purchases. These items will be sorted by conditions (ranging from “like new” to “acceptable”), and they will be covered by Amazon’s A-to-z guarantee. Most importantly, purchasing these items will often allow you to save 30% or more off the original price. This feature is especially helpful if you’re interested in stuff like video games, movies or books.
3. Gold Box Deals
You might know these offerings by another name – Lightning Deals. These are time-limited promotions which appear throughout Amazon and allow customers to get a discount on any item highlighted on the Gold Box page. It’s important to note that these deals have a restricted number of discount offers – if you’re too late with your order, the item will go back to its regular price. Fortunately, every item included in a Gold Box deal has a timer which tells you how long the discount will be active, as well as a status bar indicating how many customers have already purchased this product.
4. Price Tracking and Review Analysis Tools
With events like the Amazon Prime Day, the urge to purchase discounted items can be overwhelming, right? Well, that’s why we have price tracking tools such as CamelCamelCamel. If you find a discounted item you’re interested in, you’d be wise to use CCC to find out just how much that product’s price has fluctuated recently. For all you know, that item you want to buy will have already been on a discount for about 90% of the time.
On the other hand, tools such as ReviewMeta let you analyze customer reviews and tell you whether they’re genuine or not. All you have to do is paste the link of the product you want to find out more about, and ReviewMeta will grade the reviews based on their authenticity. Amazon has long struggled with fake glowing reviews, and this lovely tool is a great way to combat that.
