EPISODE 65~ SAVE MORE: It is Possible to Save Money on Your Amazon Purchases!

Kyle, I pored over your blog posts about Amazon hacks and I’m going to share some of my favorites and then have you explain them. So, your first tip: DON’T ALWAYS TRUST AMAZON search results. What do you mean?
The brain-trust at Amazon realize they probably have a “sure-fire” buyer if you’re doing such a specific search, and will often steer your search results towards the item that’ll pad their profits the most, i.e., the most expensive.
When doing specific searches, one of the most secretive ways to save on Amazon is to always dig a little deeper and don’t buy the first item that appears. Always browse through the “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought” carousel as well as the “Sponsored Products Related To This Item” carousel located on the individual product page. Many times you’ll find a cheaper version of the same exact model, either sold by a 3rd party or the actual manufacturer.

Next Amazon savings hack, the Double browser trick. What is that?
Amazon has been known to charge Prime members more for products compared to non-members to make up for the free shipping. I have personally seen this happen. A great way to determine if you’re paying more for items because you’re a Prime member is to use two Internet browsers and trick Amazon. In one browser, let’s say Firefox, login to your Amazon account and find the item you want to purchase, but DON’T add it to your cart. Just take note of the price. Then in another browser, perhaps Chrome, clear your browser’s cookies and cache so that Amazon thinks you’re a non-Prime member. Then visit the Amazon website and check the price of the item. If it’s lower than what you saw on your Firefox browser, you know you’re being messed with.To get the lower price, simply add the item to your cart using Chrome, THEN login to your Amazon account and buy as you normally would.

Amazon also has coupons and yet hardly anybody seems to know about them. Where are they and how good are they?
I’m always taking advantage of coupons on Amazon. Most shoppers I talk to have no idea they exist which always blows me away.
But yes, it’s true, they actually have coupons available and they’re a great way to save money. They have a little-known section of their site dedicated to these coupons. Make it a smart frugal habit to always check for a coupon when shopping at Amazon.

Another trick: combine Add-on items. You mean, you don’t have to buy some expensive $25 item to then get your add-on item shipped to you?
If you’re a Prime member, you’ve probably noticed that Amazon has gotten very good at using “Add-On Items” to save on their overall shipping costs.
They do this by only offering these lower-priced items if, and when, your total order amount surpasses $25.
An awesome workaround is to add all your add-on items to your Amazon “Shopping List” and then buy only when your list reaches $25. By mastering this technique, you can easily beat Amazon at their own game and still get free 2-day shipping.

I love this one, because I didn’t know it existed: Open an Amazon business account. Can anybody do that? And what does it get you?
After signing-up for a free Amazon Business account and test driving it for a couple weeks, I can definitely say it’s legit. The savings it provides via quantity discounts and “business only” pricing can save your business or organization a bunch of money over the course of a year. These quantity discounts aren’t available to regular Prime members and make for a great reason to sign your business up for free.

There is also a trick to get 1-day shipping for less. Do tell!
The first thing you have to do to make this work is to add more than 1 item to your Amazon cart. Next, select the 1-day shipping option on any item in your order. Leave all of the other items in your cart at 2-day Prime shipping. Because of the way Amazon shipping works, they save money by packaging all of your items together. So this means, for a small surcharge, you stand a great chance of getting all of your items delivered via 1-day shipping.

One final idea:You can skip Amazon altogether and use other companies that offer free 2-day shipping. How many companies did you find that do this? And what are some examples?
When I did a quick search, I found 13 other retailers that offer free 2-day shipping. Those are just the ones I found. I’m sure there are others. Sometimes other retailers will have a better price or selection than Amazon, so don’t think Amazon is the only one with this fast, free deal. A variety of examples:
apple.com
BestBuy.com
jet.com
sephora.com
and a biggie: walmart.com.

Links:

Get all the latest Amazon coupons here: www.amazon.com/Coupons/?&_encoding=UTF8&tag=ratherbeshoppinc&linkCode=ur2&linkId=dbe15b62cee75b1a6d298850cbbba70c&camp=1789&creative=9325

Where to sign up for a free Amazon business account:
www.rather-be-shopping.com/blog/go/amazon-business/

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