We may receive a commission if you sign up or purchase through links on this page. Here's more information.
There’s no rule against trying to save money when you shop on Amazon. It would actually be ridiculous to not attempt it.
Whether you’re struggling to make ends meet or you’re one of the richest people in the planet, saving money is never a bad idea.
There’s a famous saying that the richest people in the world stay that way because they don’t spend like they’re the richest people in the world. Who are we to disagree?
Many people who shop on Amazon don’t realize that there are countless ways to save money on the website, just a few simple things that you can do in order to save hundreds of dollars over time.
Our advice is to not just stick to one of these, but to go nuts and use as much of them as you can to reap the most rewards.
Table of Contents
#1 Get Paid to Shop on Amazon
If you’re a regular Amazon shopper, you can earn money each month simply by letting a research company track your purchase history.
Shoptracker will instantly send you a free $3 Visa gift card, plus another $3 for every month you keep it installed.
It’s not a fortune, but it adds up!
Also, they don’t do anything weird with the information. They simply want to help companies better understand what people are purchasing online these days so they can serve you better.
#2 Sell to Amazon
Well, it’s not really selling because you’re not getting cash in return, but it’s pretty close to that.
When you use the Trade-In program you can get Amazon gift cards in exchange for trading in your old belongings such as phones and tablets.
This can be quite useful because let’s say you just bought a new phone, what are you going to do with your old one? You’ll probably throw it away and get nothing back in exchange.
By getting an Amazon gift card you can later use it to purchase something else of your choosing.
Considering you can buy almost anything on Amazon this is a great deal and you’ll probably benefit from it within a few days.
It’s always a good idea to turn something you don’t need or want any more into money or a gift card that you can use later.
#3 No Rush Shipping
It’s true that if it were up to us we’d have anything we buy online shipped and delivered the same day.
Waiting for a package will always be exciting no matter how often we shop online, but sometimes it can be wise to wait a little longer in order to earn credit at Amazon.
To get money off an Amazon order, just use no-rush shipping. Your package will arrive a few days later than it would with regular shipping, but you get credit to use later.
On selecting no-rush shipping, Amazon will send you an email with the credit you’ve received and how you can use it.
Losing the joy that comes with a package arriving early might suck, but as you start saving money and earning Amazon credit over time you’ll know you did the right thing.
#4 Use Rakuten
If you haven’t heard about it, Rakuten (formerly Ebates) is a portal you can use to shop online that gives you 3 to 7% of your Amazon money back.
Making a $100 purchase would mean losing $100 and that’s the end of it but if you use Rakuten you’ll end up spending about $95 because you’ll get some of what you spend back.
This is one of the secrets to saving money on Amazon and it’s a great way to practically get a discount on most of the things you buy on the website.
It’s like creating your own discount and it’s not a limited time offer since you can use it all year round on almost anything you purchase.
#5 Let Them Know What You’re Buying
Research companies always want to know what people are buying online and what they think about it.
This information is valuable to them as they can collect then present it to different brands in order to help them improve their sales by suiting customers’ needs.
As a customer where do you come in all this? The ShopTracker app can get you involved and letting you earn money through a few simple steps.
Download and install ShopTracker on your smartphone (Apple or Android) or even your Windows computer. You need to be using Windows 7 or up, older versions of Windows won’t do it.
Once you open the app you’ll be asked to log into your Amazon account in order to share your history and you’ll automatically get a $3 gift card. You can repeat this process every month.
ShopTracker will remove all of your personal details such as name, payment method, and shipping address before submitting your purchase history to companies that analyze that data.
It’s almost like you can get money for shopping on Amazon, all you have to do is share your shopping details with companies that have use for it.
There’s absolutely no harm in doing this since your private info is removed. In fact, everybody wins including you, the research company, and the brand looking to increase sales and please customers.
#6 Student Discounts
Being a student can be tough in so many ways and money is one of them so it’s always clever to save as much money as possible during that phase of your life.
If you’re a college student you can benefit from the features of Amazon Prime Student. You basically get a 6-month free trial where you have free 2-day shipping as well as other great features.
Once those 6 months are over your membership gets upgraded to Amazon Prime for half the usual price.
If you want to make college life a little easier, this is one way to do it.
#7 Shop Through Ibotta
It might not make sense to shop on Amazon through an intermediate app, but what if we told you that using Ibotta will earn you some of your money back?
Ibotta will show you how useful it can be from the moment you sign up as it gives you $10 just for downloading the app and creating an account.
You’ll then earn cash back on so many products on Amazon including fashion, home and kitchen, pet supplies, luggage, and more.
You get 3% cash back on most items and 5% on home services.
If you’re wondering how to save money on Amazon, Ibotta is certainly your answer.
#7 Compare Prices Online
You could look something up and find it for 350$ and think “wow, that’s an amazing deal.” Well, that’s just because you don’t know that you can buy it from a different seller/website for 300$.
It can be time-consuming to go through every single website that sells the product you’re looking for and luckily there’s a tool that can do that for you.
At PriceBlink.com you can install a plug-in that’ll do just that. It’ll browse the internet for better deals and let you know so you can purchase the item your heart desires at the lowest possible price.
Consider it both a money and a time saver.
#8 Amazon Outlet
A lot of people don’t know about this and don’t expect it to exit, but there’s an Amazon outlet just like any regular outlet store for any brand in the world.
Amazon Outlet has lots of famous brands and products that people are after at a much cheaper price.
There are plenty of options so you won’t be missing out on anything and you can always switch back to the regular site if you feel like you are.
If you love visiting outlet stores then you’ll definitely enjoy shopping at Amazon Outlet.
#9 Walk and Earn with Shopkick
If you don’t mind going for a walk and doing some shopping in real life or simply walking into stores then you’ll love this.
Shopkick is an app that’ll reward you for putting in some effort into your shopping and by effort we really do mean the physical act of walking.
Once you download the Shopkick app you’ll be able to start earning gift cards by walking into certain stores like Target or Walmart.
You get “kicks” for walking into these stores and you can exchange these “kicks” for gift cards later on. These gift cards include, but are not exclusive to Amazon.
For people who would do anything to avoid going for a walk, don’t worry: you can still earn yourself some kicks at home.
All you have to do is make online purchases or take pictures of your receipts. These receipts have to be from in-store purchases that you paid for using your credit card.
#10 Timing Is Everything
There’s always some hesitation when buying something and concerns about whether its price will drop soon or not.
You worry about feeling like a fool purchasing an item for $40 today only to find it available for $20 tomorrow.
Services such as CamelCamelCamel are here to eliminate all doubt so you can shop with confidence and not worry about what the price tomorrow might be.
The tool has two major functions. The first is that it’ll show you how the price of a certain product has changed over time which will enable you to make a calculated estimate of its price fluctuation.
The second way it helps is that you can just sign up and it’ll send you an alert when the price of the item you want drops below a certain level which was predetermined by you, of course.
#11 Saving Up Pennies
When we buy online we use our credit cards so we always pay the exact amount. If an item costs $4.80 we pay $4.80, nothing more and nothing less.
Acorns is a service that’ll round up that $4.80 to $5. Where do the 20 cents go? They’re simply saved and put into a savings account where the cents can add up and accumulate into a respectable figure.
It’s not taking any additional money from you and the truth is you might not even care about the 20 cents.
Why not pile up the cents and pennies until they add up to $50, for example and spend that money on something you want?
If you don’t think that’s such a great idea, Acorns can invest that change for you in any stocks of your choosing.
#12 Pennies to Credit
The idea here is similar to the one presented above except there’s no Acorns and there’s no digital money.
After buying groceries you’ll often get some loose change that can end up in a drawer somewhere never to be seen or used again.
It’s quite a waste of money if you ask me and the reason piggybanks were invented.
Collect that change and take it to a Coinstar kiosk in exchange for an Amazon gift card. Instead of having a couple of dollars lying at the bottom of a drawer at the end of each day, collect those dollars and use them later when you shop online.
#13 Don’t Forget About Coupons
You can find plenty of coupons on site like Coupons.com and RetailMeNot.com.
People tend to think that coupons are only things you find in magazines and newspapers when there are electronic coupons in abundance.
These coupons will often cover basic items like groceries and cleaning products. It’s mostly for things you need in your home.
You’ll find plenty of coupon websites online and they’re guaranteed to take a few dollars off your receipts.
For more tips on where to find coupons and how to use them, check out our extensive couponing guide!
#14 Take Advantage of Earny
With Earny, your email history has never been more valuable.
This is a tool that’ll quite simply scan your emails looking for any purchases you made on Amazon in order to earn you money.
Yes, Earny will actually earn you back some of the money you spend. By going through your history of Amazon purchases, Earny monitors your online purchases and works to get you cash back on your online purchases.
It’s like taking advantage of Amazon deals on the things you buy AFTER you’ve bought them.
Another great feature is that Earny will work to return your shipping money if your purchase wasn’t delivered on time.
We know how anxious one can be when waiting for a package to arrive and it’s always disappointing when it’s late. With Earny at least you’ll get some consolation when your shipping fee is returned.
Also, please note that in some cases, you may be required to fill out a form with the merchant or make a phone call to them to complete the refund process.
#15 Amazon Family
Having kids can be tough especially at the start and at a young age where you’re not making enough money to support your family and give them the kind of life you want for them.
Amazon Family is here to help you with that as it’ll give you discounts on items such as wipes, diapers, and other things you might need while raising a baby.
Amazon Family is free if you’re an Amazon Prime member and is there to help you cut back on expenses.
You can get up to a quarter of the price off of some products which will make all the differences for your finances.
We know how addictive online shopping can be and that sometimes even the essentials can end up seeming expensive in a difficult economy.
With these few tips and ways of saving money on Amazon your shopping experience should be more enjoyable knowing you can save up to 20-25% of the price of an item or get it back in Amazon credit.
Keep in mind that each of these ways might only save you 3% or a few dollars, but on combining them you’ll end up saving much more.
Just remember to know go out of your way enjoying these apps and tools too much or else you’ll end up spending a lot more on things you don’t even need which is the exact opposite of what we’re trying to achieve.
Have any other tips on how to save money on your Amazon purchases? Let us know in a comment below!
Author:
Logan is a practicing CPA and founder of Choice Tax Relief and Money Done Right. After spending nearly a decade in the corporate world helping big businesses save money, he launched his blog with the goal of helping everyday Americans earn, save, and invest more money. Learn more about Logan.
