Pretty much everyone knows that timing your Amazon purchases with things like Prime Day and Black Friday is a great way to save some money and score some deals. But there are ways to save money on Amazon purchases that go beyond just waiting and hoping for the things you want to go on sale.
Whether you’re shopping on Black Friday or any of the other days of the year, here are ways you may be able to save money on your next Amazon “add to cart” moment.
Related: These are the best credit cards for shopping at Amazon
Use points
If you’re a frequent (or even semifrequent) Amazon shopper, you might have noticed the “Pay with Points” option when you go to check out.
This is not always the best use of your credit card points from a monetary value perspective as you can often get better value from your points when redeeming for travel.
But … sometimes there are promotions that award you money off your Amazon order for using a small number of points.
Currently, there is an offer for some Amazon accounts that will save 40% on Amazon orders using as few as 1 Amex Membership Rewards point. These exact offers vary at times, but the concept remains relatively the same and this can be a great way to save on your next Amazon order if one of these offers is available to you.
You can check here for some of the latest Amazon points-related offers:
New to TPG? Read our ‘Getting started with points and miles’ guide
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Use the right credit card
If you have an American Express card (yes, even a cobranded one like a Hilton- or Delta-branded Amex), you can take advantage of targeted Amex Offers. These offers vary from account to account, and can be a great way to rack up bonus Membership Rewards points or save money on purchases you were going to make anyway.
Amazon periodically appears in Amex Offers. For example, you may be able to earn 5 points per dollar on your Amazon purchases (up to 2,500 points).
The trick here is to check your Amex account frequently to see if you’re eligible to earn bonus points or additional savings since you need to manually add these offers to your Amex account and then use that card to pay for your Amazon orders.
TPG values Amex Membership Rewards points at 2 cents each, so getting five of them per dollar spent at Amazon is like earning 10 cents in rewards per dollar spent. To start accessing these Amex Offers, a couple of good American Express cards to consider that don’t even come with annual fees are:
Use the Amazon credit card
While we’re on the subject of the best credit cards for Amazon purchases, let’s talk about Amazon’s own card — the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature.
The information for the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
It doesn’t have an annual fee, and new cardholders will receive an Amazon gift card immediately upon approval. Right now I see an offer for a $60 Amazon gift card with new accounts, though the amount varies at times. The card is only available to Prime members, so factor that in when deciding if it is the right match for you.
Read our full review of the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card.
The card awards 3% cash back at Amazon.com and Whole Foods Market, as well as 2% cash back at restaurants and gas stations and 1% cash back on everything else.
Related: Is the Amazon Prime credit card still worth the cost?
Spin to win
Through Nov. 28, there’s a promotion where you can “win” up to $20 in Amazon credit a day by playing a spin-to-win game in the Amazon app. My luck hasn’t been great yet, but I do have friends who have already won!
Use coupons
This tip won’t come as much of a surprise, but if you see a coupon available on Amazon, be sure to click it. With coupons, you can save money with the literal click of a button.
You’ll know if there’s a coupon available for your item as there will be an icon that says “Coupon” below the price. If you check the box next to it, the coupon will be activated. Coupons are sometimes only for a few cents or dollars, but saving money is, well, saving money.
Some items will also let you save by subscribing for repeat deliveries.
Track prices and set price alerts
It’s hard to know just how good a sale is if you haven’t been pricing a certain item for a while. One site that can tell you the historical price of an item on Amazon — and even alert you to price drops — is CamelCamelCamel.
This will not only help you gauge just how good a sale is going on, but if it’s not an urgent purchase, you can use this site to help you decide to hold off until your item is potentially on sale for a better price if you see it’s been lower in the past.
Related: These credit cards come with welcome bonuses worth $1,000 or more
Get credit for no-rush shipping or pickup
If you have time to spare, you can opt for no-rush shipping on your items and cluster them for an “Amazon Day Delivery” and earn a credit that you can use for future purchases that is applicable on select eBooks, digital music, videos and apps. The amount of the credit varies, but it has often been a couple of dollars in my tests.
You’ll find this option during the checkout process when you’re prompted to enter your shipping information.
There is also sometimes a promotion if you pick up the order at an Amazon pickup point. Right now, my account has an offer where I’ll get a $10 credit on a future $20 Amazon order if I use code 10TRYPICKUP and retrieve my order at an Amazon Hub such as an Amazon Locker or Locker+.
Sign up for a free Amazon Prime trial
You also might be able to sign up for a free, 30-day trial of Amazon Prime. This is a great way to try out the service if you haven’t already for no charge. You’ll be eligible to receive free, two-day shipping on eligible items, as well as get access to Prime Video, etc.
Or, if you know you want Prime for at least a few months, you could sign up for a plan that is $7.99 a month for three months. After that, the plan increases to $14.99 a month if you don’t cancel.
Purchase Amazon gift cards
If you don’t have any real points or cash-back bonus for Amazon purchases on one of your credit cards, you can also purchase Amazon gift cards at grocery stores with a credit card that gives cash back at that type of retailer.
For example, if you pick up a $100 Amazon gift card at the grocery store and pay for that purchase with the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express, you can earn 6% cash back on that purchase at U.S. supermarkets (on up $6,000 per year in purchases).
Additionally, a few times a year there are Amazon promotions where you can get some bonus Amazon credit when reloading your Amazon account with a certain amount of money, so keep your eyes open for those offers, especially around Black Friday-type sales.
Additional reporting by Samantha Rosen.
