I think it’s safe to say by now that Amazon has become a one-stop shop for any kind of need you might have. From mundane essentials like toilet paper and cat food to high-end electronics and niche hobby supplies, its digital shelves are seemingly endless. This sheer convenience has woven Amazon into the fabric of modern life for millions. It goes without saying that it would be helpful to learn a couple of Amazon Prime secret hacks, right?
Whether you’re searching for a new coffee machine, the latest bestseller, or various deals on Apple’s latest smartwatch, the mega-retailer seems to have everything. This vast selection is a double-edged sword; while you can find almost anything, the sheer volume of options can be overwhelming, making it difficult to know if you’re truly getting the best price or just the most convenient one.
But like any other retailer, you don’t always get the lowest prices, even if they offer a plethora of great deals. The price you see today might be $20 higher than it was last week, or $30 lower than it will be tomorrow. And there’s another thing we need to acknowledge: when it comes to Amazon, we mostly get our stuff there because it’s convenient. After all, it comes right to your door, often in two days or less! That powerful pull of instant gratification is hard to resist. Well, then we might as well tap into how to get those good deals, right? Becoming a savvy Amazon shopper is a skill, and with the right knowledge, you can make that convenience work for your budget, not against it.
Prime Members and Prime Big Deal Days
If you didn’t know about this day, well, get ready for Prime Day part two! This new sales event, officially dubbed Prime Big Deal Days, is Amazon’s way of kicking off the holiday shopping season early. Usually, Prime Big Deal Days occur around October 10. There’s a 48-hour event that offers sitewide deals only for Prime members, giving them the first crack at holiday-level discounts.
So if you were considering a Prime membership, then now is pretty much the perfect time. The value of the membership can often be recouped through the savings during this event alone. So technically, it’s not really a Prime Day, but it can be very similar to Amazon Prime Day, meaning that you will have access to a mixed batch of lightning deals, invite-only deals, and many other things. Lightning Deals are particularly notable; they offer steep discounts on specific items for a very short period or until stock runs out. Invite-only deals are a newer feature where you can request an invitation to purchase a high-demand item at a special price, helping to prevent bots from snapping them up.
To make the most of this event, it’s wise to prepare. Start by adding items you’re interested in to your wishlist or “Save for Later” list. This allows you to quickly check if they go on sale once the event starts. Furthermore, you can use the Amazon app to set up deal alerts for specific items or search terms. Also, make sure you follow the Prime Day deals coverage from your favorite tech or shopping sites for the best sales you can find, as they often curate the most valuable offers, saving you the time of sifting through thousands of listings.
Trade in your old devices for Amazon credits.
A fantastic way to offset the cost of new technology is by trading in your old gadgets. For example, if you currently own a 3rd-gen Amazon Echo or a 3rd-gen Echo Dot, you can wait until Amazon unveils the 5th generation devices (check it here!) this year and trade your smart speakers for discounts on the latest devices. This strategy works beautifully for cyclical upgrades of Amazon’s own hardware line.
Anyone can do this with Amazon’s Trade-In Store. The process is surprisingly straightforward. You simply search for your item, answer a few questions about its condition, and Amazon will provide an immediate trade-in value quote and a free, printable shipping label. You just have to box up your old device and send it off. You will instantly get an Amazon gift card credit for your old devices and, often, an extra 20% to 25% off coupon for a new device in the same category. This bonus coupon is what makes the deal so compelling.
If you really want to save extra money, you could trade in when that specific device is on sale. Imagine getting a trade-in credit, plus a 25% off coupon, and applying both to a new Echo Show that’s already discounted for a sales event like Prime Day. The savings can be massive. But trust me, sales and discounts happen so frequently that you won’t have to wait too long. Besides Amazon devices, you can also trade in a wide range of electronics, including cell phones, tablets, Bluetooth speakers, headphones, and even gaming hardware and video games.
Get the most out of your free Prime membership.
There are a myriad of benefits to being a Prime member, but like any other good thing in this world, it comes at a cost. To be more specific, $139 per year for membership. While many find the fast, free shipping pays for itself, there are ways to minimize the cost or get it for free.
Luckily, there are a couple of hacks that you could try to take the price down a notch. First, the easiest way is to sign up for Amazon’s free 30-day trial (but this only works for non-members). This is perfect if you just want to take advantage of Prime Day or do a big batch of holiday shopping without committing for the full year.
Or, you could share a Prime membership with someone else, but it will have to be someone you trust. Through the Amazon Household program, you can share your benefits with another adult and up to four teens and four children in your household. This means two adults can split the cost of one membership while enjoying key benefits like Prime Shipping, Prime Video, and Amazon Photos. In your Prime account, you will have to share your wallets to enjoy all Prime perks, which is why trust is essential.
Lastly, you can simply go monthly, and it only costs $14.99/month, which is a bit more than paying for a full year. Annually, the cost breaks down to about $11.58 per month, so you save over $40 by paying upfront. However, the monthly option offers flexibility. You can activate your membership in months when you know you’ll do a lot of shipping, like the Black Friday season in November, and then cancel it during quieter months. Another great, lesser-known option is the Prime Access program, which offers a full Prime membership for a discounted rate to qualifying recipients of government assistance programs like EBT and Medicaid.
Take advantage of Amazon’s freebies.
Amazon loves to offer free stuff. Fast shipping is just the tip of the iceberg. Whether we’re talking about Kindle books or cloud storage, there are many Amazon freebies available for Prime members that often go unused. Even Prime membership itself is free, if you count the value you get from these perks. However, Amazon doesn’t offer a guide to all its freebies, so here’s a list of some of the best ones:
- Free gaming: Every month, Prime members get free access to games via Prime Gaming. These aren’t rentals; you get to download and keep them forever. For example, Prime members might get access to seven free titles in November. Some of these titles include Fallout: New Vegas Ultimate Edition, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, WRC 9, and many others. On top of the free games, Prime Gaming also offers a treasure trove of free in-game content, like character skins, currency, and items for hugely popular online games. You can check which games and loot are available on the Amazon Prime Gaming website.
- Free reading: Prime members get access to a rotating library of over a thousand books, magazines, comics, and many other things via Prime Reading. Another fantastic perk is Amazon First Reads, which gives you early access to a selection of editor’s picks each month, and you can choose one to keep for free. Better yet, you don’t even need a Kindle to get your free books. The Kindle app can basically turn any iOS or Android-based device into the desired reading device.
- Free movie streaming: I have to say, I’m more of a Netflix fan than I am of Prime Video, but as a Prime member, you still get free access to thousands of movies and shows on their Prime Video platform. This includes a growing catalog of award-winning Amazon Originals like “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and “The Boys.” And if you don’t know where to start, check to see if you can find any picks from your “to watch” list on Prime! Don’t forget the unique X-Ray feature, which lets you see cast info and trivia in real-time as you watch.
- Free music streaming: Also, Amazon Music Prime offers Prime members free access to a catalog of 100 million songs, available to be played in shuffle mode and ad-free. If you’re a huge music fan, it’s worth mentioning that you won’t ALWAYS find what you’re looking for unless you upgrade to Music Unlimited, which offers on-demand playback. But for casual listening and discovering new artists, the included service offers a massive amount of good music.
- Free photo storage: Prime members can easily get unlimited, full-resolution cloud storage for their digital photos with Amazon Photos. And yes, you’ve read correctly: UNLIMITED. This is a huge benefit, as services like Google Photos no longer offer this for free. Storing photos at their original resolution preserves their quality, which is crucial for printing or editing. Oh, did I mention you also get 5GB of video storage? Plus, the Family Vault feature allows you to share this unlimited photo storage with up to five other family members.
- Free try-on service: With Prime Try Before You Buy, you can select up to six items of clothing, shoes, or accessories and have them shipped to you for free. You get a seven-day try-on period to decide what you want to keep. You’re only charged for what you don’t return, and the returns are made easy with a resealable box and prepaid label. It brings the dressing room to your home.
Look for Amazon’s hidden coupon codes.
One of the most efficient ways to save money on Amazon is also the easiest, to everyone’s surprise. Many people don’t realize that Amazon has a dedicated section for digital coupons. The retailer made a habit of offering Amazon promo codes on thousands of products, from groceries to electronics. Sometimes, the coupon is automatically applied during checkout.
Other times, you might have to manually select the coupon box to make sure you actually get the discount. The thing that you need to remember is that it’s extremely easy to overlook the digital coupons, so when you get one, you will see a tiny orange banner and a radio box underneath the Amazon price. It will say something like “Save an extra 15% with this coupon.”
To find these offers more easily, you can visit Amazon’s dedicated coupon page (amazon.com/coupons), where you can browse by category, popularity, or search for specific items. The best part is that these coupons can often be “stacked” with an existing sale price or a Subscribe & Save discount for maximum savings. Click the box, and the coupon will automatically be applied at checkout. It’s a rather easy trick, but then again, it’s easy to overlook if you’re rushing to get rid of money. *wink-wink*
Always shop with Camelizer.
Really, not every deal you come across on Amazon will save you money. A price might be labeled as a “deal,” but it could have been even cheaper a week ago. However, if you want to find out if a product’s current price is genuinely good or not, you could rely on CamelCamelCamel, a website that displays all sorts of price history for most items on Amazon.
This free tool is indispensable for the serious Amazon shopper. You can simply copy and paste an Amazon URL into their website to see a detailed chart of its price history. Even better, you can install their browser extension, “The Camelizer,” which allows you to see the price history chart with a single click, right on the Amazon product page. You can see the price history from Amazon itself, as well as from third-party sellers. The most powerful feature is the ability to set a price-drop alert. You can enter your desired price for an item, and CamelCamelCamel will email you the moment it drops to that level, ensuring you never miss a true bargain.
Go with less popular colors and configurations for greater discounts.
Seriously, not everyone wants a rose-gold-colored iPad Air. And that’s exactly why you might find it for a lower price. Amazon’s pricing is dynamic and heavily influenced by supply and demand. That’s why Amazon tends to offer greater discounts on less-coveted devices, colors, or configurations. As the Space Gray iPad Air might sell for list price, the Rose-colored tablet might be $50 off. This applies to a huge range of products.
Also, at times, the higher-priced configurations might receive bigger discounts than the base models. This happens with tech devices, but also with coffee machines, blankets, mixers, and many other things. For example, a KitchenAid mixer in a seasonal or less popular color like “Buttercup Yellow” might be significantly cheaper than the classic red or black models. Similarly, a set of bedsheets with a specific floral pattern might be on clearance while the solid white version is full price. Always click through all the color and style options on a product page; you might be surprised by the price variations.
The main idea is that some Amazon deals are different than others, and it’s worth looking into all of them. A little bit of extra clicking can lead to significant savings, rewarding shoppers who are flexible on aesthetics.
Take advantage of Amazon Prime.
If you’re in college, then you definitely need to tap into Amazon Prime Student. This is one of the best deals Amazon offers, tailored specifically for higher education students. Not only do they get a free 6-month trial, which is significantly longer than the standard 30-day trial, but they also pay half the price of a traditional Prime membership after the trial ends.
Students can access memberships for only $59 a year or $6.49 a month, which is a 50% discount. Verification is simple and usually just requires a valid .edu email address. Moreover, they get all the core Prime benefits like free shipping and Prime Video, plus all kinds of exclusive deals and discounts on textbooks, textbook rentals, and, of course, Music Unlimited. Prime Student members also get access to special perks through partnerships, such as a free subscription to Grubhub+ for free food delivery, making it an incredible value proposition for any student on a budget.
If you found this article useful, we have many other things you might want to read, such as:
- 6 Hidden Sections of Amazon Every Shopper Should Know
- 10 Best Things You Can Buy On Amazon Under $25
One Response
Do you have a discount on prime membership for Veterans?