Best Times to Buy: Shopping Hacks for Amazon
It’s hard not to love the endless selection and incredible service on Amazon, the world’s largest online marketplace. With free two-day shipping for all Prime members and access to digital storage, video and music streaming and more, Amazon shoppers keep coming back. Here’s how you can save even more on Amazon.
1. Subscribe and save
If there are staples you buy all the time on Amazon, like vitamins, tissues or laundry detergent, you can save big by choosing Amazon’s Subscribe & Save program. You’ll enjoy free shipping on auto-deliveries and you can sign up to have these items delivered to you on a regular basis for optimal convenience. You can also cancel or change your preferences at any time if the quantities and frequency you chose no longer work for you.
Pro tip: Once you order five or more Subscribe & Save products in a month to a single address, you’ll unlock extra price discounts of up to 15% off.
2. Choose no-rush shipping
Amazon’s two-day shipping is one of its biggest draws, but you’ll receive extra discounts or rewards if you choose no-rush shipping. If you don’t need your items within the next two days, choose this option at checkout for digital credits for movies, books and music.
3. Shop lightning deals
Take advantage of Amazon’s discounts by looking for lightning deals on the site’s Today’s Deals section. Keep in mind that these are temporary promotions with a limited number of redemptions, so if you find something you need, act fast! There will be a status bar and timer letting you know when the deal will expire.
4. Shop Amazon warehouse deals
If you’re looking for deep discounts on anything from home decor items to appliances, check out Amazon’s Warehouse Deals section. This is where Amazon sells all pre-owned and open-box products at heavily slashed prices. All these products go through a quality check before being resold so you can be assured of their quality.
5. Shop Woot! deals
You might find Amazon’s discounted products listed on other deal sites, but Woot! is the marketplace’s own site where it promotes its daily deals. Check out Woot! for deep discounts on everything that’s sold on Amazon, with free standard shipping for Prime members on all purchases.
6. Pause your subscription when not in use
If you find that you only order from Amazon during especially busy times of year, you may want to pause your subscription during the quieter seasons. You can do this by simply visiting Membership Management under Prime in the settings tab and choosing Pause Membership. Similarly, there’s no need for both you and your partner to pay for a membership, so one of you can cancel or pause your subscription for additional savings.
7. Search by percentage off
You may have noticed that Amazon doesn’t let you sort by discount percentage. This can make it challenging to find the best bargains, especially when sorting by price often brings irrelevant results. The good news is, there’s a hidden trick to uncovering major discounts.
Start by searching for a product as usual. Then, in your browser’s URL bar, add &pct-off=50- to the end of the address string. This filters results to show items discounted by 50% or more. Want a specific range of discounts? You can tweak the numbers. For example, adding &pct-off=50-75 shows items discounted between 50% and 75%.
The results might not always be perfect, but this method helps you cut through the clutter and find Amazon’s best-hidden deals faster.
8. Shop Amazon’s brand
In addition to selling millions of products from thousands of sellers, Amazon produces, sells and ships its own products in a wide variety of categories. Choose the Amazon brand for big savings on all kinds of products.
Shopping on Amazon just got better! Use our hacks for maximum savings on the world’s largest online market.