Amazon is perhaps the most famous and renowned online shopping site that people go to whenever they cannot find a specific product in local stores. There are even a wide number of people who prefer to do their shopping through Amazon and opt out of physically going to stores entirely.
If you are an avid Amazon shopper, or simply someone who would like to try shopping and purchasing products online, here are some tips for a better and more effective Amazon shopping experience:
1. Subscribe to Your Favorite Products
If you are regularly purchasing a certain product from Amazon, a way that you can save with each purchase that you make is by subscribing to that certain product. Amazon has a “Subscribe and Save” program which can give you as much as 15% off the price of your chosen products when you choose to have them automatically purchased for you based on a period of time of your choosing.
2. Donate 0.5% of Your Purchase to Charity
One way you can actually feel good about buying products through Amazon is by donating 0.5% of your purchase to the charity of your choice. You can do this by starting your shopping at the AmazonSmile page and choosing from hundreds of charities that participate in the program. After you have placed your purchase, Amazon will automatically donate 0.5% of the overall cost of your purchase to your chosen charity.
3. Check for Price Drops
Before doing your online shopping at Amazon, you can check for products which prices have dropped through the CamelCamelCamel website. By subscribing to this site, you can get email or Twitter alerts when product prices drop.
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4. Maximize Your Student Status
If you are a student and have a valid .edu email address, Amazon will give you six months of free shipping. This is in addition to the special offers and various discounts that you can get. To avail this, you will simply need to sign up at Amazon as a student to get your free trial. After the six-month period, you can avail of a membership at half the price than other normal customers.
5. Check for Warehouse Deals
If you are not really dead set on having a brand new item, you can choose for products that were previously opened, refurbished, or returned. These products are often sold at discounted prices.
6. Trade Your Old Items
If you have old items like video games, books, and gadgets, you can choose to trade them in exchange for Amazon Gift Cards.
7. Give Gift Cards via Facebook
If you would like to give someone far away an Amazon gift card, you can do so by connecting your Facebook account to Amazon. You can choose whether you would like to give a regular card, video card, or a dollar amount then choose the name of your recipient through Facebook.
Related: What You Can Do with Amazon Alexa Devices
8. Use the Right Credit Card
Before purchasing anything, choose the right credit card. There are credit cards that will give you rewards when you purchase products from Amazon so shop around for one with the biggest rewards.
9. Watch out for Your Package’s Shipping Time
In addition to anticipating the arrival of your purchase so you can use it immediately, you should check if your package arrived on time. You can get a shipping fee refund or a one-month Prime member extension if your package did not arrive on time.
10. Get a Price Drop Refund
After you have done your Amazon shopping and you noticed that the priced dropped within 7 days after delivery, you can ask Amazon if they can give you a refund of the price difference.
11. Maximize Being a Parent
If you are a parent, you can sign up for Amazon Mom to receive special discounts on items like diapers and other mom and baby needs.
12. Use Gift Finder
If you are short on time to purchase a gift for someone, try using Amazon Gift Finder. You can narrow down your choices simply by inputting the age and gender of the person you are going to give the gift to or choose from various categories.
Related: The Best Online Retailers to Sell Your Products Besides Amazon
13. Use the Amazon Wedding & Bridal Registry
If you are going to be wed soon, you can create your own wedding and bridal registry on Amazon. You can add items to your list, and then share it with your friends and family. Not only will this save them time when looking for a wedding gift to give you, you are also getting what you want.
14. Amazon Dash
If you’re always finding yourself forgetting to pick up some last-minute household items from the grocery store, then the Amazon Dash may be the answer to your problems. The Dash is a Wi-Fi enabled device, about the size of a car key fob that allows you to reorder products with the press of a single button. Each Dash button is paired up with a product with the product’s name or logo featured prominently on the device so that you know exactly what you’re ordering. Besides being able to replenish supplies when you’re running low, the Dash can be placed almost anywhere so that it’s right there at your fingertips when you realize you are running low.
By using these 14 tips when doing your Amazon shopping, you can have the best online shopping experiences possible.
