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When it comes to scoring deals on anything from books, to kitchenware, to clothing, Amazon is the place. You can find almost anything you need on the site, and it tends to come at a better price than shopping in store. However, if you’re just pressing add to cart and checking out instantly, you may be missing out on some even bigger savings. There are a number of tips and tricks to help you make the most out of your Amazon purchases, so make sure you are employing all six of these before you buy!
1. Get An Amazon Card
If you shop on Amazon frequently, it’s worth it to get the Amazon Rewards Visa Signature Card. Not only do you instantly get a $50 credit upon signing up, you earn 3 percent back on all Amazon purchases. Plus, there’s no membership fee, so you don’t have to spend any money up front.
2. Sign Up For Price Alerts
Constantly checking if an item is on sale can be time consuming, so why not let an app do it for you? Shoptagr, a mobile app and Chrome browser extension, allows you to add items to your wish list, and when their price drops, it notifies you in real time. Since Amazon prices are always changing, this tool can come in handy when you’re in the market for a specific item.
3. Install Honey
There may be some special deals you’re not even aware of, so instead of searching the web for special codes or discounts, you can let Honey do it for you. The browser extension automatically finds and applies coupon codes at checkout for you, but it can also browse the web to find other sites or vendors that sell the same item at a lower price.
4. Earn Rebates
Signing up for Ibotta allows you to get cash back on all your Amazon Prime purchases, and you even get a $20 gift card when you sign up to become a Prime member. All you have to do is find a rebate you’re interested in, complete a short task, and send in your receipts, and you get a certain percentage of cash back on items purchased from Amazon such as home and kitchen, fashion and more.
5. Share Your Receipts
Nothing is worse than making a purchase, only to find that it went on sale a week after buying it. Thankfully, with Paribus, you won’t have to worry about that anymore—as long as you’re willing to share your receipts. This free platform will scan your email archive for receipts, and it can detect purchases from a number of sites—including Amazon—and it will issue a refund if the item’s price drops. All you have to do is sign up, and then Paribus does the work for you.
6. Use Amazon Coupons
Just like many brick-and-mortar stores, Amazon has their own set of coupons that you can clip and use at checkout—they’re just available online. Just go to Amazon Coupons and click on the coupons that interest you. They’re added to your cart automatically and applied when you check out.
[h/t: The Penny Hoarder]