3 Little Known Ways to Save Big on Amazon
Do you shop on Amazon? Who am I kidding? In this day and age, almost all of us do! Amazon is incredibly convenient and has competitive prices. I know that as a busy mom, I appreciate the opportunity to shop on Amazon from the comfort of my home and simply await my purchases. That said, I’m always looking for ways to save more.
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. You can read more in my disclosure policy.
If you search on Bing and Swagbucks, you are already earning free money to spend on Amazon. (You can learn more about how I earn free Amazon gift cards with Bing and Swagbucks here.) Now, it’s time to stretch your Amazon money even further with these little known ways to save on Amazon. These three simple things have the potential to save you big on Amazon!
1. Share a prime membership.
Here is a little known fact about Amazon. You can share a prime membership! It is completely legal to do this. We currently share a prime membership with my brother for the free shipping benefits.
Amazon currently allows 2 different members to create and share an “Amazon Household.” You will be able to see the other person’s personal information but this is a great option for saving on your yearly prime membership. Here is more information about Amazon Households and how to create one, directly from Amazon.
Stretch your money even further by starting with a free 30 trial to Amazon prime, and then when your trial is up, add another member to your account. That person can pay you back half your membership fee to make the prime membership an even better bargain.
2. Use the Honey extension.
Have you heard of Honey? Honey is an extension you add to your internet browser that notifies you when a better deal is available. I wasn’t sure it would be worth installing but Honey has quickly saved me money on Amazon with no extra effort on my part. It’s really amazing!
Here’s an example of how Honey works. You see, I buy lots of copies of “Oh, the Places You Can Go” on Amzon to make custom Biblical versions of this book. Just last week, I logged onto Amazon to buy two more copies for orders I was creating when the Honey app notified me that there was a better deal available than what Prime was offering. I clicked on the gold Honey button, ordered my books and saved $4…just like that in a matter of seconds.
In addition to working on Amazon, Honey also works anywhere you are shopping online. There are also bonus cash back offers available when you start by shopping at Honey. There are lots of ways to save (and earn) with Honey but the automatic notifications of better deals on Amazon is one of my favorite. You can sign up for Honey here.
3. Use a cash back program to earn money back on your purchases at Amazon.
This savings option has changed slightly because when I originally wrote this post, there was a great cash back program called Giving Assistant that earned 5% back on all Amazon purchases. Unfortunately, Amazon changed policies and didn’t allow Giving Assistant to continue offering that rebate. Giving Assistant is still one of my go-to cash back programs but I now use other programs to earn the occasional cash back on my Amazon purchases.
You can now save on Amazon by using Swagbucks, Ebates or TopCashBack. The difference with these programs (from Giving Assistant) is that they only give cash back on specific categories. The categories are the same for all 3 programs. You can earn cash back from Amazon when you are shopping in Handmade, Baby, Shoes, Amazon Home Services and Handbags & Wallets. The amounts vary. Swagbucks offers 4 SB per $1 spent. Ebates offers 2% to 5.5% cash back in the various categories. TopCashBack has the best rebate, offering 4 to 8.5% cash back on these categories.
While it’s not nearly as good as Giving Assistant used to be, I recommend you now use TopCashBack when you are shopping on Amazon. TopCashBack has also 3,500 different stores where you can shop for extra money back. They have no minimum payout and allow you to cash out or receive a 2.5% bonus on your earnings when you cash out as an Amazon gift card. You can sign up for TopCashBack here. It’s my go-to cash back program.
If you’re struggling to decide which one to use, here’s some more tips on how to choose the best cash back program for you. Be sure to always use a cash back program when you are shopping online (not just at Amazon) to earn money on all your online purchases!
Bonus: Choose no rush shipping and accumulate Amazon shopping credits.
If you are a prime member who orders regularly on Amazon and doesn’t mind exercising a bit of patience, select the no rush shipping option instead of free 2 day shipping at checkout. Each time you do this, you will receive some sort of Amazon shopping credit. Sometimes, it is a $5 Prime Pantry discount but most times, it is a $1 credit to use on Amazon kindle books, movies or television shows.
As an avid reader, I let my $1 credits accumulate and use them to purchase free books on my reading list. I recommend saving the email that says you have a shipping credit so you can quickly see how much credit you have in your account.
Did you learn something new about ways to save at Amazon? I hope so! Do you have any other ways to save at Amazon to add to this list?
hi, can you use AmazonSmile with Honey and the Cash Back deals? thanks!
Unfortunately, you can not. One will over ride the other.
Also Amazon coupons and save up to 15% on recurring fulfillment items!
Also good ways to save on Amazon, Alika!
I would love knowing more about how I can receive money back, via Amazon. I hope someone can help and or explain how it works. Thanks! Joel Poe
Hi, Joel. As I explained in the article, the easiest way is to use a cash back program when shopping on Amazon. It really makes your money go further!
Can you use Giving Assistance and Amazon Smile? Or just one or the other?
Hi, Debbie. It is just one or the other. If you’ll read the other comments, I explained how easy it is to delete the smile. part of the url so you can use Giving Assistant. However, as the article also mentioned, the Giving Assistant program is no longer compatible with Amazon, so you’ll have to use one of the other cash back sites now. It’s disappointing, I know.
So if it goes to Amazon Smile it won’t be credited correctly? Please explain that part a little better as I’m unclear at that point. How do I know that it is being credited correctly? Giving Assistant took me to Amazon Smile and then when I deleted that part of the url I’m not sure it is crediting it correctly.
I know, Rachel. It’s a little confusing at first. So, start at Giving Assistant and click through to Amazon. When it appears with Amazon Smile, highlight and delete smile. (smile including the dot after). Then, hit enter or refresh. You should see the same page but the url will just say Amazon with a punch of numbers after it (the tracking numbers). Then, shop as normal. It will take a day or two but you will then receive an email saying you’ve received cash back. If for some reason you don’t, email customer service. They are amazingly helpful! I emailed Amazon to try and deactivate Amazon Smile but they said that is not an option. Frustrating, but not that I’ve learned to delete that part of the url, it works perfectly with Giving Assistant. Does that help, Rachel?
I share a prime membership with my sister, but I didn’t know they made changes so I’ll have to check that out. I had heard about the price drop policy, but I have never taken advantage of it. Good to remember. I love Giving Assistant! Great ideas, Kristen!
I didn’t either until I started checking out the sharing policy again. It just changed 3 weeks ago! So far, it appears we’re grandfathered in until your Prime membership is up for renewal and that’s when the changes will take place. I’m glad you use Giving Assistant, too!