Most people I know shop at Amazon.com quite a bit. I’ve been an Amazon customer pretty much from their very beginning, when they just sold books – real books, back when there was no such thing as a Kindle tablet or app.
My, how things have changed! The company now sells darn near everything and has cornered the market on ebooks with their Kindle ereaders and apps. Plus, they sell Kindle Fire tablets that rival iPads in features and cost half as much, or less. They’ve got their own brands of products in other departments, too, including batteries of various sizes, electronics accessories such as headphones, computer accessories such as this keyboard and mouse set for about $15 and even an executive high-back chair for only $109.99.
This post may contain affiliate links; please read my disclosure here.
I’ve bought loads of items from Amazon over the years, and the company keeps adding not only more items but more ways to save and more perks with their Prime and other membership programs. Here’s my ultimate guide with 13 ways to save big and make the most out of Amazon.com.
Shhh…Secret Discounts
Rather Be Shopping spills the beans on how to regularly snag the best deals at Amazon.com. This post reveals must-have information for regular Amazon shoppers – easy peasy tips for always paying the lowest possible prices.
Amazon Prime Music
I used to listen to Pandora, then Spotify, but got tired of the same old songs over and over again, and the same old annoying ads. Rather than start paying for an ad-free Spotify service, I discovered that I already had access to a fantastic ad-free streaming music service. Amazon Prime Music lets you listen to unlimited music streaming through your computer or mobile device.
Amazon Prime Music features loads of great music. I’d say 90 to 95 percent of the songs I want to hear are included in the streaming service, including classical tunes, songs from every genre and every decade back to the 1950s, show tunes and more. Plus, Amazon has a wide selection of well curated stations and playlists, or you can create your own playlists.
Kindle Unlimited
One of my favorite Amazon services is a fairly recent development. I subscribed to Amazon Unlimited almost as soon as it launched. Kindle Unlimited lets you borrow from a gigantic selection of Kindle books to read on your computer, tablet, phone or Kindle ereader.
You can have up to 10 titles checked out at a time, with no late fees or due dates. The service costs $9.99 per month after a free trial period.
Kindle Owners’ Lending Library
If you own an actual Kindle device – an ereader or Kindle Fire tablet – you can borrow one book at a time from a selection of participating titles, as part of your Amazon Prime membership.
You have to borrow from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library directly from your Kindle device, and the book selection isn’t as vast as with Kindle Unlimited. However, it’s included with your Amazon Prime membership without any additional charge.
Share Amazon Prime Benefits With Your Family
You can share most of your Amazon Prime benefits with other people who live with you, so they don’t need to pay for their own Amazon Prime memberships.
Your family members can access Prime’s two-day shipping, streaming Prime videos, Kindle Owners Lending Library, early access to Amazon Lightning Deals, 20 percent off diaper purchases and 15 percent off baby registry items.
Get Free Amazon Gift Cards
Some services that have no actual affiliation with Amazon can still net you fantastic Amazon savings, in the form of gift cards. To me, an Amazon gift card is just like cash. That’s why I love earning free Amazon gift cards in various ways.
Square Trade
I’m not big on extended warranties, but there are definitely times when I think it’s a good idea to spring for one. Fortunately, Amazon makes it easy and economical to buy an extended warranty on most electronic products that they sell, through Square Trade.
My experiences with Square Trade have been positive, and the warranties seem to get great ratings on Amazon, too.
Showtime and Starz
You no longer need to subscribe to cable or satellite TV service in order to watch STARZ and Showtime. It’s true. You can now buy a la carte subscriptions to STARZ and/or Showtime through your Amazon Prime Membership. Each costs $8.99 per month after a free trial period, for unlimited, on-demand streaming of favorite movies and exclusive sports and TV shows.
Free or Heavily Discounted Products
In exchange for your honest reviews, you can get heavily discounted or even free products. SlapDashMom has the scoop on all of the major sites that offer this service. Personally, I’ve only had good experiences with Snagshout, but it costs you nothing to sign up and check out these sites to see if any of them work for you.
Are these purveyors of fake reviews? Nope. You’re supposed to leave your honest opinions and are required to disclose in your review that you received the product at a discount in return for your genuine feedback.
Shop With Points
If you use a credit card that offers cash back or rewards points, you might be able to spend those points directly with Amazon without having to go through the trouble of asking for cash or gift cards through your financial institution.
Once you add a participating card and use it to make a purchase, Amazon will show the amount of rewards you have available and give you the option to use all or a portion of the amount. Programs include Discover Cashback, Citi Thank You Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Amazon.com Rewards Visa.
Free Photo Cloud Storage
Amazon Prime members get free unlimited cloud storage of photos, plus an additional 5 GB of free storage for other types of files such as videos and documents.
Amazon Cloud Drive isn’t the best cloud storage service on the market, but it works well for some purposes, and it’s already included in your Amazon Prime membership without any extra charge.
Discounts on Baby Products & Registry Items
Create an Amazon Wedding Registry
Amazon Kindle First
Amazon Prime members can sign up to receive Kindle First email notifications and receive their choice of one free Kindle book per month. Choose from a selection of four or five newly released titles in various genres.
Most of the time, the books are general fiction novels or thrillers, with the occasional romance. The Kindle First book is free to keep, not a loaner, but the titles are only available through the program for a limited time. The Kindle First email arrives around the first of each month.
How About You?
What are your suggestions for making the most of Amazon.com?
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