Amazon tips and tricks that can save you big money

From delivery charges to daily deals, follow these 14 super savvy ways to save even more money when you're shopping at Amazon.

Amazon can be a great place to save money on everything from books to DVDs to clothes to electronics.

But there are some tips and tricks you should know to make sure you spend less when you're shopping there.

Beat delivery charges

The minimum spend in order to trigger free Super Saver Delivery on Amazon is £20 (unless you are buying books when a £10 minimum applies).

If your order is under the threshold, you’ll have to pay a delivery charge, which can vary from £1.49 to £6 depending on what you purchase.

Items from Amazon’s Marketplace will count towards your free delivery threshold as long as they are marked as ‘fulfilled by Amazon’.

A simple way to beat delivery costs is to spend a bit more to hit the minimum spend with a filler item.

If you can’t think of anything you need, the handy Super Saver Delivery tool can help you find something to boost your order value.

You should do the maths to work out if buying an extra item will save you any money versus what you were going to spend and the delivery charge.

Generally, if you are spending between £14 and £19.99 the tool can help.

Another way to avoid Amazon’s delivery charges is to use Prime.

This is an annual subscription service which costs £79 a year and gets you unlimited free one-day delivery as well as other benefits like access to Prime Instant Video, Prime Music, Prime Photos cloud storage and access to the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.

You can get a free one-month trial of the service, which you can cancel before you get charged the subscription fee.

Check who you are buying from

When you shop at Amazon, items can be sold direct or by third-party sellers via Amazon Marketplace.

When purchasing through Amazon Marketplace delivery can cost more. That’s because items from third-party sellers aren’t eligible for free Super Saver Delivery.

Also if there’s a problem with your order or the item you receive, you need to go through the seller rather than Amazon itself.

Marketplace purchases are covered by Amazon’s A-Z protection guarantee, which gives you money back if goods don’t arrive or aren’t as described, up to a maximum of £2,500.

But marketplace purchases you make with a credit card over £100 don’t qualify for protection under Section 75. That’s because Amazon takes the money and then passes it onto the retailer – if you bought directly from the retailer, you would still be protected.

Get the price you want to pay

Amazon’s prices move up and down all the time, so nailing the perfect time to make your purchase can be tricky. Luckily there are tools out there that can help.

CamelCamelCamel is a website dedicated to tracking Amazon prices. It allows you to enter the maximum price you would be willing to pay for an item and alerts you when Amazon hits your target or goes even lower.

Zeezaw is another website that helps you keep a track on the best deals on things you want. Again you just need to put in what you want to buy from Amazon and the maximum you want to pay, then sit back and wait for your alert.

Check other Amazon sites

Amazon’s European sites can be a lot cheaper than Amazon UK, especially given the strength of the pound right now.

You can compare prices across Amazon France, Germany, Italy and Spain with a site called Curiua. This handy tool converts the costs of items into pounds so you can see if you could get a better deal.

Amazon Austria and Amazon Netherlands don’t feature on the Curiua tool, but are also worth a look.

Pay close attention to shipping costs to work out the actual savings and don’t forget about the different plugs on electrical items which will require an adaptor to use.

It might also be worth checking out Amazon’s sites outside of Europe, like Amazon US. Priceonline.eu compares Amazon US as well as Amazon’s European sites.

But you should bear in mind you may need to pay customs duty when making purchases from the US and your consumer rights vary by country.

Get cashback when you shop

You can earn money back when you shop with Amazon with cashback websites like Quidco and TopCashback. They work by tracking your purchases and paying a percentage back on what you buy.

Cashback deals are constantly changing, but at the moment Quidco is offering 4% on musical instruments and 3% on lawn and garden purchased through Amazon, while TopCashback is offering 5.25% on beauty and 4.2% on shoes.

If you’re being super savvy you might also use a cashback credit card to pay for your purchases as well as using a cashback site. For example the American Express Platinum Cashback Everyday card pays 5% cashback in your first three months on purchases up to £2,000.

Compare cashback credit cards and see how much you could earn

Earn credits by using ‘No-Rush Delivery’

Amazon Prime and Amazon Student members (including those on the 30-day or six-month trial) can earn credit for digital content by opting for Amazon’s ‘No-Rush Delivery’.

When you get to the final order page, select 'Free No-Rush Delivery' under delivery options and you can get £1 credit for every qualifying item you buy. Items bought via Amazon Warehouse Deals or from third-party sellers on Amazon Marketplace aren't eligible.

The credit will be applied to your Amazon account and will be redeemed on your next digital purchase.

Use hidden Amazon vouchers

Amazon Vouchers lists a whole load of discounts for various categories that you might be able to take advantage of.

You just need to select the ones you want to use and the discount will be automatically applied to your basket when you check out.

Snap up daily deals

Amazon offers ‘Deals of the Day’ which run for 24 hours from 12am to 11.59pm, as well as flash ‘Lightning Deals’ which can be posted at any time and last for just a few hours.

You can find the offers on the Today’s Deals page or sign up for the Deals Newsletter.

Get 20% off Amazon Fashion

You can get 20% off your next order with Amazon Fashion when you sign up to receive the weekly Amazon Fashion emails.

The one-off 20% discount is eligible for use on up to five items from Amazon Clothing, Shoes, Jewellery and Watch Store and is valid for 30 days.

If you’re not that interested in getting updates, they’re easily switched off once you’ve got your code!

Save up to 15% on regular buys

With Amazon’s Subscribe & Save service you can save by signing up to get items you have to order regularly.

You can choose from items like pet food, coffee, nappies, loo roll, wet wipes and more and save 5% by opting for Subscribe & Save rather than a one-off delivery. If you sign up for five or more subscriptions, Amazon will boost the discount to 15%.

There is no minimum subscription length and you can cancel when you want. However, you should make sure Amazon is cheapest each month to ensure you’re getting the best deal.

Combine savings for nappy discounts

The Amazon Family club gives members all the benefits of Amazon Prime plus exclusive offers and discounts, as well as 15% off nappies for £79 a year.

You can boost the nappies discount to 20% or even 35% by combining the deal with Subscribe & Save.

Earn vouchers with online surveys

You can earn Amazon vouchers by doing online surveys.

If you have the time to answer questions on anything from celebrities to the latest mascara some sites allow you to choose to be rewarded in Amazon vouchers.

Websites like Swagbucks, i-Say, Toluna, Crowdology, MySurvey, Valued Opinions, Survey Friends and Opinion Outpost all offer Amazon voucher options.

Reclaim your music collection on MP3

If you’ve bought CDs or vinyl from Amazon you can now get the MP3s for free, but Amazon also backdates your music collection for anything you've bought since 1999.

Log on to your Amazon Music library to see what tracks are in there. You can then stream or download them.

Don’t assume Amazon is cheapest

Amazon is a giant online retailer offering pretty much everything with a reputation for being cheap, so it can be tempting to head straight to the site for all your purchases.

However, Amazon might not be the cheapest place to buy what you’re after.

Take a few moments to compare prices online to ensure you are getting the best deal from Amazon before making a purchase.