Who else has become a fan of Amazon? From their drop-it-on-your-doorstep to the videos I can stream! Love Prime!
But there are more perks than just convenience. I can honestly say that using these tricks have saved me money too as we have been able to get rid of cable and enjoy our same shows, get free products with credit-back purchases, get diapers for less and now I hear that my kids can even get cheaper student loans all with Amazon Prime Membership.
Amazon Prime Membership, Tips to SAVE!
Photo Credit for the Amazon Robot goes to Caotica_May – Adorable!
We all know about Amazon’s Movie Streaming perks in Amazon Prime or the SUPER convenience of setting up a baby registry over there, but my guess is that you did not know the rest of these Hacks to Make the Most of Your Amazon Prime Membership.
Unlimited Photo Storage
Yup, you read that right. When your kids have filled your phone to it’s max with all the selfies and videos of their toes that they could ever want, and you don’t have time to sort out the gems from their creative “moments”, dump them all, ALL, onto the Amazon cloud. There is NO limit to photo storage and it is completely free to Amazon Prime members!
Streaming Videos and TV Shows
You knew that – Prime members get to stream hundreds of movies and TV shows for free. Amazon is even coming out with their own shows in addition to the network shows, movies and documentaries we have come to expect… BUT I bet you didn’t know that on Jet Blue flights you can watch your Amazon content for free. No need to pay the pesky add-on airline fees to get your TV fix. It’s free for you thanks to the Jet Blue and Amazon partnership.
Get it Faster – MUCH Faster.
If you have not tried Amazon’s 2 Hour Delivery with Prime Now – DO! It is amazing. PrimeNow totally came to my rescue when the kids were sick, I was sick, and we had no toilet paper! PrimeNow delivers to your house within 2 hours in select cities. Note: You need to order a minimum of $50 for this service, but there are no service fees, and tipping is discouraged (I tried to tip my delivery guy, he wouldn’t let me!) You only pay for the products. This means that I actually save money than if I went to the store – no impulse buys – and the prices were comparable to our local market.
Click on the image above and type in your zipcode to see if this available in your area. If you don’t happen to live in one of the markets with PrimeNow, no worries most likely you still are able to get same day delivery. Prime members also qualify for free 2-day delivery.
Get Shipping Credits to Use on Future Purchases.
Don’t want it fast? Skip the fast delivery and ship your product with standard delivery and get shopping credits. For me, I rarely have to pay for audible or kindle books (and I have an extensive library) anymore as I am able to apply my credits to these purchases!
Pantry App: Grocery Shop from Your Couch!
Photo Credit: MrLeonidas, Instagram.
This has happened to all of us, moms, right? We are going to bed and start drifting off thinking of meal plans – why not shop at the same time!! Fill up your cart in seconds! Or we sign up for the class party, look at the list and pick something right? Why don’t you at that exact moment, click over to “your pantry” and add the items there. Now, you don’t need to rush the hour before the event to the store only to find that they ran out of goldfish or better yet, forget about it completely. You can have it delivered right to your door. I have used the pantry so many times! LOVE IT!
Photo Credit: MyRadiantJoy, Instagram.
Dash Buttons to Make Keeping Your Pantry Stocked Just got Easier.
Do you have several specific brands that you love and purchase regularly? Grab a dash button. You can stick it besides the area where you use the products, and when you run out, click the button. You will have whatever it is added instantly to your cart. This is super handy with things like granola bars, kitty litter, feminine products, trash bags, or another 150 common household products. The button pays for itself with credits! Buy the button for $4.99 and get a credit of $4.99 with your first dash purchase.
Sample Boxes with Store Credit
This is SO stinking cool! There are pre-packaged boxes of samples that you can purchase and get store credit back for your purchase. When you spend say, $4.99 on a toothpaste whitening set you get $4.99 back to use on another Amazon purchase (select items usually). Totally awesome! Note: The prices, and the perks vary by the box. They have had beauty boxes, boxes of pet treats, collections of different protein bars and MORE! These sample boxes are only available to folks who are Amazon Prime Members. And I want to warn you, grab them when you see one you are interested in – usually there are only one or two box options available at a time! The sample boxes change regularly and they don’t last long!
You Can Share Memberships
If you don’t have the full $99 a year (the cost of a membership) Amazon allows you to share your full account with one other adult. The hangup is that you need to really, really trust that other person. In addition to sharing the full account, all of your purchasing history, etc., you are also sharing payment info/methods. So this other person will have full access to be able to spend on your behalf… BUT let’s say you don’t want a pal having access to all of that sensitive information. You can also share your shipping perks with up to four other people, family members – they will be verified by Amazon – who I believe asks them to confirm your birthday.
Music Streaming – for Free with Prime.
Did you know if you have a Prime membership you can stream literally millions of songs, for free. And, unlike Pandora or other streaming services – you can actually create playlists and pick the songs and artists you want to listen to. Basically, you have more control over the music channel or station you want to listen to! They do not have *every* artist out there, but at least for me, there is a wide enough variety in the free to Prime members music collection to keep me listening for a very long time. In addition, the free Amazon music app lets you stream your music library onto any android device, so if I want to buy a song that is not available in their Prime Collection I can pay for it and have it added to my library.
Share or Borrow Books – and Enjoy the 500K+ Volume Library
Do you just love a book you have been reading on your kindle and you want to share it with a pal? It is super easy to collect books in your e-library and swap them between devices, loan them to a friend, return them when you are done. Just like regular books! They can only be kept in one library at a time, but Amazon makes it super easy to share what you love with your pals! If you are a Prime member who loves to read on your Kindle, just click the video above to see how you can lend and borrow Kindle books.
Family Perks – Subscribe and Save.
This is HUGE! Imagine if you could get every diaper your kids uses for 20% off? The average kiddo uses 2600 diapers in their first year of life!! All of those pennies will add up fast!! Now imagine the 2am diaper changes and discovering you ran out of diapers – guys, this is reality!! UNTIL… Subscribe and save. With diapers, macaroni and cheese, paper towels, laundry soap and the countless other items you use regularly all the time getting onto a subscription will save you time and money! You’ll get regular shipments of the items you use most often, so you don’t have to worry about running out AND you will spend less for them. Win, Win!
Amazon Coupons Page
Do you see that lovely green button above?? That is a coupon!! No more having to clip coupons and carry them around with you! You can buy online and with just a button click these coupons are applied to your orders. There is a whole section on Amazon where you can browse and add coupons to your cart for future purchases.
I get so excited when I see these pop up on items I use most often. Be on the lookout for coupons in the future! You can apply these to your orders, allowing you to save even more! Amazon also has a coupon page to help deal shoppers use even more of their paycheck on the things that matter the most to them!
Kid’s Programming!! FreeTime
This feature is for Prime families who have a compatible device (which the Amazon Kindles qualify, and their return policy is amazing!!). It gives families access to hundreds and hundreds of kid-appropriate books, shows, games and MORE! The variety of programming includes most of my kids favories!
Unbeatable Return Policy & Customer Care
You know how stores say the customer is always right? Amazon really believes it! If you have a problem with an order you can contact the seller in the Amazon store and they are usually pretty quick to r item arrives broken or damaged there is no need to return it to get a full refund!
Need to return an item you purchased on Amazon? You *usually* don’t need to pay the return shipping if the reason was for an error on Amazon’s end and if the item was fulfilled through Amazon (Note: Third-party sellers sell on Amazon and they often have different return polcies, so before you purchase check the return policy for the items you are buying.
Goldbox.
Gold box is the daily deals section in Amazon. If you love to window shop and love discovering great deals, this is definitely the place for you to go and browse! The deals are usually phenomenal BUT they go quickly! Most are gone in just a few hours.
Make an Offer.
This is by far the BEST way to buy computers!! Let’s say something is outside of your budget, in the used electronics or fine art sections of Amazon, but you are very interested in the item. Try making an offer. They can always say no!
Student Loan Discounts.
Yup! You read that right! This makes me wish I was a college kiddo again!
Thanks to a partnership with WellsFargo, Amazon is offering members of it’s Amazon Student Prime a discount on school loans with WellsFargo. All you need for a Student Prime membership is a .edu email. In most colleges this means you do not need to be a full-time college student to qualify! College students qualify for free prime for 6 Months (thanks to Sprint) and after that their membership is 50% off! College kids can get a 0.05% interest rate discount on qualifying loans.
Like Saving Money with Amazon?
We do too! And hopefully these tricks and tips will help you get the most out of your Amazon membership too!
0