If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you’re probably not taking full advantage of all your perks. To make the most of your membership, you don’t want to miss out on 7 of my favorite money-saving tips for Prime.
1. Your membership pays for free 2-day shipping, so if you haven’t received your shipment in that time frame alert customer service by phone or email. Once you’ve provided details on the late order, a customer service representative should get back to you within 24 to 48 hours with an offer to make it up to you.
2. Amazon might offer to make up for late shipments by extending your Prime membership by another month. That’s another month of free 2-day shipping, Prime Instant Video, Music and more perks. As long as you’re not abusing the service, I’ve experienced Amazon’s customer service to be fair and eager to please. In fact, when this happened to my colleague at work a few weeks ago, he was able to get both the free month of Prime and a $5 credit.
3. Another perk for Prime members: you’re automatically eligible for Amazon Family, previously called Amazon Mom. You get 20% off diaper subscriptions and manage how often you want to receive them. But don’t forget to adjust the size of the diapers you need as your baby grows – because you might be left with hundreds of diapers that are too small and not eligible for returns due to “healthy and safety reasons.” Trust me, I’ve tried!
Related: 6 Amazon shopping hacks to get your overspending under control
4. If your baby registry is through Amazon, you can get a 15% completion discount on all the items remaining that you still want, but haven’t been gifted. For non-members, you can still get a 10% completion discount. Keep in mind that retailers like Babies R Us, Buy Buy Baby, and Pottery Barn Kids, also offer 10% to 15% completion discounts.
5. Sign up for subscribe and save and get 5% off automatically. Not a huge savings as a one-off, but if you subscribe to 5 or more items you can get 15% off your entire order.
6. Recently, Amazon announced an even lower price for Prime membership, dropping its $10.99 monthly fee to $5.99 for those who receive government assistance. To qualify at this time, you need to have a valid Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card.
7. For students, you get the best deal of all: a 6-month free trial for Prime, half off membership until you graduate, and a $10 credit for every friend you refer who joins. But set up an Amazon allowance so you won’t be struggling with credit card debt on top of your student loans.
Have any money-saving tricks to share? Connect with me on Twitter @Jeanie531 or in the comments below.
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