5 Slick Ways to Save Money on Amazon You Probably Don’t Know About
We’re all doing a lot more online shopping these days. New quarantine sweatpants? Add to Amazon cart. Noise-canceling headphones for your home office? Thanks, Amazon!
Here’s the thing though: You’re probably overpaying.
We always assume Amazon has the best price, but oftentimes, there are way better deals hiding out there. If you’re not tracking them down, you’re probably getting gouged.
Here’s how to stop overpaying…
1. Find Out if You’re Overpaying
Wouldn’t it be nice if you got an alert when you’re shopping online at Target and are about to overpay?
That’s exactly what Capital One Shopping does.
Just add it to your browser for free, and before you check out, it’ll check other websites, including Walmart, eBay and others to see if your item is available for cheaper. Plus, you can get coupon codes, set up price-drop alerts and even see the item’s price history.
Let’s say you’re shopping for a new TV, and you assume you’ve found the best price. Here’s when you’ll get a pop up letting you know if that exact TV is available elsewhere for cheaper. If there are any available coupon codes, they’ll also automatically be applied to your order.
In the last year, this has saved people $160 million.
You can get started in just a few clicks to see if you’re overpaying online.
Capital One Shopping compensates us when you get the extension using the links provided.
2. Copy This Strategy To Get a $526 Refund
Chances are you do a lot of your shopping online. Whether it’s pet food, toilet paper or even gifts, you’re probably leaving money on the table.
A free website and browser extension called Rakuten has the hookup with just about every online store you shop, including Walmart and Target, which means it can give you a kickback every time you buy.
In fact, since Denver resident Colleen Rice started using Rakuten, it’s sent her checks in the mail totaling $526.44. For doing nothing. Seriously. Rice says she uses Rakuten for things she already has to buy, like rental cars and flights.
It takes less than 60 seconds to download the free extension, create a Rakuten account and start shopping. All you need is an email address, then you can immediately start shopping your go-to stores through the site.
Plus, if you use Rakuten to earn money back within the first 90 days of signing up, it’ll give you an extra $10 on the first check it sends you. Talk about money for nothing.
3. Get $225 in Amazon Gift Cards Just for Watching Movie Previews
If we told you that you could get paid while watching videos on your computer, you’d probably laugh.
It’s too good to be true, right?
But we’re serious. By signing up for a free account with InboxDollars, you could add up to $225 a month to your pocket. They’ll send you short surveys every day, which you can fill out while you watch someone bake brownies or catch up on the latest Kardashian drama.
No, InboxDollars won’t replace your full-time job, but it’s something easy you can do while you’re already on the couch tonight, wasting time on your phone.
Unlike other sites, InboxDollars pays you in cash — no points or gift cards. It’s already paid its users more than $56 million.
Signing up takes about one minute, and you’ll immediately receive a $5 bonus to get you started.
4. Shop Amazon’s Outlet Store
Did you know Amazon has an outlet store? Seriously.
It works similarly to your traditional brick-and-mortar outlet stores; it stocks overstocked items and sells them at a discount.
You can find anything from pet supplies to clothing to electronics to grocery items.
5. Fund Your Retirement with Amazon
Saving for retirement is smart. Having your company contribute to your 401(k) is helpful. But having an ownership interest in a Fortune 500 company that you don’t even work for help get you to your retirement goal? That’s awesome.
And it’s surprisingly easy to make happen, with an app called Robinhood.
It lets you own pieces of well-known companies, like Amazon, Apple, Google and more, and you can start investing with just $1.
You’ve probably heard of Robinhood. Both investing beginners and pros love it because it doesn’t charge commission fees, and you can buy and sell stocks for free — no limits. You can even get free stocks this way (worth $5 to $200!).
When you download the app and fund your account (it takes just a few minutes), Robinhood drops a share of free stock into your account. It’s random, though, so that stock could be worth anywhere from $5 to $200 — a nice boost to help you build your investments.
