5 Slick Ways to Save Money on Amazon You Probably Don’t Know About

A man smiles while holding onto an Amazon box.
Carmen Mandato/The Penny Hoarder
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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 the News

A woman uses an Amazon gift card to shop.
Aileen Perilla/The Penny Hoarder

It’s been a historic year in the news, and we’re all constantly refreshing for the latest updates. You probably know more than one news junkie who fancies themselves a constitutional scholar or a foreign policy expert.

That might not be the best news for your dinner conversations, but it’s great news for your wallet. By signing up for a free account with InboxDollars, you could add up to $225 a month to your pocket. They’ll present you with short surveys to choose from every day, which you can fill out while you watch tonight’s broadcast.

You just have to answer honestly, and InboxDollars will continue to pay you every month. This might sound too good to be true, but it’s already paid its users more than $56 million.

It takes about one minute to sign up and start getting paid while you watch the news.

4. Shop Amazon’s Outlet Store

A woman walks down the street with an Amazon box.
Tina Russell/The Penny Hoarder

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.


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