While Amazon is a vast marketplace of tech, home goods and fashion, one of the best ways to leverage the online giant is through its Subscribe & Save program. Setting up recurring orders can help you save up to 15% off the regular going rate. But to sweeten the deal even further, Amazon regularly offers hefty discounts for first-time buyers so you can try new items without paying full price. The problem is, getting started with Subscribe & Save can be a daunting task. Amazon doesn’t exactly do a great job of explaining the service and how to make the most of your savings. That’s on purpose. With a few wise tips, you can easily make Subscribe & Save work for you, cutting prices and annoying trips to the grocery store along the way.
Prime memberships help, but aren’t required
A fairly common misconception about Subscribe & Save is that a Prime membership is required. That’s not the case, although Amazon will have Prime-only offers from time to time. These deals will be denoted with a Prime-only stamp, or otherwise not visible to shoppers if this is the case. If you don’t yet have an Amazon Prime membership, you can sign up here for a monthly or annual fee.
How does Amazon Subscribe & Save work?
You’ve probably noticed that from time to time a listing will have the option to purchase via Subscribe & Save, as opposed to a one-time buy. Each individual item eligible for this service is automatically discounted by 5% each month. The real savings start when you have five or more items enrolled in Amazon’s subscription service. At that point, all of your monthly deliveries through Subscribe & Save will be discounted by 15%. It’s important to note that the larger discount will only apply when five or more items are shipped in a month. If you have longer durations set, like every other month, that may hinder your ability to grab an increased discount for an individual month.
Maximizing Subscribe & Save to your advantage
One of the best ways to maximize your subscriptions is to keep a keen eye for coupon opportunities. Amazon regularly offers straight cash discounts off a wide variety of items, with a large focus on groceries and other home goods. Clipping on-page coupons is a great way to try out an item at a discount prior to locking in Subscribe & Save on that listing. Your subscription will automatically continue at the regular going rate after the first month. If the product didn’t suit your needs, be sure to cancel prior.
Amazon’s Subscribe & Save storefront is a great place to check out all of the latest promotions. You’ll find revolving deals on everything from toilet paper and laundry detergent to pet food and vitamins. As always, it’s a good idea to compare prices to other retailers and we’ll be doing our part to bring you the best Amazon deals each day here at 9to5Toys.
Hitting up Amazon’s coupon page is another great way to find the latest deals. It is refreshed hourly with new offers, but of course, these deals are available on first-time purchases.
Amazon’s Subscribe & Save program is a great way to simplify your ordering habits and lock-in deals on new products. Of course, your mileage may vary on actual pricing depending on your location around the country. Better deals may be available at your local grocery store. But prices in the midwest won’t compare equally to those on the west coast. It’s also a matter of weighing how much you value your time. In my home, we use Amazon subscriptions to simplify our life and schedule with a one-year-old running around the house. It’s fairly easy to predict what our needs will be on a monthly basis. That may not be the case for one-person households or the like.
How do you use Amazon’s Subscribe & Save program? Let me know in the comments below.
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