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[MSE Jenny]

It’s not always cheapest, but most people with internet access have bought something from shopping giant Amazon. The Cheap Online Shopping guide shows you how to avoid postage costs and monitor prices.

But we want to tap MoneySavers for more sneaky Amazon tricks & loopholes they’ve discovered to slash the cost.

Please post below to share your top tips.

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[Noggin the Nog]

This article in The Times last week says that in 2000, there was a scandal when customers discovered that if they deleted their cookies - the computer files that store information on a user's internet use - they could obtain a different price for the same goods on Amazon. This was because Amazon were offering different prices for the same things to different customers, depending on what their purchasing histories suggested they might be willing to pay.

The article says that this is now common among internet sellers but invisible to the customer; and that Amazon was "unavailable for comment". The Office of Fair Trading is looking into this issue generally.

So, it's not clear (to me, at any rate) whether Amazon are still tailoring prices to individual customers but it might be worth deleting your cookies and seeing what happens - you might get a cheaper price!

[goingtothedogs]

In case it's useful, Amazon has also just launched a new iphone ap. There's a thing on it called Amazon Remembers, where you take a photo of any item while you're out shopping, and Amazon sends you a link to buy it on the site.

You would have to compare prices still, but it's quicker than typing

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.htm...cId=1000291661

[Nile]

Just a word of warning..............if the price seems right to purchase goods from Amazon.co.uk..........be aware that Amazon.co.uk is not a UK registered company.

The following is taken from the amazon.co.uk 'Conditions of Use & Sale'

26. Governing law and jurisdiction
These conditions are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, and the application of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods is expressly excluded. You agree, as we do, to submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the district of Luxembourg City.

If the goods you've purchased from amazon develop a fault, you will you may struggle to get a satisfactory resolution...................and taking county court action is not an option.

I must thank Crabman for his input.

Read their terms and conditions before your purchase.

Nile

[Sui_Generis]

Originally Posted by Noggin the Nog

This article in The Times last week says that in 2000, there was a scandal when customers discovered that if they deleted their cookies - the computer files that store information on a user's internet use - they could obtain a different price for the same goods on Amazon

I suspect this is still true - I looked up my saved items on the Amazon AppStore app on my iPod Touch today and it showed items at the price they were when added to the basket, but selecting an item pushed the price up instantly. Reverting to the saved basket showed the lower price BUT the same items viewed via my desktop show only at the higher price.

[nuttywoman]

Originally Posted by Nile

Just a word of warning..............if the price seems right to purchase goods from Amazon.co.uk..........be aware that Amazon.co.uk is not a UK registered company.

The following is taken from the amazon.co.uk 'Conditions of Use & Sale'

26. Governing law and jurisdiction
These conditions are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, and the application of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods is expressly excluded. You agree, as we do, to submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the district of Luxembourg City.

If the goods you've purchased from amazon develop a fault, you will you may struggle to get a satisfactory resolution...................and taking county court action is not an option.

I must thank Crabman for his input.

Read their terms and conditions before your purchase.

Nile

I bought 2 watches in March from Amazon, one for me, one for hubby.My glass on the face broke in June, so i emailed Amazon." days later, a man from Amazon rang me and explained that as they did`nt have anymore of the watches they were refunding me £10 so i could get it fixed

[jenniewb]

I have to say, for me Amazon have the best customer service in terms of faulty products. Twice now I have had items that have become faulty, one was a Sony MP3 player, the other a polar watch/HRM. With each, before they had even been posted/arranged to be collected by courier I had a replacement at my door within days. Few companies in the UK either trust or work that efficiently. Luxembourg or not, they put Comet, Argos, Play and many others to shame!

[Cherry Hinton Blue]

There is a way of calling up the items on Amazon with any discount you want, just by hacking the URL a bit. For example:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search/?n...&pct-off=75-99
...gives you the items in the DVD section with 75%-99% off at the moment. The only difficulty with this is that you need to know the "node" number for the department you want. You can find this out by looking in the URL on the home page for that department. But if there's a section you want to look up regularly, you can do this once and bookmark it.

Inevitably, there are some sites which have automated all this, and I find them easy to use. One which has appeared recently is "The Discount Sorcerer":
http://www.discountsorcerer.co.uk/

This site also has a Twitter feed, which throws up some interesting looking bargains a few times a day.

There seem to be a few sites performing the same service for Amazon.com in the USA, such as jangle.net.

[goingtothedogs]

Does anyone else find that they sometimes end up buying more than one of an item like a book or a dvd, because they put it in their basket before on another day and forgot it ? This has happened to me a couple of times. So it's always good to double check the quantities. (Obviously easy to spot if youre just buying one book, but you might miss it if you're buying a few things).

There's also a facebook ap which makes your Amazon wishlist appear on your profile page. Don't know if that will win you any friends tho!

http://apps.facebook.com/wishlist-it/

[sprouter]

I used to find http://uk.jungleninja.com/ quite useful but the recent redesign has made the site a lot less user-friendly

[Doc N]

Originally Posted by Noggin the Nog

This article in The Times last week says that in 2000, there was a scandal when customers discovered that if they deleted their cookies - the computer files that store information on a user's internet use - they could obtain a different price for the same goods on Amazon. This was because Amazon were offering different prices for the same things to different customers, depending on what their purchasing histories suggested they might be willing to pay.

So, it's not clear (to me, at any rate) whether Amazon are still tailoring prices to individual customers but it might be worth deleting your cookies and seeing what happens - you might get a cheaper price!

Originally Posted by Sui_Generis

I suspect this is still true - I looked up my saved items on the Amazon AppStore app on my iPod Touch today and it showed items at the price they were when added to the basket, but selecting an item pushed the price up instantly. Reverting to the saved basket showed the lower price BUT the same items viewed via my desktop show only at the higher price.

Does appear still to be true. Just managed to get lower prices by going in on another PC with a different IP address with no Amazon cookies. Doesn't seem to work just by stripping out the cookies on your own PC, or another PC on the same network, because Amazon recognizes both the cookies and the IP address.

[Blamin]

Become an Amazon Associate and add their link to their website onto your blog or website.

Then pick up 5% commission (Discount) every time you (or anyone else who goes via your website) buys anything from Amazon.

It's a bit of a long-term strategy as they only pay out when your commission totals £25, but if you're buying a fair bit from amazon (£500 is the trigger) it's a bit more discount.

[mrdavidwhitley]

I'm not sure Amazon likes that Associate trick, but I can't see the harm if friends and family buy their Amazon stuff through the site.

There is - I think, because I've not tested it - an even sneakier method using the affiliate system. You get 6% for any Amazon gift certificate bought through your link - slightly higher than the normal 5%.

And I'm not certain, but I suspect you can get the 6% for the certificate, then another 5% when that certificate is used to buy products...

[Naykon]

Originally Posted by Doc N

Does appear still to be true. Just managed to get lower prices by going in on another PC with a different IP address with no Amazon cookies. Doesn't seem to work just by stripping out the cookies on your own PC, or another PC on the same network, because Amazon recognizes both the cookies and the IP address.

This is absolutely scandalous if true

[grey-matters]

If you have a nectar card, you can collect nectar points on your Amazon shopping. You need to login to the nectar website and click through to Amazon from there BEFORE you put anything in your basket, otherwise you won't get the points.

[lil_miss_insanity]

Originally Posted by goingtothedogs

Does anyone else find that they sometimes end up buying more than one of an item like a book or a dvd, because they put it in their basket before on another day and forgot it ? This has happened to me a couple of times. So it's always good to double check the quantities. (Obviously easy to spot if youre just buying one book, but you might miss it if you're buying a few things).

If you already ordered something and you go to the product page again, it tells you that you already bought it so that's handy to stop you making duplicate purchases.

[golddustmedia]

Originally Posted by Noggin the Nog

This article in The Times last week says that in 2000, there was a scandal when customers discovered that if they deleted their cookies - the computer files that store information on a user's internet use - they could obtain a different price for the same goods on Amazon. This was because Amazon were offering different prices for the same things to different customers, depending on what their purchasing histories suggested they might be willing to pay

There is a VERY easy way to prove this theory on your home computer.

Have 2 web browsers installed, lets say Firefox and internet explorer. Only ever login to your Amazon account using your normal main browser of choice. When you want to check a price, use the other browser to find it (without logging in) as it will have no cookie history for your account. Hey presto you can compare the two prices side by side for any difference.

[laurel7172]

Presumably those of us on cable with shifting IP addresses could get away with just deleting the cookies?

[Stingy Stu]

I think that the minimum purchase for free delivery is £15. However I found - by accident - that if you have a purchase below this, then you can buy an additional product to take you over the £15, and thus cancelling the P&P fee, and then you can edit the order to remove the additional item, and your P&P doesn't get added on.

[BoltonBex]

Originally Posted by Stingy Stu

I think that the minimum purchase for free delivery is £15. However I found - by accident - that if you have a purchase below this, then you can buy an additional product to take you over the £15, and thus cancelling the P&P fee, and then you can edit the order to remove the additional item, and your P&P doesn't get added on.

There is now no minimum spend to get free delivery on Amazon. Yay!