Four Top Amazon Buying Tips

MSE_Martin · 6 March 2007 at 8:39PM

Updated 21 Oct 2008 to reflect Amazon's rule changes

What's the deal?

Once a book shop, now Amazon sells a massive range of goods and includes second hand deals. As it's grown, things have got much less simple, and unless you're a super-regular Amazon shopper it's easy to get caught out. So I thought I would put five cost cutting tips together to make it easier.

Don't assume everything is eligible for free over £5 delivery. Amazon's now reduced its cut-off for super saver (free) delivery to £5. Yet that doesn't mean "spend over £5 at Amazon and delivery's free", since items could be supplied by someone outside of Amazon. You should always check each product includes the phrase "eligible for Free UK delivery on orders over £5 with Super Saver Delivery" in the small notes at the top.

If it doesn't have this it's usually not Amazon who actually sells the item but a third party supplier via Amazon marketplace, although the page will look very similar. Buying goods without this notice means delivery can be much more expensive - often £5-£6, and there's no free delivery however much you spend.
Remember you pay VAT on the delivery charge. Standard (under £5) delivery prices vary depending on items, but none include VAT. Say the charge is £2.75, this is the pre-VAT cost, so actually the total for delivery would be £3.23.
Get free delivery even for just under £5. If you're near the £5 mark, and eligible for free delivery, there's a special trick you can use. There's a website which will find out an object to fill the gap for you (e.g. your total is £4.20, it'll find something costing 80p) which is much cheaper than paying the delivery charge. Read Amazon Filler Site for more.

That's it, if you've any good Amazon buying tips, please post them below.

Martin

kempie666 · 7 March 2007 at 1:20PM

don't forget you can claim nectar points for amazon shopping, when yu sign-on to https://www.nectar.com first, and click through. It's triple points through March for their e-stores as well.

prestatyngirl · 7 March 2007 at 2:40PM

Register as a new customer at Amazon and you can get £5 cashback at Rpoints: http://www.rpoints.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=52794

dulcimer · 7 March 2007 at 3:02PM

I got caught with the postage scam on amazon.
One day they were selling pen flash 1GB for£ 6.89 I bought 2

following week they were selling similar at £2.89
I sent for 4 but paid £6 postage on each although they came in one packet.

Jas.

Once a book shop, now Amazon sells a massive range of goods and includes second hand deals. As it's grown, things have got much less simple, and unless you're a super-regular Amazon shopper it's easy to get caught out. So I thought I would put five cost cutting tips together to make it easier.

Don't assume everything is eligible for free over £15 delivery. Many people think "spend over £15 at Amazon and delivery's free". This isn't always true, whether you're buying one item or a range, because it could be supplied by someone outside of Amazon. You should always check each product includes the phrase "eligible for Free UK delivery on orders over £15 with Super Saver Delivery" in the small notes at the top.

If it doesn't have this it's usually not Amazon who actually sells the item but a third party supplier, although the page will look very similar. Buying goods without this notice means delivery can be much more expensive - often £5-£6 and no free delivery however much you spend.
Remember you pay VAT on the delivery charge. While Amazon's standard delivery under £15 is usually listed as costing £2.75, this is the pre-VAT cost, so actually the total is delivery is £3.23.
Get free delivery even for just under £15. If you're near the £15 mark, and eligible for free delivery, there's a special trick you can use. There's a website which will find out an object to fill the gap for you (e.g. your total is £14.20, it'll find something costing 80p) which is much cheaper than paying the delivery charge. Read Amazon Filler Site for more.
If the price drops claim the cash back. If the price you've paid is lowered within 30 days of purchase you can be credited with the difference, although Amazon won't do it automatically, you have to ask for it, so it's always worth keeping an eye out.

Simply visit your account and look at each invoice from the last thirty days and click on each item to view it's current price. Compare this to the price you paid and if there's a difference, copy down the order number and go to the 'Return and Refunds Contact Form' page to report it.

That's it, if you've any good Amazon buying tips, please post them below.

Martin

[/QUOTE]

KamikzMX · 7 March 2007 at 4:33PM

Martinslovechild wrote:

Also purchasing Amazon goods via eCashback can discount a further 3.5% off the price, paid into your eCashback account.

If you would like to join eCashback (it's free!), i've placed a description of how you can do this at the referrer's board.

Thanks.

Or from QuidsBack for 5% cashback: QuidsBack

Princess_G · 7 March 2007 at 6:23PM

Join the dvd rental free trial, I did and you get an extra 10% off any dvd's you buy, it's automatically applied at checkout.

Also for any people who have relatives at BFPO addresses, have the items sent to them and as soon as they get despatched, request VAT to be refunded, they do it within a few hours. I know it's not possible for many people but it's great if you can do it.
I got sex and the city box set for £38.00 the other week through these methods.
x

kabie · 7 March 2007 at 7:27PM

I've looked and something I bought a couple of days ago has gone down in price: £10 cheaper now.
If I claim and then it goes down again (within the 30 days from the purchase date) can I claim again?

zappahey · 7 March 2007 at 7:36PM

Princess_G wrote:

Also for any people who have relatives at BFPO addresses, have the items sent to them and as soon as they get despatched, request VAT to be refunded, they do it within a few hours.

If you mean buying goods for yourself, then that's abuse of the BFPO system which is supposed to be used to get mail to our forces overseas.

RowaN · 7 March 2007 at 7:49PM

A worthy tip not mentioned here.. dont pay with cash.. buy other peoples unwanted amazon "gift certificates" from ebay/ebid to make up the amount you need to spend. Prices you might expect to pay on these auction sites:

a £10 gift certificate for £8
a £15 gift certificate for £13
a £50 gift certificate for £43

These are the actual prices of amazon vouchers I sold on ebay last month.

abunchofletters · 7 March 2007 at 7:50PM

Regarding:

If the price drops claim the cash back. If the price you've paid is lowered within 30 days of purchase you can be credited with the difference, although Amazon won't do it automatically, you have to ask for it, so it's always worth keeping an eye out.

Has anyone used Price Protectr? I've heard about it but not bought anything since I found it so don't how useful it really is. I'm all for reminders though...

In their own words:

Ever buy stuff from stores that offer a price protection guarantee? If they lower their price within a certain amount of time from when you purchased it, they'll refund you the difference. Sounds great... except how often do you remember to the check price again?

Now you don't have to. Let Price Protectr do it for you! It's free. It's easy. It's free and easy money. How often do you get that offer?

Savila60 · 7 March 2007 at 8:13PM

If you want to order something else while a free delivery order is still open, after you've placed the subsequent order you can combine it with the free delivery order. I've done it a few times - it's great, as I always remember something else I want just after I've sent the first order on its way!

Four Top Amazon Buying Tips

Comments

Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

🚀 Getting Started

Categories

Is this how you want to be seen?

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free