Sometimes, it’s not as easy to get a deal on Amazon as it is with some of its competitors. While certain products may sell for a bit below retail price, there are still taxes, shipping and handling charges, and other fees that can drive the price of your order up. If you’re the kind who likes to save every cent that you can, Amazon coupons may be what you’re looking for. Here’s how to get these cost-saving coupons:
- Visit websites like Coupons.com, RetailMeNot.com, or PassionForSavings.com.
- Search “Amazon” on the website (usually at the top of the page).
- Find a recent coupon you would like to use.
- Click Use This Coupon/Activate/etc. depending on the website, or copy the code and paste it into Amazon while checking out.
You can also start this process by simply searching “Amazon coupons” or “Amazon promo” in your favorite search engine, and then finding the same websites (or similar ones) that are listed above. Just remember that many of these promos will be expired, or will not work because they are not real codes, so try using a website you know and trust from the start.
There are two general kinds of coupons that you can use on Amazon: on-site discount coupons, and external promotional codes. We’ll explain what each of those are and exactly how to apply them to your order, and below we’ll go into more detail about obtaining promotions from external websites, if the instructions above were a bit too quick for you.
On-Site Coupons
Amazon offers coupons right on its own website that give you one-time discounts on products that you buy directly from Amazon (i.e. not third-party sellers). To find these on-site discounts:
- Go to www.amazon.com in your web browser and log in (if you haven’t already). At the top of the screen, click Today’s Deals.
- Now, click Coupons.
- You will now see a list of items that the website has on-site coupons for. You can click on one of the options in the menu on the left-hand side to narrow down your search by the type of product, what’s popular, and so on. You can also use the arrow buttons on either side of each category to scroll through coupons for products in that category.
When you see a product that you want that you want to save some money on, click Clip this Coupon underneath it.
- The button will change to say Coupon Clipped. Click this button, or click on the product’s picture, to take you to that product’s page. NOTE: You may have to choose a specific product if the coupon applies to a group of similar products.
- You will notice on the product page that there is a new section labelled “Coupon” which tells you that a coupon is being applied to the purchase of this item, and how much it’s worth.
- Now, continue making the purchase as you normally would. When you get to the page where you’re asked to select your payment method, make sure the check box beside “Use Your [amount] Promotional Balance” is marked. If it isn’t, click it to mark it.
The amount of your coupon will be subtracted from the sale price, before fees and taxes are applied.
Amazon Promotional Codes
Promotional codes are sometimes found in emails and flyers from Amazon, but are more easily found on retail discount websites such as Coupons.com and RetailMeNot.com. They will usually give you deals such as free shipping, or 10% off your order. To find promo codes:
- Type “amazon coupon codes” or “amazon promo codes” into your search engine of choice (one will most likely find results for the other). Then click on a link like the ones highlighted in the screenshot below.
- In the example here, we’ve found a promotional code on Coupons.com (they shouldn’t be too hard to find; you may need to click a button that says Get Code or something similar). Write the code down for use later, and make a note of what products you can use it on.
- Now, go through the process of ordering an item that you can use the promotional code for. When you get to the final checkout screen, before you confirm your order, click in the box labelled “Gift Cards and Promotional Codes,” type in the code you wrote down, and click Apply.
Note that the code may not work if you use it on an ineligible product, or the code has expired. In that case, try a different product, or try a new code.
And that’s how you get great deals on Amazon with promo codes and coupons! If you want to learn some more ways to save money with Amazon, be sure to read our next tutorial article on how to get free shipping.
