9 ways to save money on Amazon orders — including a $5 bonus if you reload your account

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It’s time for Amazon Prime Day — one of the best times of the year to save money on everything from headphones to household staples. Whether you are gearing up to save some cash on Prime Day purchases or looking for deals on any of the other days of the year, here are ways you may be able to save money on your next Amazon “add to cart” moment.

Related: These are the best credit cards for shopping at Amazon

Get bonus credit for your Amazon reload

Valid through Monday, you may be able to get a $5 Amazon promotional credit with a $50 reload to your Amazon account balance. This is an easy way to prepare for Prime Day with a $5 bonus credit in your account.

Use points

You might have noticed the “Shop with Points” option when you check out. This is not always the best use of your credit card points from a monetary value perspective, as you can often get better value from your points when redeeming for travel.

But sometimes, there are promotions that award you money off your Amazon order for using a small number of points.

Currently, there is an offer for some Amazon accounts that will save 50% on Amazon orders using as little as 1 Amex Membership Rewards point. These offers can vary, but the concept remains relatively the same. This can be a great way to save on your next Amazon order if one of these offers is available for your account.

You can check these links for some of the latest Amazon points-related offers:

Here’s another offer for American Express cardholders. If you add a new Amex card, you can get up to $15 off so long as you use your American Express card at checkout. Click on this link to see if you are eligible.

Amazon deal for $15 off if you add a new American Express credit card. AMAZON

New to TPG? Read our ‘Getting started with points, miles and credit cards’ guide

Earn bonus points with the right credit card

If you have an American Express card, you can take advantage of targeted Amex Offers. These offers vary from account to account and can be a great way to rack up bonus Membership Rewards points or save money on purchases you would make anyway.

Amazon periodically appears in Amex Offers. For example, you may be able to earn 5 points per dollar on your Amazon purchases with current Amex Offers.

The trick here is to check your Amex account frequently to see if you’re eligible to earn bonus points or additional savings. You need to manually add these offers to your Amex account and then use that card to pay for your Amazon orders.

TPG values Amex Membership Rewards points at 2 cents each, so getting 5 per dollar spent at Amazon is like earning 10 cents in rewards per dollar spent. To start accessing these Amex Offers, a couple of good American Express cards to consider that don’t even come with annual fees are:

Use an Amazon credit card

While we’re on the subject of the best credit cards for Amazon purchases, let’s talk about Amazon’s own card — the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card.

The information for the Prime Visa card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

It doesn’t have an annual fee, and new cardholders will receive a $200 Amazon gift card immediately upon approval. You can use the gift card straight away for Prime Day purchases. The card is only available to Prime members, so factor that in when deciding if it is the right match for you.

Read our full review of the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card.

The card usually awards 3% cash back at Amazon and Whole Foods Market, as well as 2% cash back at restaurants and gas stations and 1% cash back on everything else. However, you’ll earn 6% back at Amazon and Whole Foods Market on July 11-12.

Related: Is the Amazon Prime Rewards credit card still worth the cost?

Use coupons

This tip won’t come as much of a surprise, but if you see a coupon available on Amazon, be sure to click on it. With coupons, you can save money with the literal click of a button.

You’ll know if there’s a coupon available for your item, as there will be an icon that says “Coupon” below the price. The coupon will be activated if you check the box next to it. Coupons are sometimes only for a few cents or dollars, but saving money is saving money.

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Some items will also let you save by subscribing for repeat deliveries.

Track prices and set price alerts

It’s hard to know just how good a sale is if you haven’t been pricing a certain item for a while. One site that can tell you the historical price of an item on Amazon — and even alert you to price drops — is CamelCamelCamel.

This will help you gauge just how good a sale is. If it’s not an urgent purchase, you can also use this site to help you decide whether or not to hold off until your item is potentially on sale for a better price if you see it’s been lower in the past.

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Related: These credit cards come with welcome bonuses worth $1,000 or more

Get credit for no-rush shipping or pickup

If you have time to spare, you can opt for no-rush shipping on your items and cluster them for an “Amazon Day Delivery.” This way, you’ll earn a credit that you can use for future purchases such as select e-books, digital music, videos and apps. The amount of the credit varies, but it has often been a couple of dollars in my tests.

You’ll find this option during checkout when you’re prompted to enter your shipping information.

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There is also sometimes a promotion if you pick up the order at an Amazon pickup point. Right now, my account has an offer where I’ll get a $10 credit on a future $20 Amazon order if I use the code 10TRYPICKUP and retrieve my order at an Amazon Hub, such as an Amazon Locker or Locker+.

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Sign up for a free Amazon Prime trial

You also might be able to sign up for a free, 30-day trial of Amazon Prime. This is a great free way to try out the service if you haven’t already. You’ll be able to receive free, two-day shipping on eligible items, as well as get access to Prime Video, etc. After that, the plan increases to $14.99 a month if you don’t cancel.

Purchase Amazon gift cards

If you don’t have any points or cash-back bonuses for Amazon purchases on one of your credit cards, you can also purchase Amazon gift cards at grocery stores with a credit card that gives bonus rewards at that type of retailer.

For example, if you pick up a $100 Amazon gift card at the grocery store and pay for that purchase with the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express, you can earn 6% cash back on that purchase at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $6,000 per year in purchases).

Additional reporting by Samantha Rosen.