Amazon Shopping Tip

[Matt Lentzner]

I don't if this is common knowledge or not, but I thought I'd share. It's saved me literally hundreds of dollars.

Amazon is very good about refunding money if they lower the price within 30 days of a purchase. All you have to do is send them an email to their customer service department and they will put the credit back on your card - usually within 2-3 days. I have done this several times. I even forgot to claim the 20OFFPTA discount on a saw blade I bought and was credited the difference when I brought it to their attention. I've also received a refund when the table saw I purchased was changed to free shipping and I had already paid for shipping when I purchased it. Great stuff - The only downside is that you have to ask.

The tricky part is how do you know when the price has changed? Nobody wants to spend time surfing throught the site to find the stuff you bought and continually monitor it. The trick is to add the item to your shopping cart right after you purchase it and immediately move it to the "Save for Later" list. You're not going to ever actually buy it again, but you will get alerts every time you visit your cart if the price changes. That way, you can keep track of a whole mess of items from one easy to find place. After 30 days just remove the entry from your "Save for Later" list.

Hope that helps somebody.

Matt

[Dick Latshaw]

Thanks Matt. I'll do just that with future purchases.

[Brad Knabel]

Bret Olmsted (who has posted here.) has a web site that watches for Amazon price drops. It shows a list of tools that have had significant price drops in the last 24 hours and shows a historical graph of those products.

The same site has a feature that allows you to get an e-mail whenever the price drops on a specific product. It's on the front page of: http://www.frozenwarrior.com/~pricewatch/

I haven't used this feature, but it sounds nifty. You could use a junk e-mail address from gmail or yahoo if you are concerned about privacy.

[Alex Berkovsky]

Bret Olmsted (who has posted here.) has a web site that watches for Amazon price drops. It shows a list of tools that have had significant price drops in the last 24 hours and shows a historical graph of those products.

The same site has a feature that allows you to get an e-mail whenever the price drops on a specific product. It's on the front page of: http://www.frozenwarrior.com/~pricewatch/ (http://www.frozenwarrior.com/%7Epricewatch/)

I haven't used this feature, but it sounds nifty. You could use a junk e-mail address from gmail or yahoo if you are concerned about privacy.I actually did you Bret's web site to monitor the price of a purchase. I purchased a Makita air compressor and got an email within 30-day purchase period that the price had dropped. I emailed Amazon and got credited immediatelly.

[scott spencer]

I've been to Brett's site many times and find it to be quite valuable, but sometimes Amazon offers promotional giftcards and rebates that are separate from the listed price, and avoid detection on Frozenwarrior.

[Bruce Page]

Matt, thanks for the tip. Does the refund policy apply to Amazon’s “associate suppliers" as well, or only to products that Amazon sells itself? The reason I ask is I bought an LCD television from a "associate supplier" last year and as my luck would have it, the price dropped 2 weeks after I bought it.

[Matt Lentzner]

I think you're on your own with any associated merchants. You would have to deal with them directly for any refunds, and I would expect that their policies on this subject would vary.

For that reason, I deal almost exclusively with Amazon and only buy third party stuff if it is otherwise no available and is relatively inexpensive.

Matt

[Tim Morton]

Great tip..thanks!