Did you know that Amazon’s site was originally called relentless.com? Yeah, seriously. Try typing it into your web browser and it will redirect you to the Amazon site. A lot has changed over the years and so have Amazon’s features.
Unfortunately, the Amazon features we will discuss today do not include Prime Air and we’ll need to hang tight before seeing the drones deliver our packages. This may happen in the not-so-distant future though. Recently, Amazon mentioned that their drone distribution service would be launched within months!
Until then, let’s take a peek at what we can use to make our lives more simple and fun. Keep in mind, some of these options require an Amazon Prime membership and aren’t for the casual Amazon shopper.
Read also: 16 Top Amazon Products That Save You Time & Stress
1. Automatically Replenish Groceries & Home Goods
Do you buy the same cereal every time you go to the grocery store? What about your go-to drinks, snacks, and household items? Do you know that you are burning time and money by doing this?
Seriously, you are making the decision to spend extra money, time, and stress because:
- You’re not getting a 15% Subscribe and Save Discount.
- You’re going to spend 30 – 45 minutes on this inefficient trip.
- You’ll probably be spending gas money and sitting behind a few stoplights.
- You’ll have to fight through the herd of elephants (other people) at the store.
Let me repeat myself from my first point. You will get 15% off of EVERYTHING you buy when you subscribe to a handful of items you already buy on a monthly basis.
Make a smart decision today and add some items to your automated Subscribe and Save cart today.
2. Get a Second Opinion on Your Outfit
There’s no need to ask your significant other if you look fat in that dress anymore. Thanks to Amazon’s Outfit Compare service, you can get feedback on outfits to see which one looks better on you before you leave the house.
This is one of the most enjoyable of all Amazon perks and it’s completely free. You take a picture of each outfit you are debating on wearing and submit them to Amazon’s fashion specialist team. Within a couple of minutes, you will get a response saying which outfit looks best on you!
3. Try New Clothes Without the Hassle
You never have to worry about ordering clothes online again. In the past, we would order a shirt hoping that it was comfortable and would fit our body type. Not trying the product on would make this a challenge for the consumers as well as the retailers.
The great feature about Amazon Prime Wardrobe is the fact that you don’t have to think twice before ordering. In fact, with this program, you will be encouraged to order anything and everything under the sun. Within a 7-day trial period, you have the ability to order 8 different items to try and really get a feel for each item. If you feel like any of the clothes aren’t a perfect match, send them back with the prepaid shipping and you won’t be charged a dime!
4. Get Free MP3s When You Buy Vinyl or CDs
Audio collectors, rejoice! Ripping CDs and especially vinyl can be a real pain in the you know what. Thankfully, Amazon is kind enough to do the hard part for you by offering you free MP3s on many albums that you purchase in physical form with their AutoRip Service! Simply purchase an eligible album and you’ll have the MP3s added to your account automatically.
This is also especially useful if you want to keep your collection in pristine condition, or maybe completely unopened! All MP3s are encoded at 256Kbps, delivering comparable quality to iTunes purchases.
5. Get Free Sample Boxes
The best things in life are free right? If you’re a fan of free things like us, then be sure to use this great benefit from Amazon and treat yourself now!
How do I get these samples for free? Amazon will charge a fee for the box of sample products and will credit you the same amount back to you when you purchase the actual-size product from the sample box.
Here’s an example of how this works. You pay for a normal-sized shampoo (after the sample box order), but in return, you will end up with a handful of small sample shampoos from other brands for free (initial order). This makes sense to do if you know you will buy that type of product but would like to try a few options first.
6. Put Your Amazon Assistant to Work
If you do most of your shopping online, this tool is a no-brainer to start using today.
The Amazon Assistant is an extension for your web browser to remind you of any deals that are better on the Amazon marketplace. For example, you may be buying a phone case from AT&T’s website, but the chrome extension will automatically alert you if there is a better deal if you bought it from them.
The great thing about this extension is it’s completely free whether or not you are an Amazon Prime member.
7. Consider Prime Membership Sharing
Don’t double pay for Prime if you don’t have to!
If you live at the same address as someone who also has a Prime account, there is no need to have a duplicate account. In fact, your membership and all of its benefits can be shared with up to one adult and 4 non-adults (as of Amazon’s terms when we wrote this blog article).
But does that mean I have to share one login and password? Nope. They give you the ability to ‘link’ the multiple independent accounts and you can keep all your personal account info the same. This is one of our favorites on the list of Amazon’s features.
Learn more about Amazon Household here.
8. Get Unlimited Photo Storage
Amazon Photo will let you store as many full-resolution photos on its cloud as long as you are a Prime member! Adding these photos is just the beginning, though.
Once your photos are on the cloud, you have the ability to enjoy them by using their printing services. You can order canvases, prints, photo books, calendars and just about anything to get your photo printing fix.
Amazon can let you sync your photos with your TV so you can see them on the big picture in your home. Simply grab your Fire TV remote and ask for a slideshow or pictures from last weekend.
9. Save up to 20% off Baby Products
Do you know anyone who is expecting a little one? Signing up with Amazon Family will give you a plethora of resources to help them on their parenting journey.
Once registered, you will receive emails that will be relevant to your child’s age and tips to help with common challenges from other parents. In addition to the free information, you will also have the ability to get exclusive discounts on products that will help you take care of your child’s needs. To test out some of the baby products, you can order a free welcome kit that has samples from some of the best baby brands on the marketplace.
10. Get a Free Twitch Subscription
It’s 2019 people. Why play video games when you can WATCH other people play video games?
Your Amazon Prime account can give you a few benefits for the Twitch platform including exclusive emoticons, free game downloads every month, and a free subscription to your favorite gamer.
One of our favorite gamers and channels that we follow is Boonafide Gaming. He has been the most entertaining to watch and has been known for his overkills on Halo. Here is a guide on how to link your Prime account to Twitch.
11. Receive $10 When Pre-Ordering Games
So watching other people play games on Twitch isn’t for you? Well no worries, Amazon has the hookup for you here as well.
Although it’s not quite as great as it once was (formerly 20% off), Amazon is still giving out free $10 Store Credits when you pre-order select games. Anything is still better than nothing, and a quick $10 savings is always welcomed! You can learn more about the details here.
12. Easily Send Donations with Amazon Boxes
Do you have Amazon boxes piling up in your home too? Don’t worry, GiveBackBox.com can help you allocate a box or two for donations. Technically, this isn’t on the Amazon feature list, but it is such a great concept that we had to share!
They have created a service to help promote donating unwanted items by throwing them in an Amazon box and dropping this box off at your local UPS or USPS (they pay for the shipping too!)
Once you drop the box off, the items will be delivered to a good cause so you can know that you are helping society and reducing waste. They also give you the ability to itemize the donated goods for tax purposes.
13. Get Free E-book Rentals
Amazon will give you free e-book rentals from a certain collection every month to read on a Kindle Fire tablet or Kindle e-reader.
There are no due dates for the rentals either. You simply rent the book and can exchange that book for another one when you are ready to do so. This is such a great way to read books without having to go to the library or cluttering up your home.
If you are looking to simplify your reading, check out these Amazon e-readers here.
14. Earn Discounts From No-rush Orders
There are often times where we get free 2-day shipping, but we don’t really need the product for another week or so. When this happens, Amazon gives you the option to choose no-rush shipping at the checkout page and they will reward you for doing so.
Once this is selected, Amazon will give you a small credit that you can use toward other purchases. Some of these include digital movies, music, games, e-books, and Prime Pantry. Next time you aren’t in a rush, give this a try to start saving up your discounts for other goodies. See here for details about this program (Note: We didn’t have a chance to test this from the list of Amazon features).
15. Use Free Amazon Lockers
Amazon has lockers in over 600 cities and towns and still have plans of adding more in the future. In fact, they are ready adding lockers to most of the Whole Foods grocery stores in the U.S.
In case you didn’t know, a locker could come in handy if you are needing to grab a package on the go or if you want to return an item at a convenient location. All you have to do is choose to use the locker most conveniently located to you and you will be given instructions on how to access the specific locker.
16. Get Free Money by Using Paribus
Paribus is a service that works directly with Amazon (and other retailers) to help you with any negotiation processes when you are buying products from them. Technically, Paribus is independent of Amazon (isn’t on the Amazon features list), but it can help you with tons of saving opportunities.
For example, there may be a time where your shipment is late and Paribus will either step in to handle the issue or guide you through the process to get a credit. If the price of the product drops after you buy an item, Paribus will help you in getting compensated for the savings you missed out on.
Keep in mind that Paribus will gain access to your email so you would need to give away some privacy if you wanted to implement this service.
17. Get 2 Hour Deliveries with Prime Now
Prime Now is perfect for those times when you are busy but need something delivered soon. For example, you may want to get last-minute food or alcohol for a party and have the option to get this delivered within a few hours. Or, If a loved one gets sick, you have the ability to send a care package of cough drops, soup, and other comfort food items.
Prime Now is mostly available in heavy populated areas, but it seems like Amazon is expanding further into the suburban areas. Next time you need something quickly, keep this option in your back pocket.
18. Receive Discounts at Whole Foods
If you shop at Whole Foods, you might want to take advantage of these great discounts from having a Prime membership. I mean, if you are going to buy a jug of orange juice for $9, you might as well capitalize on some savings, right?
Simply download the Whole Foods Market app and link up your account to start saving. When you are in the Whole Foods store, you will see tons of discount opportunities for Prime members and you can scan your phone’s code within the app to redeem them. This could save you a boatload of cash in the future and is another favorite on our list of Amazon features.
19. Get 3% Back on Every Purchase
You’ve probably seen it dozens of times at checkout, but if you’re like me you probably ignore it because, ew, credit cards. For the sake of this article, I decided to actually take a peek, and to my surprise, the card is actually quite intriguing as a frequent Amazon shopper.
The Amazon Credit Card offers a generous 5% back on Amazon and Whole Foods purchases for Prime members (3% without Prime), as well as 2% at restaurants, drug stores, and gas stations, and 1% on everything else. Combine that with no annual fee and this is actually a very worthwhile card if you are a frequent shopper of Amazon or Whole Foods.
Read More: Automated Shopping Basics: Shop Like a Millennial
Did we miss any amazing Amazon features that weren’t listed above? Leave us a comment below so we can help others shop easier!
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