I’d like to share a few shopping tips with you. I’ve been shopping at Amazon and Amazon warehouse since it’s creation. I can tell you that I’ve never had a problem that customer service didn’t resolve to my complete satisfaction. Amazon is one of the biggest names in online shopping, if not the biggest. The website is huge and with the addition of third party sellers can be quite the task to navigate and find the actual REAL deals that lay hidden like easter eggs. Here are just a few tips.
- Use a browser plugin for price history (I use https://keepa.com/ on Chrome) or manually search camelcamelcamel.com with the item ASIN to see it’s price history, sometimes a “deal” isn’t a deal at all. You can also setup a price alert on CCC when your item hits the dollar amount you want.
- Check whether you’re buying from Amazon or its Marketplace. (Third party sellers) If you are buying a name brand or high ticket item, make sure you are buying directly from Amazon LLC or Amazon Warehouse Deals. There are many, many shady third party sellers on Amazon! I’ve had things that I ordered never ship, and they immediately mark your order as “shipping soon” so you can’t cancel it without going through them. Filling the A-Z warranty can take some time, and I must say Amazon was very helpful there too.
- Delivery can cost more, if you are sure a Marketplace seller is trustworthy, note that items bought from Amazon Marketplace aren’t eligible for free Super Saver Delivery (normally you get this on items costing more than $25). Shipping and handling charges vary wildly, so always check.
- Buy FIRST, research later… some of the deals go fast, and I mean within seconds of showing up! If you find an item you want or think you might want or is a deal you just can’t pass up, checkout fast! You can research your buy after it is already secured and cancel the item should you change your mind. If you can’t cancel it in your order history, Amazon customer service can usually cancel anything within one hour of ordering, just contact them.
- There are a few ways to manipulate Amazon’s web links to display all heavily reduced bargains, and that’s what we try to get done for you here. Amazon prices often surge and drop, and when they’re at rock bottom, things sell out quickly!
- Price research your find if you aren’t sure: www.priceonline.eu, CamelCamelCamel or Google Shopping are some good places to check, sometimes the item is available on an amazon international site cheaper, I especially use this for BluRay as they seem to always be cheaper overseas, especially from Amazon.co.uk since the pound sterling is at a nice low price.
As far as Amazon Warehouse Deals, these items sometimes seem luck of the draw, they are however authentic. I’ve personally had item’s bought in “Like New” condition and arrived all messed up, scratched, broken, rolling pin missing a handle, lol, etc etc… I must say however that over 90% of them were new in new box, never opened. I’ve bought an iPad in “Acceptable” condition and it was in a plain refurbished box direct from Apple, never opened. That was one of the few things I ever bough in acceptable condition, so probably not a good example. The “Very Good” and “Good”, well, those are the wildcards, depending on who graded it. I’ve had them come completely broken and unusable to brand spanking new.
The best part is, if you buy from Amazon or Amazon Warehouse Deals, you get the full return policy. Buy from third party sellers and you have to go through the A-Z warranty if something happens. The prices from the third party sellers are usually much higher than Amazon, if they are too low it’s guaranteed to be a scam. These are mostly drop ship merchants and can’t compete, for obvious reasons I won’t get into here. Some are even shipping their counterfeit merchandise from China and won’t even tell you until after you wait a month and nothing has arrived.
Be aware that the % is taken off MSRP, now we all know that some of the manufacturers have inflated their MSRP and then offer huge discounts off that number, that is a selling tactic. One should know what they are buying, know the brand and know the items real worth in order to make an educated decision on whether it is a good deal or not prior to purchasing.