How to save money on Amazon — 8 ways to get discounts.
Amazon barely ever shows up on cashback sites — so the trick is to manufacture your own discount. The biggest everyday win is buying your Amazon credit at a discount; stack the rest on top and most orders come in 3–15% cheaper.
Why Amazon is different
Most shops pay cashback sites a commission to send them buyers. Amazon is big enough that it doesn't — so you'll almost never find meaningful Amazon cashback on TopCashback or Quidco. The workaround is to create the discount yourself, mainly by buying Amazon credit for less than face value and layering deals on top. Here's the full toolkit, ranked by everyday usefulness.
The 8 ways to save on Amazon
1. Discounted Amazon gift cards (the everyday winner)
~3% off everythingAmazon is excluded from almost every cashback site, so the reliable way to get money back is to buy your Amazon credit at a discount first. Gift-card marketplaces resell unwanted cards — Amazon usually sits around 3% off — then you load the code to your account and shop as normal. It works on anything, every order.
Tools: CardYard (Amazon ~3%) and Cards2Cash are the established UK marketplaces. Top up as you go, or buy a card just before a big order.
Tip: Only buy from reputable marketplaces with buyer protection, redeem the code promptly, and don't buy more credit than you'll realistically spend.
2. Subscribe & Save
up to 15%For anything you buy regularly — coffee, toiletries, pet food, household basics — Subscribe & Save gives 5% off, rising to up to 15% when five or more subscriptions arrive in the same delivery. You can cancel a subscription right after it ships, so there's no lock-in.
Tools: Built into Amazon — manage it under 'Subscribe & Save' in your account.
Tip: Stack your deliveries onto the same day to cross the 5-item threshold for the full 15%.
3. Amazon Warehouse & Renewed
up to 50%Amazon Warehouse sells returned and open-box items, and Amazon Renewed sells professionally refurbished tech — both at big discounts and both covered by Amazon's normal returns policy. Ideal for tech, kitchen and larger items where 'used – like new' is fine.
Tools: Browse Amazon Warehouse and Amazon Renewed directly.
Tip: Check the item's grade ('Like New', 'Very Good') and remember free returns apply if it's not as described.
4. Clip coupons + the vouchers page
variesLoads of products carry a clippable coupon right on the listing, and Amazon has a dedicated coupons/vouchers section of sitewide deals. These often stack on top of an already-reduced price.
Tools: Look for the 'clip coupon' tick on listings and browse Amazon's Coupons page.
Tip: Clip the coupon before checkout — it won't apply retroactively.
5. Price-track so a 'deal' is actually a deal
avoid overpayingAmazon prices move constantly and 'deals' are often just the normal price. Free price-history tools show whether today's price is genuinely low, so you buy at real troughs (and around Prime Day) rather than on hype.
Tools: Keepa and CamelCamelCamel show full price history and can alert you when an item drops.
Tip: Set a price-drop alert instead of buying on impulse during a 'Lightning Deal'.
6. Withdraw cashback as Amazon credit (+2%)
+2% boostCashback you earn elsewhere (TopCashback / Quidco) can be withdrawn as an Amazon gift card for a ~2% bonus on the amount — turning a £100 balance into ~£102 of Amazon credit. A neat way to funnel unrelated cashback into Amazon spend.
Tools: TopCashback and Quidco both offer the Amazon gift-card withdrawal bonus.
Tip: Combine with discounted gift cards above — both end up as Amazon credit.
7. Pay smart at checkout
~2% + offersUse a cashback card or wallet for the order, and check for card-linked deals. Zilch's 'Pay Now' option pays ~2% at Amazon (Pay Later earns nothing), and American Express occasionally runs 'spend £X get £Y' Amazon offers in the app.
Tools: A cashback debit card, Zilch (Pay Now), and Amex Offers if you hold an Amex.
Tip: These stack on top of discounted gift cards — buy the card at a discount, then pay for it with a cashback card.
8. One-off: new-cashback-user bonuses
~£30 onceIf you're new to cashback portals, some run a one-off welcome bonus (e.g. a fixed amount plus a small per-order reward on your first few Amazon purchases). Worth grabbing once, but it's a starter perk, not an ongoing tactic.
Tools: Check current new-member bonuses on the major cashback portals.
Tip: Read the qualifying-purchase rules — the bonus is often triggered by a non-Amazon first shop.
The best stack for a typical order
For most purchases, this gets you the most off with the least faff:
- 1Top up your Amazon balance with a discounted gift card (~3% off) from a reputable marketplace.
- 2Pay for that gift card with a cashback card or wallet (~1–2% more).
- 3Buy regular items on Subscribe & Save (up to 15%) and check Amazon Warehouse for big-ticket items.
- 4Clip any coupon on the listing, and check the price history first so it's a genuine low.
The golden rule still applies: only buy what you were going to buy anyway. A discount on something you didn't need isn't a saving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Squeeze cashback out of everything else too
The same discounted-gift-card and stacking tactics work far beyond Amazon. See the full cashback playbook, or browse the rest of the guides.