Use This Tip to STILL Get Amazon Price Protection on Almost Everything
Update: Amazon will now only offer 30-day price protection on TV’s. Also, when it comes to TV’s, they’ll only price match specific online retailers. But wait…
Amazon does not have an openly stated price protection policy. Most savvy Amazon shoppers are already aware that their price protection policy, which entitles you to money-back if the price is lowered after you receive the item, went away several years ago. BUT…not all hope is lost as often times the squeaky wheel gets the grease and you can still get price protection. Let’s break it all down…
Here is what you need to know to make this happen:
Keep an eye on your recent Amazon orders.
If you order regularly, check current pricing of the stuff you’ve recently bought.
I’ll login to my account and check prices at least once a week, especially during times of the year when my wife and I are doing a lot of purchasing (kids birthdays and Christmas).
Found a lower price?
Once you find an item you’ve recently purchased that is now being sold for less, simply go to the Amazon Contact Us page and start a chat session.
See Also: 14 Stores That’ll Happily Give You Amazon’s Lower Price
Start a chat session.
Specifically, on the Contact Us page, under “Step 2 – Tell us more about your issue”, select “Payment issues” followed by clicking the “Chat” button at the bottom.
Be polite.
Politely explain the situation and inform them of the new lower price. They’ll ask for your order number, so be sure to have it at the ready.
Be Persistent…You Have Nothing to Lose.
When you start the chat, explain how ridiculous it is that you need to return the item then rebuy it at the lower price in order to get “price protection”.
Depending on the price of the item in question, ask for some money back for your inconvenience.
Either ask for the dollar amount of the price reduction, or on cheaper items ask for at least a $5 – $10 credit.
Be persistent.
In many cases, they customer service rep will grant you a promotional credit for the amount that the price was reduced.
Many in the comments have pulled off this tactic successfully so I figured it’s DEFINITELY worth trying.
Good luck.
See Also: Here’s How You Make an Amazon Return After 30 Days
The only requirement is Amazon fulfillment.
My watch batteries were sold by a company called “The Perfect Deals”, but the order was fulfilled by Amazon via Prime 2-day shipping.
I was happily surprised this was not an issue when it came to getting price protection.
A good rule-of-thumb is to look for Prime shipping eligibility; if it’s an eligible item then it’s almost always going to be fulfilled by Amazon.
You can EVEN get price protection if another Amazon seller has a lower price.
When I told the chat rep that the price of my batteries had dropped, I failed to realize that the price I was quoting him was actually from a different seller.
He informed me of this, and offered to give me the price of the other seller as a “one time exception”.
Keep this knowledge in your “discount holster” and fire it on an expensive purchase so you can maximize your cash-back.
Below is a copy of my chat transcript that details exactly how the whole thing went down.
Ask the Reader: Have you ever been able to get some money back from Amazon after buying something and then noticing that the price was lowered? Was it easy? How did the whole deal go down? I look forward to your comments.
By Kyle James
I started Rather-Be-Shopping.com in 2000 and have become a consumer expert and advocate writing about out-of-the-box ways to save at stores like Amazon, Walmart, Target and Costco to name a few. I’ve been featured on FOX News, Good Morning America, and the NY Times talking about my savings tips. (Learn more)
I haven’t done this, but you can be sure I’ll be keeping an eye on prices after buying. Thanks!
I just got a credit for the $10 difference between price I paid less than a week ago and the price I found today for an ASUS desktop PC. Took me all of 3 minutes of chat time.
Worked like a charm
Unfortunately Amazon refused to do this for me. Looks like I should have shopped at Walmart since they allow you to return/rebuy for 90 days.
Same thing happened to me, on a relatively large purchase too. I’d recommend that large purchases are done through a physical brick and mortar place like Walmart that has better protection for buyers. Not to mention, Amazon Terms of Service have gotten worse for buyers as of this last year.
Very simple process. Received almost $40 back after the prices on my computer parts dropped. No hassle at all.
Didn’t work for me. I got a form email back – “I’ve checked your order and see it was placed with WorldWide Distributors, a seller on our website. WorldWide Distributors sets their own prices, and we aren’t able to change prices on their behalf.
I’m sorry to hear you are disappointed with our policy concerning price changes. I’d like to offer an explanation of some of the considerations, which have led us to adopt this policy…”
Thanks for this article! It just got me $33.28 back on the Nexus 5X that I just bought and noticed that the price had dropped!
Took about 5 minutes to get a refund for the difference. Bought an item using Prime from Amazon and 8 days later it was a Deal of the Day. $13 on a gift card.
I requested a $7.14 refund on an item that I ordered less than 48 hours ago. I was told they only offer a price-match guarantee on TVs. I even chatted with a supervisor and said I could just return the product for a refund, then buy it again at the lower price. They said that is an option, but they won’t refund the difference. So they have no problem paying for shipping and losing the difference, but they do have a problem with simply funding the difference.
Grr.. didn’t work for me. Deal of the day, and had purchased within 7 days and was from Amazon. I even explained that I can return it and order the lower priced one with my amazon prime, but the support person just kept repeating they don’t have any policy wrt lower prices except for televisions.
I had the same experience. I even called them and they offered me free shipping. Wish they could be a little more flexible with this.
same here, just tested it, did not work, I was told “We work hard to find the best prices out there and make sure our prices are as low or lower – changing our prices instantly if we find a lower offer somewhere else.
Therefore, with the exception of TVs purchased prior to February 7, 2017, we don’t offer any price adjustments.”
Same issue I had, Amazon’s Terms of Service are getting more restrictive to buyers and the service I get now is a fraction of what it once was.. some things just don’t last I guess and in my opinion, Amazon is getting worse. Not bad still, but worse. I’d suggest buying bigger items from a physical brick and mortar like Walmart with Price Protection. You can even buy online and they have free 2-day shipping without an account. Thanks!
I ordered an item less than 7 days ago (was fulfilled by Amazon) and the price dropped. I contacted Amazon and they said that this is not the policy nor has it ever been a policy. I contacted someone else and they said it was only ever a policy for TVs (which they still do honor this for TVs). The weird thing is this update on the article says they stopped the policy, but everyone insists it was never a policy. Maybe they were told to say it wasn’t ever a policy because it will make people mad that they changed it.
I ordered something and the price dropped the next day. I contacted amazon right away and was refused to do a price adjustment. They said price adjustment is only for TV purchases. But I had price adjustment on other items before. This is the first time the refused and they keep insists the price adjustment policy is only for TV…………..
Didn’t work for me! Just spent about 20 minutes chatting with two different reps trying to get a refund of a $7 price difference on a coffeemaker I just bought 5 days ago. I was told they only offer this price match on TV’s. I was able to get a $20+ refund last year on a child’s kitchen and was never told they were doing it as a one time exception. I find this ridiculous! Very disappointed….
Similar story to the other recent posts, in which Amazon wouldn’t offer it for items that were still in transit. I could cancel the order and refuse shipment to save $8, but it’d be quite a hassle (about 9 items in the order are coming, some of which I’ll need).
Thank you for informing us about the price difference, really appreciate your effort, however we work hard to find the best prices out there and match them for all customers every day. Our prices do change over time. We don’t offer post-purchase adjustments for products other than TVs
Didn’t work for me as well. “09:27 AM PDT Tabbu:
We work hard to find the best prices out there and match them for all customers every day. Our prices do change over time. We don’t offer post-purchase adjustments for products other than TVs.”
Same here. “We work hard to find the best prices out there and match them for all customers every day. Our prices do change over time. We don’t offer post-purchase adjustments for products other than TVs.”
I just did this and got a quick email reply that the post-purchase price guarantee applies only to TVs now. I purchase a DVD on Friday and the price went down $2 today before I can even get it delivered.
This tip worked a few weeks ago, so they have just recently put the TV-only policy in place.
I suspect, this is going to get expensive for Amazon. If (when?) this happens to me, I’ll return the item for a full refund and simply re-order it at the lower price. Annoying, but ultimately not overly complicated.
One of the reasons that I only ever order items that are sold by Amazon or at least fulfilled by Amazon is the ease of returns. I don’t often make use of returns, but I very much appreciate the fact that they are possible when needed.
If they stop offering easy and hassle-free returns, I’ll almost certainly cancel Prime. At that point, it’s less stressful to buy locally.
Hey Markus. I like your strategy, but the problem is you’re stuck paying the return shipping charges. If the item is small and fairly expensive, it could make sense. But bulky items that are under $20 probably aren’t going to be worth the hassle to save a few bucks as you’ll spend that in return shipping charges.
It cost nothing to return a prime order. You don’t even have to give a reason.
Unfortunately that is not accurate. Item must say “free returns” on the product page to qualify. Also, if item is sold by 3rd party, a reason for the return is required as some items are solely shipped by Amazon, but the money is still sent to a third party seller. Thus, the reason for the return must be a solid one.
Just got off the chat with Amazon and a supervisor. Nest just offered $50 off the thermostat. I bought one six days ago from Amazon and it is still unopened. They refused any credit or even a gift card. I said I would send it back and reorder it at the reduced price. They sent me a pre-paid shipping label. How dumb is that?
Same story here, didn’t work at all.