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)
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.
just got off the chat with a rep named tabuu, couldn’t or refused to help me get a price difference refund for sa purchased just received yesterday. checked the amazon website and there was a price difference of $7 on the headphones i purchased. i asked for a supervisor, i believed he lied and just referred me to another rep, maybe his buddy. of course stuck with their guns ad refused the refund, even sent me the link about their policy. read it and it state anything about price adjustment. just price match on other website. i explained that if the price adjustment is requested within the purchases made on their website, it should be honored. i really think amazon hired these guys are from another country like india or bangladesh to work weekends and can’t make or don’t have the power to make such requests. I will try again not on a weekend. hopefully get someone local. *smh
for the record, the second rep was named armind vindu or something similar. sounds very indian, pakistan, or bangladesh
Didn’t work for me. Molly was curt despite my politeness.
The phone I bought on July 2 is on sale today July 12 for $127 less. She won’t do a thing and terminated the chat.
Amazon is convenient but I am now motivated to spend more for a retailer who wants to retain their customers.
Yup, it does appear that their representatives have been given new orders to flat-out reject requests for price guarantees within 7 days unless they are for TVs. I sent a very polite chat using your suggested approach and was very politely told that no guarantee policy exists nor would any kind of refund be offered. I explained that the price drop from $329 to $252.85 on the Intex inflatable pool I ordered was so significant that it was worth it for me to return the order (my company has awesome UPS rates) and order it again with Prime shipping. The argument fell on deaf ears (or blind eyes, I guess). Anyway, I hope other folks out there have better luck. 🙂
Ordered an item that dropped $100 in price. Price difference refund refused. So I order the cheaper one and send back this one for FREE. The reason companies started even offering this service is so customers didn’t return a fully functional item and just buy a new one off the shelf. Very stupid of them, but I guess it doesn’t matter when you are moving as many items they are.
Yup – they’re refusing to adjust – even when the item hasn’t yet been delivered. Here’s the chat I had:
Me: Hi –
I’m writing about my order # xxx-xxxxxxx-xxxxxxx (Proform Pro 1000 treadmill). It’s scheduled to arrive tomorrow (Yay!) but the price I paid is $73.41 more than it’s listed for today (Boo!)
It’s an Amazon Prime item (I’m a member.) Is there any way that I can get the price adjusted to the current price? Thanks a lot.
You are now connected to Cory from Amazon.com
Cory: Hello, my name is Cory. I’m here to help you today. I want to thank you for being a Prime member
Me: Hi Cory!
Cory: Hi Mxxxx
Now we normally only price match with tv’s per our low price guarantee with certain retailers. In order to do it this way would have to refuse the shipment when it’s getting delivered or call pilot to let them know and then replace the order
Me: Wow – that ends up costing Amazon LOTS more money. Is there any other way?
Cory: I could transfer you to our team that deals with this if you’d like?
Me: That sounds good – let’s do that!
Cory: Okay just one minute I’ll get you over there.
Me: Thanks Cory
Cory: You’re welcome Mxxxx
A Customer Service Associate will be with you in a moment.
You are now connected to Shubham Kumar from Amazon.com
Shubham Kumar: Hello, My name is Shubham. I’ll be happy to help you today.
Me: Hi Shubham – thanks for chatting. Can you see the transcript of my chat with Cory?
Shubham Kumar: We work hard to find the best prices and match them for all customers. With the exception of TVs, Amazon.com doesn’t offer post-purchase adjustments.
Me: Refusing shipment just sounds so severe and expensive (for Amazon.) The item hasn’t even arrived here – doesn’t that make a difference?
Shubham Kumar: I’m sorry but we wont be able to price match.
Me: Not even with Amazon itself? I’m not asking you to price match anybody else. Are you recommending that I refuse the shipment?
Shubham Kumar: Please return the item and re order at lower price
Me: Wow. I’m astonished. Is there anyone at a higher level that has the authorization to make this adjustment?
Shubham Kumar: Noone in amazaon can issue price match
Me: Okay then. This is very unfortunate. Have a good day.
(I didn’t copy the last response from the Amazon guy. It was a canned “thank you for being a customer, please disconnect, have-a-great-day-exclamation-point response that everyone gets)
I received an item from Amazon yesterday and today the price dropped $30. The item was sold and fulfilled by Amazon, but despite politely chatting/emailing with two different people, I received the same generic scripted response from them stating “With the exception of TVs, Amazon.com doesn’t offer post-purchase adjustments.”
It is very disappointing given the amount of money I spend with Amazon, and the fact that I pay for a prime subscription.
Bought 2 items which dropped in price before I received them via Prime. Like others posted, was told via customer service chat “With the exception of TVs, Amazon.com doesn’t offer post-purchase adjustments.” I just rebought and returned the 2 week older purchases.
The current policy IS only for TV’s but Sean granted me an exception since
“the price to return the item was more than the difference in price.” Below is the transcript of the chat:
Initial Question: I just purchased a mattress recently, sold by Amazon.com, which was delivered today and I see the price has been lowered. Would it be possible to refund the difference?
01:23 PM PST Sean(Amazon): Hello, my name is Sean. I’m here to help you today.
01:23 PM PST Trent S: Hi Sean!
01:23 PM PST Sean: I see also that you are a Prime Member, I want to take a second to thank you for that today as well.
01:23 PM PST Trent S: Sure, no problem! Love prime!
01:25 PM PST Sean: Typically we don’t price match any items other than our tvs post-order, and our prices are subject to change. In this case however, I can make an exception to policy and discount the difference in price for you as it will cost more to have it returned than the item has dropped in price.
01:25 PM PST Trent S: OK, thank you so much. That would be great. Do you need the order number?
01:26 PM PST Sean: I believe i Have the order pulled up already 106-9956088-xxxxxxx correct?
01:26 PM PST Trent S: Yes, that is correct.
01:26 PM PST Sean: Okay the total difference in price comes to $24.46.
01:27 PM PST Trent S: OK. Can that be refunded to my Amazon store-card account or would it have to be a gift card?
01:27 PM PST Sean: either will do its up to you how it is processed
01:27 PM PST Trent S: Back to the card would be great.
That’s funny because I’m chatting with Amazon now and I was told they would not give me the $2 price difference on an item i just ordered last night. I have not even received the item and it’s sold and shipped by Amazon he is telling me i have to ship it back after receiving it and reorder it. It has a free return policy so seems ridiculous they would prefer to pay for shipping back and forth for $2 price difference.
Amazon got rid of their price protection policy, except on TV. I just tried to ask Amazon for refund on non-TV items, and their customer service told me they don’t have the price protection anymore except on TV. I’m disappointed.
(AgentName): We work hard to find the best prices out there and match them for all customers every day. Our prices do change over time. With the exception of TVs, Amazon.com doesn’t offer pre or post-purchase adjustments.
Me: i just saw the item i ordered dropped price after i ordered
(AgentName): I would have definitely issued a credit or did a price match if this isn’t a policy restriction. Hope you understand.
Me: i got it 4 days ago. so if i return it and buy back, then ill get a new price?
(AgentName): Yes you can do that
Me: its waste to ship back n forth, no?
(AgentName): I am sorry I can understand that But this is the policy
Me: u guys got rid of 7-day price protection then?
(AgentName): We used to do, but not anymore
Is there anything else I can assist you with today?