Can Amazon Subscribe and Save deals really save you money?
One of the best ways to find more wiggle room in your budget is to ditch any unnecessary subscription services. For my household, that meant figuring out if we could let go of Amazon Prime.
Let me save you a lot of time here and cut to the chase – there are tons of ways to save money using Amazon that doesn’t require a Prime subscription. One of the most underrated and effective ways is with Amazon’s Subscribe and Save deals.
Even if you’re not a frequent Amazon.com shopper, you’ve probably seen the “Subscribe & Save” button before. On some products sold by Amazon, you may see the Subscribe and Save option located under the price. When you click into the item’s page, you’ll notice that the Subscribe and Save price is lower than the standard purchase price.
What are Amazon Subscribe and Save deals?
The Subscribe and Save program is pretty straightforward: Amazon gives Subscribe and Save discounts of 5-10% on many household items if you agree to an automatic recurring purchase of those items. The time frame can be anywhere from monthly to every six months.
But would Amazon Subscribe and Save deals actually save me money? Or does the convenience factor come at a cost? Keep reading to learn more about what I discovered.
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Planning a Subscribe and Save investigation
Standard household items are the most common products featured in the Subscribe and Save program. There are so, so many products to choose from that I found myself both impressed and overwhelmed.
To keep things simple, I chose three different products. Then I compared them at different online retailers to see whether using Amazon’s Subscribe & Save feature gave me the best deal.
The Initial Results
| Product | Amazon Subscribe and Save Price | Target | Jet.com |
| Colgate Toothpaste | $11.94 | $6.99 | $9.91 |
| Goldfish Crackers | $11.39 | NA | $14.39 |
| Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Dish Soap | $9.43 for a 3-pack, $3.14 each | $3.49 | $3.82 |
The Analysis
The limited results above leave me with some mixed feelings about Amazon’s Subscribe and Save program. Amazon clearly isn’t the best place to buy your bulk toothpaste. But still, it is the cheapest option for both Goldfish crackers and high-end dish soap.
This comparison doesn’t take into account however that Amazon’s Subscribe and Save program is available even to those without a prime membership. Meaning that all your Subscribe and Save purchases ship for free. If you’re only keeping your Prime membership around to buy items that are eligible for Subscribe and Save, do your wallet a favor and cancel it!
This comparison also doesn’t include Amazon coupons that you can click to clip, which can cause the prices to drop even further. If you’re a savvy online shopper, then Amazon Subscribe and Save deals definitely have the potential to save you a lot of money.
Who Should Use Subscribe and Save?
From the limited research I did, it seems like Subscribe and Save’s flexibility and cost savings are both really excellent. One thing I noticed is that many of the products eligible for Subscribe and Save are already bulk size. So if you’re ready to get rid of your yearly membership to a warehouse club and do your shopping from the comfort of your own home, then Amazon Subscribe and Save is your winner.
There are no membership fees, and the Subscribe and Save shipments are free. Plus, you can adjust your recurring shipments as needed, which makes the “subscription” part much more flexible to a normal household’s lifestyle.
However, if cost savings is your number one goal, then proceed with caution. It’s clear that Amazon’s prices are typically the best around, but that doesn’t mean you won’t find a better deal somewhere else. Competitors like Jet.com and Target offer variations on free shipping deals and also don’t come with a membership fee, so don’t rule them out when it comes to comparing costs.
The Bottom Line: Always Shop Around
While researching for this article, I thought about many of the products I use on a daily basis, and how convenient it would be to get an automatic recurring shipment of those items. However, I learned that it’s important to shop around to save the most money in the long run.
If I were to sign up for that toothpaste subscribe and save deal, for example, I’d be overspending by nearly $4 on every single recurring purchase. Although there’s a great potential here for the savings to add up, it only takes one overpriced item to undo that savings and end up costing you more.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise, but no matter where you shop, always take a look to see what the competition offers. The true cost savings isn’t tied to one particular type of service, but rather to the extra few clicks, it takes you to do a quick comparison from one company to the next.
So the next time you need to purchase household items, consider Amazon Subscribe and Save deals, but price shop the competition as well.
