Between February and April I posted numerous times about a price mistake that kept on returning for Enjoy Life Chocolate Chunks. The 5 pound bag kept pricing at the cost of a single 10 ounce bag and the order confirmation would state 10 ounces while a 5 pound bag was delivered. My wife is an incredible baker and our freezer is stockpiled full of these chips.
In April the price of the chips went back up from $4 to $48 and it’s been stable at that price since then.
On each of the posts I included instructions to cancel the subscription once the item ships. That’s something you should always do when you order an item with a coupon or deal as the price you paid is only applicable for the first order. Subsequent orders will be generated based on the current selling price and won’t take advantage of any coupon savings.
I also included instructions to expedite a subscription order.
Amazon makes you select a date at least 9 days in the future, though if you select the earliest possible date it will arrive before then.
If you’re really in a rush for a subscription item and can’t wait a week for it to arrive, you can add it to your cart rather than subscribe to it and still get Prime shipping plus 5% off:
Of course you can also select a later date in order to push off an order. This is helpful as you can keep pushing off your delivery date until you have 5 items in your order, which will trigger a retroactive 15% discount off everything in the order. It was also helpful in this care where people wanted to receive the chips after Pesach.
Several DDFers in this thread reported that they chose to “skip this delivery” and expressed bewilderment when their orders shipped out they were charged the current $46 rather than $4.
Worse yet, Amazon doesn’t take returns on food items, so they’re stuck with it at that price.
The problem with the “skip this delivery” option is that it cancels the order that you made and makes a new order in the future. That new order will be at the future selling price without coupons. Had they just pushed off the date of their subscription it would have been fine, but because they chose skip the delivery they were billed at the higher price.
Takeaways:
1. Carefully manage your subscriptions here to be aware of any surprises.
2. When you subscribe to an item only because of a sale or coupon, be sure to cancel future subscriptions after your get the email that your item shipped.
3. When you subscribe to an item only because of a sale or coupon, never choose the “skip this delivery” or else you will nullify the sale price and coupon.
4. If you want to wait for 15% off your subscriptions, just push off your delivery date until you have 5 subscription items. Don’t forget that all 5 items must be shipped to the same address to get 15% off.
5. If you need an item within a week, just choose the next available delivery date from your subscription page.
6. If you need an item with Prime shipping, just use the regular add to cart and check the 5% off box at checkout for opting into future subscriptions.
7. If you are near 5 subscription items, it can make sense to find a cheap subscription item that might come out to be free or a money maker due to saving 15% off all of your subscriptions. For example if you subscribe to 3 items that cost $20 each, then adding some shampoo or body lotion to your subscriptions can result in a net refund.
8. If you have Amazon Prime, don’t forget to signup for Amazon Family for free. Among other benefits it gives you 20% off all Diaper subscriptions and the diapers count towards the 5 subscription items to earn a 15% discount on everything else.
9. If you have Amazon Prime you can share Prime with another household member. Amazon coupons (like 50% off Pampers, etc) are typically limited to just one use per account, but with 2 accounts you can take advantage of coupons on each account. Just don’t forget to watch the subscriptions on both accounts!
10. Don’t forget that you can save even more if you have a Chase Ink Cash or Ink Plus card by buying Amazon gift cards from an office supply store. You’ll earn 5 point per dollar and those points can easily be redeemed for air travel or hotel stays that make this an effective 9% rebate on your Amazon purchases. If you have a Chase Freedom card you’ll also earn 5 points per dollar for up to $1,500 of Amazon spending between October-December and tou can lock in those savings for future use by adding funds to your Amazon account here.
Amazon offers free shipping with $35+ orders or get free next-day shipping on all orders with a free trial of Amazon Prime. Prime members can share benefits with a Household member here, allowing them to double up on Amazon Prime promos! A 6 month trial and discounted Prime membership is available with Amazon Student. EBT/Medicaid Cardholders can save on Prime Membership here.
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26 Comments On "Here’s 10 Things You Need To Know About Amazon Subscribe & Save Before You Make This Costly Mistake…"
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Some coupons say: discount off first delivery of this subscription. So if I skip the first month immediately after subscribing, why wouldn’t it work?
And don’t forget to cancel the giant bottle of vanilla extract too!!!
Great post
Thank You
@emak:
Because skipping cancels the orders. Rather than skipping just use the method in this post.
@Ken:
Don’t forget to cancel any sale item that you subscribe to once it ships.
@Matt:
Thanks.
One issue I find is some S&S items stop being available as S&S but continue to be available as S&S if I keep subscribed to them. For example this: http://amzn.com/B00I08JK7S – this is not available to new S&S subscribers. So sometimes it pays off to check if the item is still available as S&S before cancelling.
Always a good idea to set up a calendar reminder before the monthly S&S close date to review what to keep and what items are on offer (cancel resubscribe to get coupon)
How do I know what the final price will be on a s&s item? Does the final price only come up in the order summary email?
And secondly if i “skip a s&s subscription” and then move it back (undoing the skip so to speak) will the coupon be honored again? I guess not?
Thanks for the helpful info!
I just had this very problem! I had some items (like pull ups) that I actually wanted on a regular basis because it was a good price, but mostly I had items which were discounted so I ordered on subscribe and save. Instead of canceling, I just kept canceling month by month. Not sure why I did that. I think I didn’t have a total grasp of how it works. This definitely cleared things up for me. In the meantime, I forgot to cancel anything for the May delivery and ended up getting 10 items delivered. I needed none of them. Some of them were so expensive (like the vanilla for $45 instead of $5 price mistake). The total amount was around $200. I called up amazon, and they sent ups to pick up 5 of the items which were returnable, but since they couldn’t take back the other 5, they just refunded my money without taking the return! So I got batteries, skinny pop popcorn, vanilla, Lara bars, and 72 k cups ultimately for free! I don’t recommend trying it. I guess I just lucked out. Bottom line, I have since cancelled ALL my subscribe and save items.
Dan I always use to push off my delivery date in order to get 5 orders 15% and I realized that that they were charging the current price of that day and NOT the price that I bought it.
I contacted them several times, they always told me that they always charge the current price.
After asking them so what’s the whole point of subscribe and save they answered, sorry that’s our policy.
@CG:
Interesting!
The problem with the calendar reminder is that I am always tinkering with my subscription date, so the best way is just to check as soon as you get the order ship date of sale items.
@Calvin:
The price for the first shipment will be what you originally were quoted in the order and 10% less if you make it to 5 items.
If you skip you lose the coupon even if you add it back.
@Adina:
S&S is great for items on sale and coupons, but it’s very important to stay on top of it and cancel those items once they ship.
@Booky:
That’s incorrect. I’ve been doing this for years and it never works like that.
As long as you don’t skip the delivery, the price paid for the first shipment is what you were quoted at the time of the order.
How does the Amazon gift card purchase at an office supply store with an ink card go from 5 points per dollar (which is 5%) to 9%?
@JT27MP:
When you transfer those points to airlines or hotels they are much more valuable than when you spend them directly with Chase.
Thank you very much for the comprehensive post! Its always helpful information like this clearly laid out to avoid costly errors. Thanks!
I don’t understand how you come up with a “net refund” after you add those shampoo and lotion you mentioned. Are you including the savings received from all the items combined? I don’t think that’s an honest calculation then…
Please explain. Thanks!
@AROCKS1:
Thanks!
@Jacob:
If you have a subscription order with a $20 item, a $25 item, and a $30 item your total will be $75 less 5%=$71.25.
If you add 2 $2 items before it ships your total will be $79 less 15%=$67.15.
We’re still enjoying all those free Larabars you wrote about in December. Over $30 free. Thanks Dan!
@Jack out of the box: ugh, I’m barfing at the thought of those bars, unfit for human consumption
FYI changing the delivery address also triggers a cancellation, not sure about payment method though
Reminder discover is gonna have a 5% cash back up to 1500 spent at amazon for the July cash back period.
A few days before your S&S order ships, they send an email reminder. I use that a final check of all my subascriptions and the date. I often take the opportunity to move the date.
your wife’s cakes look incredible!!!
@dan
This is a $1 s&s item
Add it to the post
http://amzn.com/B0057K4VC6
Do add on items count for S & S?
“If you’re really in a rush for a subscription item and can’t wait a week for it to arrive, you can add it to your cart rather than subscribe to it and still get Prime shipping plus 5% off:”
I don’t understand this. Isn’t that how every subscription starts? By placing an order and subscribing to it? What do you mean that this is how to get it if you need it quickly? Could be I’m not understanding cuz I don’t have Prime… Please advise. Thanks!
@emak:
bc like all coupons, they expire
so If a find a dove 8 bar from $12 down to $8 with a coupon in June so I subscribe and save it, I get it and then its coming again in July how much will it be $12 or $8 ? help I’m comfused
can i subscribe to Amazon Prime 30 day free trial, and cancel before the 30 days, and resubscribe again to get another 30 day free trial ?