Alana Vandagriff | 

10 Ways to Squeeze the Most Value From Amazon Subscribe & Save

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Amazon makes it really convenient to never have to leave your house to spend money. Thankfully, with Amazon Subscribe & Save it’s easy to shop for those things you always run out of, and still save money.

You might be a bit skeptical if this is the first you've heard about the Amazon Subscribe & Save program — it's just another way for Amazon to get their hooks into your wallet.

Well, that is partially true — they will get into your wallet alright — but using Amazon Subscribe & Save can help keep your household stocked up on everyday items. Plus, you can easily save up to 15% automatically and sometimes even more when you combine Subscribe & Save discounts with Amazon digital coupons and Prime Day deals.

And don’t sweat it if you don’t end up liking Amazon Subscribe & Save. Canceling your Subscribe & Save is super easy, too.

Download the Krazy Coupon Lady app or text DEALS to 57299.

Here’s how Amazon Subscribe & Save works.

Amazon subscribe and save how it works graphic.

How exactly does Amazon Subscribe & Save work, you ask? Well, it’s a subscription service that’ll deliver products straight to your door on a set schedule (from two weeks up to six months). You can even designate certain products to have different schedules.

Subscribe & Save is available for thousands of products. I’m talking about everyday stuff like laundry detergent, toilet paper, shampoo, cleaning supplies, pet food, and even groceries and pantry items. The list of products eligible for Subscribe & Save is never-ending.

When you use Subscribe & Save on up to four products, you automatically save 5% on each product. But …

Subscribe to five items or more and you’ll get 15% off.

Cartoon grocery items on a pink and blue background with the words, "The more you subscribe, the more you save." printed above.

My top suggestion with the Amazon Subscribe & Save program is to always have at least five items in one auto delivery because Amazon will take up to 15% off your entire order. If you subscribe to between one and four items, you’ll only save up to 5%.

Note: Some items won’t be eligible for savings up to 15%, so you may only see up to 5% savings when you have five subscriptions set up. If you have less than five subscriptions, those same items will have a 0% savings for your first delivery.

Here are a few tips to getting the most out of your Subscribe & Save:

If you're having trouble coming up with enough items for the Subscribe & Save 5% or 15% savings you can always subscribe to cheap "filler" Amazon items under $5 to help you meet the five item minimum.

However, if you want five of the same product (like diapers) you'll need to subscribe to that item in five separate orders to get the Subscribe & Save 5% or 15% off in one auto-delivery. It might be a bit of work, but worth it because five or more of the same item in a single order doesn't qualify for the five item Subscribe & Save discount.

You don’t need an Amazon Prime membership to use Subscribe & Save.

a person picking up amazon boxes next to a basket with packages on front porch

That’s right! Shopping from Subscribe & Save isn’t one of the benefits exclusive to Amazon Prime members. Both the service and the shipping are free! Though sometimes, shoppers without Prime might have to pay the $6.99 standard shipping fee for the first order.

Plus, there’s no obligation to continue receiving subscriptions. It’s also super easy to cancel a Subscribe & Save subscription.

Related: Can You Use Manufacturer’s Coupons on Amazon?

You won’t receive your Subscribe & Save in two days like normal Prime orders.

Glad garbage bags, sparking juice, pretzel snack bags, ziploc bags, and zbars sitting on a counter in front of an Amazon box

The point of Subscribe & Save is to hold off on making multiple little orders and have everything shipped together instead. For example, my delivery dates are set for the thirteenth of every month and Wednesdays for my weekly subscriptions, so if I order new snacks for the kids today, I won’t see them until the thirteenth of next month if I include them in my monthly subscription.

You can choose which day of the month you get your monthly subscriptions and which day of the week you get your weekly subscriptions.

Need something sooner but still want the Subscribe & Save discount? You can change your delivery date in your Subscribe & Save account settings. Typically, you can only choose a date at least a week out, so you still won’t get it immediately.

Get your Subscribe & Save items immediately with a 5% off discount.

A graphic of three phones illustrating adding an item to an Amazon cart and then selecting subscribe & save afterwards.

If you need something immediately (and it’s eligible for Subscribe & Save), you can still get it in the normal Amazon Prime quickness, but you’ll only receive a 5% discount instead of up to 15%.

Here’s how to get your item immediately with Prime shipping and still save:

  1. Choose an eligible Subscribe & Save product.

  2. Select “One-time purchase.”

  3. At checkout, check off the box that says “Subscribe & Save: Save 5% today; Save up to 15% on future auto-deliveries.”

  4. Once you check the box, it’ll give you the 5% Subscribe & Save discount, ship it now, and you’ll have it added to your Subscribe & Save box for the following month.

Clip Subscribe & Save coupons to save on groceries, baby items, and beauty supplies.

     

Whether you are a casual shopper or a Krazy couponer … everyone loves to save. And I wouldn’t be doing my due diligence without showing you all the best ways to hack the system and save even more. Many items eligible for Subscribe & Save have digital Amazon coupons, which will save you money on your first purchase. These coupons appear on the product detail page, and all you have to do is select them before subscribing so that you automatically receive the discount. Subscribe & Save coupons may feature dollar-off or percent-off savings.

Note: If you clip an Amazon digital coupon, it’ll only be valid for your first month. The coupon savings don’t apply to your future subscriptions.

Stack Subscribe & Save coupons with your discount to save even more!

A screenshot of a product page on Amazon with Subscribe & Save selected and a 40% off coupon applied

With Subscribe & Save, one of the best perks is the option to stack coupons. You can clip coupons on each product to get even more savings in addition to the 5% or 15% discount you automatically get with Subscribe & Save.

Percent-off coupons are calculated before the Subscribe & Save discount is applied, which means you save even more.

At checkout, you’ll see your 5% – 15% Subscribe & Save savings and your percent-off coupon savings as two distinct line-item discounts.

Note: These Amazon Subscribe & Save coupons apply only to your first delivery.

TIP: Your future subscription deliveries will be charged at the current selling price, which could be above or below your original subscription price. Amazon won’t apply any coupon savings to future deliveries either. Watch for an email you’ll get three days before each subscription ships, and make sure you review the quoted prices so you don’t end up overpaying.

Take advantage of rare double-stacking opportunities.

A screenshot of two coupons available for a product on Amazon.

While rare, you may see instances where two Amazon coupons will stack with one another. For example, stack a 15% off category coupon for Honest personal care and another coupon for 15% off when you buy Honest wipes. Finding these opportunities is like finding a needle in a haystack, but at Krazy Coupon Lady, haystack hunting is our specialty.

Here are some of the best Amazon Subscribe & Save deals.

A can of Bubly sparkling water on a counter with two more cans in an Amazon box in the background.

Some Subscribe & Save deals are better than others! For example, I love subscribing to paper towels because that’s a product I know I’ll always need more of, and I don’t mind being stocked up (plus it saves me time at the grocery store).

Here are some other items that make for smart Subscribe & Save deals:

  • Baby wipes and diapers

  • Dish soap

  • Laundry detergent

  • Feminine hygiene products

  • Toothpaste

You can cancel — or expedite — orders whenever you want, free of charge.

Screen shot of amazon product page with info about canceling subscribe and save any time highlighted in yellow.

It may take you a couple of months to learn how much product your family goes through before the next Subscribe & Save shipment, but that’s okay. It’s super easy to make changes before the next shipment because Amazon sends a reminder email before the next order ships. You can make updates or skip an order whenever you need to.

If you need an item right away and can’t wait until your next delivery, you can expedite a single one-time delivery by clicking on “Need more right away?” after signing up.

Sometimes I find that I have too much of something. Luckily, pausing a subscription is a breeze: just select “Your Subscribe & Save Items” under “My Account” on the Amazon website or app, and select the “Skip” button on the product you don’t want to be delivered quite yet. You can change the overall delivery date or simply skip a month. Easy peasy!

There’s no obligation once you’re set up with the Subscribe & Save service, so you won’t be charged for canceling any of your subscriptions either.

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