Are you an Amazon expert? Do you use tools like Honey to track price-drops and find lower prices from other sellers? Do you use Amazon Smile to automatically give to charity without even trying?
That’s all good stuff, but there’s more to the online behemoth than you might think. Here are four things about Amazon you probably didn’t know…
You can still get after-purchase price adjustments (maybe)
Amazon doesn’t offer price-protection, but your credit card might — and Sift will let you know if there’s a refund you can claim.
Once upon a time, Amazon offered price protection: If a product’s price dropped after you purchased it, you could get a refund for the difference. Alas, that policy has been terminated.
That doesn’t mean you can’t still get price protection. It’s entirely possible — likely, even — that your credit card offers its own such perk. How can you find out? I’m a newfound fan of Sift, a free app that catalogs all the hidden benefits of your credit card.
All you do is link the card you use for Amazon purchases. From there, Sift will track your purchases and notify you of any price drops. (For retailers other than Amazon, the service will actually file a price-drop claim on your behalf.) If it finds one, just call up your credit card provider and file a price-protection claim.
Amazon doesn’t always have the lowest prices
Gasp! It’s true: Amazon might be your go-to source for, well, everything, but that doesn’t guarantee it has the lowest prices.
What’s more, it doesn’t offer price-matching, so if you do find a better deal elsewhere… take it!
Fake reviews still exist
Don’t believe everything you read. Although the service has cracked down on incentivized reviews, the reality is that fakes are still rampant on the site, and can seriously misinform your purchases.
Suppose you’re in the market for an action camera. A GoPro will run you $200-$400 in the US, but there are countless knock-offs priced under $100 — in some cases well under. They look like GoPros. They come with many of the same accessories. And look at that 4.8-star review average!
So what’s the story here? Are those reviews legit and well-earned? Or were some — even many — planted there by a seller hoping to move more product?
According to Fakespot, these headphones get an “F.” But, wait, the headphones might be fine, or even better than fine. It’s a a big chunk of the reviews that failed to make the grade.
Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNETFor answers, look to Amazon review-vetting sites Fakespot and ReviewMeta. They analyze the reviews and look for suspicious markers: overly enthusiastic wording, customers that have only one review, a product with lots of deleted reviews and so on.
The presence of “questionable” reviews doesn’t necessarily mean a product isn’t good, it simply means the average star rating might not be as high as you think. Find out more in my story on how to spot fake Amazon reviews.
2-day shipping doesn’t always mean 2-day delivery
One of the all-time great Amazon Prime perks is free 2-day shipping, right? Right — so why do items sometimes take three, four or more days to arrive?
There’s some little-known fine print that explains this: Amazon doesn’t guarantee your order will arrive two days after you place it, it guarantees that it will arrive two days after it ships. If there’s limited inventory or some other issue, it might take a day or two before an item leaves the warehouse.
And don’t forget garden-variety shipping delays: Inclement weather can slow down all those delivery trucks and airplanes.
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