Black Friday hack: Save an extra 10-20% at Amazon – CNET

Think you know everything there is to know about saving money on Black Friday ? Maybe not. Recently I discovered a couple methods that aren’t widely known, both of them involving cash-back options. But I suspect both of these benefits will expire (or at least decrease) soon, so if there’s something you’re itching to buy right now, take advantage of them quick. (While you’re at it, be sure to learn the secret of scoring Amazon deals all year long.)

Get 10% cash back on Amazon devices

I’m a longtime fan of cash-back services like Dosh, Rakuten (formerly Ebates) and TopCashback, which I use all year long to get rebates on nearly everything I buy.

Right now, TopCashback has an usually good offer going: 10% cash back on Amazon devices. That means products like Echo smart speakers, Echo Show smart displays, Fire TV sticks, Fire tablets and Kindle e-readers. Many of those devices were on sale last week, but are now back to regular price. So here’s your chance to get a discount again.

If you don’t already have a TopCashback account, you’ll need to sign up for one. (It’s free, and requires little more than your name and email address.) Then, be sure to visit that TopCashback page for Amazon and click Get Cashback. That’ll take you through to Amazon, where you shop normally. Shortly after you make your purchase, you should get an email confirming that TopCashback has logged it. (Important: Don’t use an ad-blocker during this process, otherwise your purchase might not get logged.)

It’s worth noting that many Amazon devices will be on sale shortly before or during Black Friday, but if you don’t want to wait, this option affords you the best deals right now. I suspect TopCashback and other cash-back services will lower their rebate percentages once the big sales hit.

Pro tip: Using TopCashback (or any other cash-back service) doesn’t interfere with the cash back that you get from whatever credit card you use to make your purchases. Like, say, this one:

Get up to 20% cash back from the Amazon Visa card

If you have the Amazon Prime Visa card, you know that it pays you a 5% cash rebate on all Amazon purchases. However, for a limited time, you can score up to 15% extra cash back on top of that on select items.

These cash-back bumps are available for a variety of products, including Roku streamers, Canon cameras, Samsung phones, musical instruments, furniture and more.

For example, the 2018 Roku Ultra is currently on sale for $86, but paying with the Amazon Visa will net you a total of 15% cash back — bringing your final price down around $73. Similarly, the Wyze Cam Pan security camera, which almost never goes on sale, will drop, post-rebate, to $31.72 from its regular $37.32 price.

Good stuff! I’m not sure how long these cash-back bonuses will stick around, so if you’ve got your eye on something, you should definitely consider pulling the trigger soon.

Your thoughts?

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