An Amazon Mom Tutorial for the savvy BBB shopper

[candaceb]

Please let me know if there's anything I should correct, or anything I'm missing, and hopefully this can become a reference thread for all things Amazon Mom.

Amazon Mom is the best thing ever for people with babies. I swear it has saved us hundreds of dollars since DS was born. I haven't bought diapers anywhere else - I even had them shipped to my mom's house. At a minimum, you get diapers for less than what you would pay if they were on sale somewhere like Target and you had a coupon.

First, you have to join:

www.amazon.com/mom

For the record - you do not have to be a mom to join. Dads, grandparents, and other caretakers all qualify.

By joining, you automatically get 3 months of free Amazon Prime - 2 day shipping on things that are sold by Amazon or fulfilled by Amazon - things sold by 3rd party vendors are usually not included. You can also share your Prime benefits with one family member.

However - items (like diapers) purchased using Subscribe & Save are no longer qualifying for Prime shipping. My most recent order of diapers is estimated to arrive a week from now...
Here is the policy:

Why didn't I qualify for Prime shipping?

The Subscribe & Save program offers participants great benefits like a discount, convenience of recurring deliveries and a no-commitment cancellation policy with free standard shipping. If you need an item faster, Prime Two-Day and One-Day shipping are available for eligible items, but the Subscribe & Save discount will not apply.

Can I get my Subscribe & Save items faster?

If you need an item faster, Prime Two-Day and One-Day shipping are available for eligible items on the product detail page if you have 1-Click ordering turned on, or at checkout, but the Subscribe & Save discount will not apply.

For every $25 you spend on qualifying baby items in one transaction BEFORE discounts, you earn another month of Amazon Prime, up to a total of 12 months. So, if you spend $5, you get nothing. If you spend $55, you get 2 months. If you buy a package of diapers that is usually $45 but you use Subscribe & Save and coupons to bring it down to $24, you still get 1 month. You can accumulate up to one year of free Prime. After your year is up, you can pay $80 for a regular Prime membership, or you can also sign up your DH for Amazon Mom and start over with earning a year of free Prime shipping.

You know that an item qualifies as a baby purchase because there is a banner across the top of the screen, like the one on this page:
http://www.amazon.com/Vulli-Sophie-t...8597333&sr=8-1


You will find that Amazon has just about every baby thing you can think of, and frequently for much less money than what you would pay at Target or Babies R Us. An example is disposable changing table liners. They're something like $6 for 10 at Target. Or, you can buy these and get 36 for $5, delivered to your doorstep in 2 days.
http://www.amazon.com/Sassy-Baby-Cha...8597422&sr=1-1

Now for the diaper deals.
You get the good prices on diapers by using Subscribe & Save, which gives you an automatic 20% off of diapers and wipes, and 15% off other items including baby food. The discount on diapers & wipes had previously been 30%. You can still get 30% off diapers that you already had subscriptions for. Here is the FAQ from Amazon Mom's facebook page:

Heads up, Amazon Mom members--starting today, the maximum discount for any new diapers and wipes subscriptions is 20%. This includes a 5% Subscribe & Save discount plus an additional 15% discount for Amazon Mom members.

If you already have existing Subscribe & Save subscriptions as an Amazon Mom, then nothing will change—you will continue to receive the 30% discount on diapers and wipes. The 20% discount applies only to new subscriptions. All other new and existing Subscribe & Save subscriptions remain unchanged.

Watching the Amazon Mom program grow this past year has been a thrill for us, in no small part because we get to connect with all of you each day. We recognize that this probably isn't the best news you'll hear today. Please know that we're working hard to evolve the program, to ensure Amazon Mom will continue to offer great savings and convenience on diapers, wipes, and more for years to come.

If you'd like additional info, please feel free to read our FAQ.
www.amazon.com/mom-faq

To purchase through Subscribe & Save, look for a box on the right side of the screen. Here's the page for Pampers Snugglers Size 2:
http://www.amazon.com/Pampers-Swaddl...8597582&sr=1-1
Click the "subscribe & save" option, then choose the frequency of shipments, and click "subscribe now". Do not click "add to cart" or you won't get the discount. You add coupon codes on the next screen, in a box under the "order total" on the right side of the screen. Enter the code and click "apply".

I never know when we're going to need diapers again, or if we'll still need the same size, so I purchase using Subscribe & Save to get the discount, and then cancel the subscription using the link in the confirmation email that they send me after my order ships. Canceling the subscription does not affect the order that was just placed, it only affects the future shipments. If you don't cancel, they'll send you an email before the next shipment and you can cancel it then if you don't want it. You can also go to the "manage your subscriptions" page and delay your next shipment or have it sent earlier. You cannot use coupons with items that are sent on an existing subscription - you have to start a new subscription to use the coupons.
To find out if there are coupons for the items you are purchasing, look on this page:
http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=2231352011

Baby Cheapskate keeps track of special codes and coupons at Amazon (and other sites) on this page:
http://www.babycheapskate.com/category/coupons/

For several months, coupons were available in many baby magazines for 20% off diapers or $10 off baby items at Amazon. Currently, there are none of these coupons available. We don't know if they will reappear in the future. If you spot one (with an expiration date after 3/11), please post on this thread!

After your qualifying baby order ships, you will get an email from Amazon telling you how many months of Prime you have earned.
If your Prime runs out because you don't have enough qualifying purchases, as far as I know you cannot rejoin at this time. You can have your DH join though and start over again.

When your 12 months of free Prime shipping are up, you can start paying for Prime shipping ($79 a year), or you can sign someone else in your household up for Amazon Mom to start earning another free year. Only purchases made under the primary member's account count towards earning free months, so if you sign up your DH, make sure that your purchase are made through his account. He can "share" prime with you for non-qualifying purchases.

[Smillow]

Great job! I now have a reference to pass along to my mom friends - thank you! You've done your good deed today and then some

[MotownMom]

Quick question...Once your "trial" runs out, can you re-join?

[candaceb]

Originally Posted by MotownMom

Quick question...Once your "trial" runs out, can you re-join?

as far as I know, no. You can get your DH to join though and start over.

[daisymommy]

Good job! Thanks!

I tried to give this a 5-star rating, but couldn't find the "rate this thread" thingie anymore...hmmm...

Can we make this a stickie?

[mezzona]

wow awesome post! thx op!

[Babymakes3]

Great post!

The only thing I see is that on the link where you are trying to show the banner across the top a screen shot would work better because you don't see that banner if you aren't already an Amazon Mom, haven't signed it or don't belong to Amazon at all.

I couldn't figure out why my banner wasn't coming up a couple weeks ago while trying to order something and realized that somehow i'd gotten signed out.

[JustMe]

Wow, great job. Amazon should pay you, seriously.

[blue]

Great job explaining Amazon Mom!

[ahrimie]

I already pay for Prime and just tried to sign up... but it seemed like I would have to cancel my paid Prime but could get refunded for the remaining months...?? Should I just keep my paid Prime or do the Amazon Mom? My account runs out in May anyway.

ETA: I rechecked and I opted to keep my Prime... you can change your mind either way if you already paid for it. You just have to email customer service. I guess I'll think about it again when it comes time to renew... by then, I'll be 9 months preggo so I could probably cancel my paid Prime and just do Amazon Mom. Thank you SO much for this!! I was wondering what all the hype was!