5 Amazon Prime Hacks

By Lauren Brady

Amazon Prime became increasingly popular during my freshman year at Villanova, and I’m so glad I signed up for this service. What you may not know is that there are ways to maneuver the shopping service to get the biggest bang for your buck (aka $59 per year). These tips can come in handy for Christmas shopping, so be sure to check them out!

1. Prime Student

If you don’t have Amazon Prime and the $119 annual fee for regular Prime scares you, take advantage of Prime Student before you graduate! My parents also use my account, so they see this as a huge savings and as a great way to shop for their wants too. Through Prime Student, I reap most of the benefits of regular Prime, such as Amazon Music, Prime Videos, and the easy-peasy two-day shipping. If you’re not sure whether you want to commit to an annual membership, Amazon lets you test it out with 6 months free. 

2. Textbooks

I only discovered this hack sophomore year, and I wish I knew about this sooner. Most textbooks and paperback books that you may need for an ACS or English class can be rented from Amazon Prime at a lower cost than Villanova’s Bookstore (sorry…). A great feature of this is that you can return any book within 30 days of the start of your rental period for a full refund. So yes, you can return that book you told yourself you would read for each class but never cracked it open by the time midterms rolled around.

3. Subscribe and Save

This hack is so huge that my parents canceled their Costco membership after discovering its benefits. With Subscribe and Save, you’re able to buy items in bulk and have them delivered to you on a regular basis. For example, I get multiple boxes of Dunkin Donuts Keurig pods delivered to me every 2 months with a 15% discount that I otherwise wouldn’t get if I ordered them separately each month. Most household and grocery items are available for either a 5% or 15% discount, and you can cancel the subscription at any time. I also get makeup wipes and other beauty products sent to my apartment since I don’t have access to a car on campus.

4. Prime Now

Since I mentioned that I don’t have a car on campus, it’s also important to note that Amazon Prime members have access to Prime Now grocery delivery services from a Whole Foods near you. This is accessible either online or through the app, and I order my groceries from the Whole Foods in Wayne to the Commons weekly. I tend to stock up for the week, take advantage of their free delivery when you spend over $35, and schedule my deliveries within a two-hour window for the next day. The app is easily navigable and also allows you to take advantage of certain Prime member discounts only!

5. Gift Card Exchange

Remember those random gift cards you got for your birthday 5 years ago that you haven’t looked at since then? Well now you can trade those in for Amazon gift cards through Card Cash. Depending on the brand/company of the card, you will either get a full or partial exchange for the amount on your card, and the Amazon card will be emailed to you within 1 business day! This also applies to cards that have been used and even have small dollar amounts left on them as long as they are above $.50.