I went looking for the best deals on Splenda packets and found they were cheapest at Amazon. They were even cheaper if I used their new(?) “Subscribe & Save” service. You buy a thing, save 5-15% off the bat and schedule it to be shipped to you again in 1 to 6 months (you choose how often). Shipping is free no matter what the cost of the item.
Amazon doesn’t promise the price will stay the same. But you can cancel at any time and change your frequency at any time. Since shipping is free and we’re getting away with no sales tax (for now)…it turns out to be a good deal.
Not everything is an amazingly good deal but the few things I looked at - like my shampoo - saved me a few cents and also saved me the hassle of having to go to the store for staples.
So far I just bought some Splenda packets and bulk Splenda (in a bag) and probably saved a good chunk of change for the year.
I’m considering buying shampoo, Neti Pot packets and maybe even toothbrushes.
I looked for the cans of no-salt green beans that I give my dog every night (I just bought 200 cans today, on sale!) but that item was quite expensive compared to my store. The Atkins protein bars I eat are also more expensive on Amazon than at Target.
Does anyone else use this Amazon Subscribe & Save service?
Even if you don’t, what sort of stuff do you buy in bulk?
I use it for diapers and wipes. The Subscribe & Save discount on top of the Amazon Mom discount makes it the best deal on diapers available. Even store sales stacked with coupons usually can’t beat it.
I use it for laundry sheets, because Purex dye/scent-free laundry sheets are hard to find. With the discount, it’s not a bad price nor an amazing price, but its one less thing I have to shop for.
I use it for stuff like toilet paper that I forget to buy until I run out of it. I adore it. (Also I get canned tomatoes that way because I use a lot of them and they’re heavy. Let the UPS guy carry them. I wish I could get kitty litter!)
I’ve bought brush heads for my Oral-B electric toothbrush and teabags in bulk on Amazon (twelve toothbrush heads and six boxes of tea), but not using the subscription service. I’ve considered buying other stuff there as well, but haven’t yet. FYI, I read somewhere that the subscription service is meant to compete with Costco.
All-Bran cereal, which for me serves the same purpose as Green Beans for the OP. Except Mr. Athena tend to eat it as well.
I used to get toilet paper through Subscribe & Save until they discontinued my favorite brand. I miss it; I hate buying toilet paper, it takes up my whole cart.
Compete with Costco? Sounds good to me - we don’t have Costco here and I’m always hearing about how cheap they are!
I told my brother about the diapers. We compared to what he gets on Diapers.com and it is slightly cheaper on Amazon, especially with free shipping.
I looked at toilet paper but they didn’t have my exact type. I’m picky! And I don’t think it was any cheaper, either.
I use a ton of TP since I work from home. It’s like a corporate women’s restroom for a woman who drinks a ton of water. I’d need 15-20 rolls a month…that sounds like too much packaging waste for me.
I actually have been thinking about switching to Oral B electric toothbrush. Maybe I will now that I can get it via subscription. Not that anything was stopping me before, but the ancient idea of having sundries delivered to my home (cheaper than drugstore.com) is sort of turning me on.
It’s a little weird that Diapers.com is cheaper than Amazon, given that it’s a subsidiary of Amazon. And I also think the idea of buying toilet paper and diapers mail-order is weird as well. (Although perhaps new parents are so harried that it makes sense to get the diapers delivered.)
It must be something about women who work from home. I’m picky about my brand, too (Charmin Sensitive!) and we go through at least a roll every day or two. Mr. Athena is always accusing me of using a ton of toilet paper, but I don’t, really! I just like to stay hydrated.
I just checked again on Amazon, and they have my brand again now, but it’s about twice as expensive at getting it from Target, so Target it is.
I don’t subscribe (didn’t know you could) but I save a ton by getting vacuum cleaner bags from Amazon. Maybe because everyone’s going bagless and bags would be cheap anywhere, but they’re cheaper than Target and Wal-Mart by far.
We actually do have a Costco now, like in the same sense we have a Trader Joe’s - one per every 100 miles. But we’ve got Sam’s Club and something called BJ’s Wholesale.
I never hear people bragging about how cheap and good the shit it at Sam’s Club or BJ’s. Not like they do with Costco.
At one point, my husband and I had memberships to both Sam’s Club and Costco simultaneously. IMO, Sam’s Club is cheap but not good - it’s kind of like shopping at a giant Walmart with a shitty selection and inconvenient sizing, even fewer floor staff and cashiers, and throw in the weekend food demos with families treating them like a free buffet and crowding the aisles.
Admittedly, Costco of course has a smaller selection than your average big box, non-warehouse store, but they seem to really have the customer service end covered, their product quality is generally quite high (the one thing I usually avoid is fresh produce, similar to at Trader Joe’s), and I like both their house brand (made by other brand name companies of course) and the brands and items they carry. (Food demos can still attract crowds, but they seem to not have so many the same day.)
That being said, I’d be interested to see if Amazon does have some items that would work for me. For instance, I’ve never seen Costco carry the “clinical strength” style of deodorants, so that would be nice if Amazon l carried these for cheaper than Target. Same with our preferred mouthwash, stuff like that. I’d have to price-check the toilet paper and paper towels that we get from Costco.
