Get the Most Out Of Tax Returns with These 5 Websites to Save Money through Amazon

With tax season coming to an end April 18, everyone is looking for new ways save a little more money over the next year or how to best maximize tax return money. Amazon is the ultimate online shopping outlet, bringing approximately 5 million retailers together that stock a variety of popular products. Now the Amazon shopping experience has been upgraded by sites that help customers save even more money and make the most of their tax returns. These top 5 websites offer the best deals on Amazon:

1.       Snagshout: Snagshout, a new social deals website, provides a unique experience to consumers by offering deep discounts on a wide range of Amazon products for purchase, use and review. Most products are offered at a 30-90% discount in exchange for honest product reviews. To purchase an item listed on Snagshout, consumers are given a discount code to purchase the product directly from the brand’s Amazon listing.

2.       Ebates: Ebates pays members cash back every time they shop and provides them with some of the best coupons and deals available on Amazon. Customers can join Ebates for free and receive up to seven percent cash back on purchases through Amazon. Every quarter, Ebates sends cash back in the form of a check or PayPal payment. With more than 10,000 coupons to be offered, there are deals and products for everyone.

3.       Slickdeals: Slickdeals is dedicated to sharing, rating and reviewing deals and coupons. Relying primarily on user generated content, user ratings and comments help catapult the best deals to the website’s front page for quick and easy access to savings and deals on Amazon. Customers are able to receive Amazon’s daily deals, sift through coupons in all categories and save up to 50 percent with Amazon deals and more.  

4.       CamelCamelCamel: CamelCamelCamel is a free Amazon price tracker that shows the price and sale rank history for over 18 million Amazon products, making it one of the best ways to visualize an item's past performance. When products’ prices drop, CamelCamelCamel alerts customers via email and Twitter, helping to determine the perfect time to spend and save.

5.       Woot!: Woot!, the original “one day, one deal” website, offers customers multiple deals and other short-term sales for a variety of mainstream consumer goods including wine, toys and clothing on Amazon.

BBB Cautions: Refunds and Exchanges are a Privilege Not a Right for Consumers

What do you do if you receive a Christmas present that doesn’t fit? Or one that you don’t want? Returns and exchanges are common, but the BBB cautions consumers that these actions are privileges a business provides, and not a consumer’s right.

“If you find yourself with an unwanted gift, many stores will allow refunds or exchanges for the sake of good customer relations,” explains Steve J. Bernas, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau serving Chicago and Northern Illinois.  “However, customers need to remember these actions are privileges stores may allow. They are not consumer rights.” 

Bernas urges that no matter whether the item was purchased in a brick-and-mortar store or online, it is wise look up and understand the return policies to avoid surprises and confusion. Here are several tips and hints to make the process easier for all involved.

•    The most important first step is to determine where the item was purchased.  If you have a gift receipt, it makes the return situation much easier.  However, if you don’t have a receipt, you need to prove that the item was purchased at a given store.  Another more basic issue is the question of whether or not the store will take back the item for either a refund or exchange without proof of purchase.
•   Refund and exchange policies differ. Each store, and in some cases different departments within stores, may have varying refund and exchange policies.  These can depend upon the product or usage.  Policies about returns and exchanges are usually available from the cashiers, stated on the sales slip, or available online. 
• Expect to pay some fees.  Return shipping charges are common.  You may also be subject to restocking fees.  Again, it pays to know the store’s policy ahead of time.
•  Time limits may apply.  Many times stores have a time limit on how long you can keep an item and still return it.  This is usually stated on the receipt or on the company’s website.
•   Unsure, ask the gift giver. If you are not certain where the gift you want to return was purchased or if you don’t have a receipt, ask the gift giver where the item was purchased.  If that person has a receipt, perhaps they could exchange it for you.  If this isn’t possible for personal reasons, you unfortunately have a dilemma.  You can try to return it to the store where you believe the item was purchased.  However, they do not have to accept it back for either a refund or an exchange. 

“When questioning a return or exchange policy, look at the situation from the store’s perspective, Bernas noted. “How does that retailer know that the gift was purchased there?  What evidence do you have that you aren’t trying to cheat the store?” 

And Bernas noted that not all stores have liberal refund and exchange policies.  Many have strict requirements about what can be returned and the time frame of when it can be returned.  Also, some stores are charging a restocking fee even if you do have a receipt. 

“Companies with liberal return policies recognize the customer relations value of them,” he explained.  However, for them to continue these policies, it’s best not to abuse the privilege.  An example of abuse would be purchasing six or seven similar items to try on, recognizing that you will only be keeping one of them.  This type of product prospecting abuses the privilege the store offers to its customers with its exchange and refund policy.”