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10 Amazon Life Hacks for the NYU Student

Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Sonam Bhuptani
Grace Moon
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at NYU chapter.

We must admit that we have become addicted to Amazon. With a few clicks and keyboard strokes, at all hours of the day and night, we can order anything that our hearts (or stomachs) desire. From textbooks to toothpaste to tortilla chips, it’s almost guaranteed that Amazon will have whatever we need in stock and ready to ship.

 

Unfortunately, Amazon’s super fast delivery and endless inventory sometimes causes us to spend a bit more than we budgeted to. So, here’s a round-up of ten life hacks that will not only make your Amazon experience more convenient, but also help you reap remarkable savings on your orders.

1. Amazon Locker

Tired of waiting for NYU residence halls to process your Amazon orders? Put an end to your frustration by shipping it to an Amazon locker instead! Many locations are open 24 hours a day, and the one located closest to campus is only a speedy, seven minute walk from Kimmel.

 

2. Amazon Smile

Do you find yourself feeling guilty from shopping too much? Don’t! When you use Amazon Smile, Amazon donates a portion of your spending to the charity of your choice, and you still get the same great deals. It’s truly a win-win for everybody.

 

3. Publish a Book Through Amazon’s Kindle

Are you an aspiring author who wants to make some extra cash on the side to afford your Amazon addiction? If so, consider publishing your book through Amazon Kindle, and you can earn 35-70% in royalties! All you need to do is upload your book file, fill in some basic information, and, like magic, your writing will be available to the public for purchase within 24-48 hours. It’s a fast way to get your work out there without any extra fuss.

 

4. Sharing Prime Benefits

 

Prime Household lets you share select Prime benefits without paying for multiple Prime accounts. For example, you can share a lending library for Amazon Kindle. Prime Photos also gives each member unlimited photo storage and allows members to share pictures through a Family Vault. Plus, your photos will remain private until you upload them to the vault.

 

5. Amazon Warehouse

 

Shop through Amazon’s outlet for deals on top of deals! Amazon Warehouse lets you buy pre-owned or opened items in superb condition at super affordable prices.

 

6. Prime Now

 

Don’t feel like getting out of bed to get groceries? Prime Now works on NYU’s campus! You can get fresh groceries delivered to your dorm for free within two hours. You also have the option of getting takeout from your favorite restaurant for only a small delivery charge. What’s even better is that Amazon’s prices will likely beat your local grocery stores’ prices, so you can be lazy and save money at the same time. Prime Now is a perfect option for college students to take advantage of.

 

7. Add-On Items

 

Add-On items are amazing because they’re usually super inexpensive, but the catch is that you need to spend $25 to help Amazon minimize the shipping costs. Luckily, there is a detour around this. If you order a pre-order item in addition to your add-on item and the order total reaches $25, you can simply cancel the pre-order item after the add-on item ships, so you still get what you needed within two days.

 

8. Amazon Store Card

Need another reason to justify your obsession with Amazon? Sign up for the Amazon Store Card and earn 5% back on all purchases, as long as you are a Prime member, and receive $40 in gift cards for a limited time. An added bonus? There is no annual fee on the card, so you’re really just getting rewarded for shopping too much.

 

9. Subscribe and Save

 

If you know for a fact that your k-cup dependence is not going away anytime soon, why not own up to it and save some money while you’re at it? With Amazon’s Subscribe and Save policy, you can schedule deliveries and save extra when you have five or more subscriptions planned to ship to a single address on one monthly delivery day. It takes away the hassle of constantly reordering your favorite items, and gives you a small reward (aka savings) for your laziness. There’s seriously no downside to this wonderful feature.

 

10. Prime Music

 

If Spotify advertisements are becoming annoying, Amazon Music is the way to go. Prime memberships come with free access to an ad-free library of over two million songs, and you can access them through many different Amazon devices. You can also pay a small monthly subscription fee to unlock tens of millions of songs, which are also playable on any Amazon device.

 

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Sonam is a freshman studying Economics and Psychology, and minoring in Business. 
Grace is currently a senior at New York University majoring in Journalism and Media Studies. Although born in California and raised in Dallas, Texas, Grace considers Seoul, South Korea to be her home sweet home. At school, Grace serves as the Editor-In-Chief at Her Campus NYU, President at Freedom for North Korea (an issue very personal to her), and Engagement Director of the Coalition of Minority Journalists. She is currently interning at Turner's Strategic Communications team while serving as a PA at CNN. In her free time, Grace loves to sing jazz, run outside, read the news, go on photography excursions, and get to know people around her-- hence, her passion for conducting Her Campus profiles. She can be reached at: gracemoon@hercampus.com