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Updated 12/13/12
I was curious if Amazon Mom was a good deal because a frugal friend told me she orders all her toiletries through Amazon instead of pouncing on drugstore freebies and deals. Having just taken advantage of a 20% off sale at CVS.com, I was eager to compare prices. Did I get the best deal?
If you’ve new to Amazon Mom
Here is a price comparison of the items I bought at CVS.com, and how much they would have cost me at Amazon. (If you’re curious about how Amazon’s grocery prices compare, you’re in for an unpleasant surprise.)
The most important column is the price per unit. The price leader for each item is bolded; ties are italicized and bolded. So who won the price war?
CVS had two outright winners – the calcium chews and the toothbrushes.
Amazon had two outright winners – the baby wash (great for sensitive skin) and the tear eye drops.
CVS and Amazon tied on two items – the Aquaphor ointment and the lotion (I went with CVS’ generic because it was cheaper and the quality is comparable).
With a 2-2-2 record, I’m calling it a tie! And I feel good that I got some of the absolutely best prices available through CVS.com with the 20% off coupon (already expired, unfortunately).
What’s been your experience with Amazon toiletries? Do they beat your local store or e-retailer?
More details about Amazon Mom but for every order you submit that is $25, the free two-day shipping is extended by one month up to 12 months. As you can see, Amazon has scaled back the benefits of Amazon Mom significantly!
As part of Amazon Mom, you agree to receive promotional emails from Amazon. If you unsubscribe, you’ll be canceling your Amazon Mom membership. A go-between solution is to use a special email account when you sign up.
The program is open to dads, grandparents, and caregivers.
Welcome to Bargain Babe! I’m Mara, and I’m so glad you’re here. I am an obsessive bargain hunter and penny pincher, and I am determined to live a full life without EVER paying full price. 
I’ve not really thought of using Amazon for regular drugstore merch. Where it wins big for me is diapers. The best deals around town usually amount to $6.99 a pkg, where I have gotten boxes from Amazon that amount to 4 store pkgs for $16 on average. And that’s out of pocket, not after whatever rebate the store has. Also, free Prime shipping is worth it’s weight in gold if you do any Amazon shopping.
@Amanda Fletcher Wow! So where a pack of diapers costs $7 in the store, you are getting for $4 on Amazon. Plus the free quick shipping and auto-reorder. Glad it works for you!
I never buy diapers or wipes from the store anymore, I always buy from Amazon! A few months ago, I got two cases of Luvs for $21, with free shipping. Thats $21 total, for two cases. These were listed as “used” because someone had returned them and the warehouse was selling them. Not only that, but earning prime shipping takes into account what you would have spent before the discount, so I earned 2 months of shipping. In January and February there was a coupon in Parenting magazine (if you subscribe) for $10 off Amazon baby store, I got a case of Fisher Price diapers for $3 (I love these! They have day and night diapers in the same package and never a leak!) and a case of Pampers wipes for $1.17. There is no way I could have gotten a deal like that at Walgreens or Rite Aid (we don’t have CVS in Oregon). I can’t earn anymore Prime Shipping, but when it expires in October, I’ll be chipping in with 4 other moms to pay for a year of Prime shipping since you can invite 4 “authorized” users to use your shipping benefits!!
For diapers Amazon is HANDS DOWN a winner. I spend $28 a month – no tax and no shipping. Same box at Babies R Us is $39.99 and then I have to pay tax too. They keep extending the free shipping. I haven’t paid for shipping in over six months.
Amazon.com also has had coupons for 20% off diapers in various parenting magazines in the past few months. The free magazines in Babies R Us might still have these coupons. These coupons are great for those of us who don’t want to “subscribe and save” because we don’t need new diapers regularly (I’m mostly a cloth diaper user).
I love Amazon Mom for the free Prime shipping that temporarily have. It’s been really useful for getting random items we’ve needed without having to spend $25 to get free shipping.
@Brie Padfield I had no idea you could “invite” four other people onto your Amazon Mom account and share the $79 yearly fee to get free two-day shipping. That means each of you pays just $15.80 a year. Holy moly that’s a hot deal!
@Christine and @Karen Sounds like everyone agrees that the shipping benefits and discounts make Amazon Mom a real winner!
If you purchase the same items regularly, you can “save for later” in your cart. When you log in, amazon will automatically give you a price adjustment, up or down, if one has been made. Often it is just pennies, but I scored a pair of my favorite sandals for half price in only one color (the others were still twice that) and I would not have known about if I hadn’t used this feature. May be an inefficient price watch mechanism but I do purchase a lot on amazon. It also, over time, taught me that Allison Krauss CD’s fluctuate in price from one extreme to the other, and I shouldn’t ever pay full price again!
I love ordering diapers from Amazon.com too. As others have said, there are great coupons in American Baby magazine and Parents magazine. There may be other parenting magazines that have them, but I’m not sure which ones. But what’s really great about these coupons is that the codes can be stacked!! Makes for some awesome deals.
I just got the name of the cloth diaper companies. You can save a lot of money using cloth diapers.
Be Green, Save Green with Cloth Diapers Scroll to middle http://bit.ly/gR6eE5
Thx for the tip! I am now the proud parent of Chet Burple and Wilmeethra Jenkins, two fictional twins. 🙂 2 day shipping here I come!