If you’re trying to get your hands on the hot new thing, like one of the top holiday toys or advent calendars, Amazon’s preorder options can help you lock in a popular item at a good price.
The tricky part about not-yet-released items is that prices can fluctuate drastically before the official release date. This is likely due to the high demand for the anticipated item. And it doesn’t help that Amazon is notorious for changing their prices every day.
The good news? The retailer makes preorders a little less risky with something called the Amazon Pre-Order Price Guarantee. And yeah, it’s exactly what it sounds like. Amazon will grant you the lowest price offered between the time you place your order and the product’s official release date.
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What is the Amazon Pre-Order Price Match Guarantee?
You can find the Amazon Pre-Order Price Match Guarantee any time you find a not-yet-available product listed on Amazon as a preorder. The guarantee means Amazon will charge you the lowest price offered from the time you place the order until the day the product is officially released.
Say you preordered an Amazon Delivery Van Ride-On toy for $39.99. Then the price dips to $35.99 a week before release. Five days later, it jumps up to $49.99. You’d only be charged $35.99 once the product went live — since that was the lowest price between the time you preordered and when the product shipped.
And you don’t even have to keep track of the prices or do any extra work. You automatically get charged the lowest price.
Does the Amazon Pre-Order Price Match Guarantee work on Digital Content?
Yes! It applies to any digital game, software download, Kindle book, or Amazon music that has the “Pre-order Price Guarantee” message on the product listing page. This guarantees you will get it for the lowest price offered by Amazon.com. Just note that the guarantee is offered from the time you ordered it until the release date.
This means no more stalking the gamer vlogs to find out the best day to get the best prices on the newest games. You can preorder knowing that you’ll get Amazon’s lowest price available.
What’s the catch?
As with any promotion, you should expect rules and restrictions. Here are some guidelines to consider:
The price match applies only to items sold by Amazon.com. It doesn’t apply to other sellers on Amazon or to products purchased on other sites owned by Amazon.com (such as Zappos.com).
Only items that are not yet released and that explicitly list the “Pre-order Price Guarantee” message are eligible.
The price match does not correspond with any other discounts — like those checkbox coupons you see on product pages. Although those would reduce your total cost, they wouldn’t be considered a price change, and wouldn’t qualify.
What happens if the product ships before the release date and there is a price drop on the day of the release?
Don’t fret, you’ll be refunded the difference in the price in difference. The refund will reflect the price difference when the product enters the shipping process before the release date and there’s a price change before the end of the day on the official release date. The difference will automatically be refunded to the credit or debit card you used to make the purchase.
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