I recently opened a new Amazon account to keep personal and business separate. Since each Prime account is allowed a secondary Prime account which shares all benefits of the main account, it was free for me to create a second Prime Amazon account for business purchases.
Without Prime I could have opened a second Amazon account for business purchases just as easily. They even advertise a special Amazon Business account which works like a standard Amazon account but has increased functionality for businesses, such as multi-user accounts and better free shipping terms. I opened my second Amazon account as an ordinary account since I didn’t need these benefits.
Interestingly, over the past few months, I noticed a few perks of having a new Amazon account and having a second Amazon account.
15% Off Each Category
While browsing my new Amazon account, they continuously pop up with 15%-off deals on various items (it shows on the regular product page). Upon closer inspection it became apparent that as a ‘new’ customer, Amazon was offering 15% off in some/all categories for my first purchase in that category.
Months after opening the account, this still shows (inconsistently, perhaps) on various categories in which I’ve never made a purchase. Presumably, this is a standard feature on a new Amazon account, or perhaps it’s only on Prime accounts.
Below is a sample of what this looks like. The terms aren’t always the same: usually there’s a $15 max, once it was $5 max. You have to check a small box next to the offer (“clip coupon”) and the discount shows automatically at checkout.
Initially, I was slow to use these on small-dollar purchases with the goal of saving the 15% discount for a larger purchase. At one point it seemed like the 15% discounts weren’t showing anymore. When they began popping up again, I decided to just take them as they come, even if they were tiny discounts, e.g. 15% off a $9 purchase.
Promotions
There are some set promotions Amazon has for new accounts, such as to reload your Amazon balance with $100 and get a $5 or $10 bonus. As a new Amazon accountholder, I was able to do the reload deal again. Some of the Amazon’s other services, like Music Unlimited and Audible offer free trials for new users, and each account is treated separately.
On a related note, having a second Amazon account allows me two shots at getting targeted for various Amazon promotions, such as the current $30 off $60 when using Pay-with-Points. In the event both accounts were targeted, it means being able to do the promotion twice. I got lucky on the $30-off-$60 promo and was able to do that one twice.
It’s especially useful for me as a blogger to be able to verify the terms of any given deal and to see whether it’s being found on all accounts or it’s targeted. I even have a third Amazon account which is non-Prime to see which deals are targeted at Prime.
See also our Complete Guide To Saving Money On Amazon (Save 8% – 27%+).
Double Orders
Amazon has various Daily Deals or Gold Box Deals or Lightening Deals which are limited to one per customer. Often they put out deals on gift cards which I buy, and these are limited to one per customer as well.
I wondered whether it was allowed to order one on a personal account one on a business account. I chatted with Amazon and they informed me that so long as the billing address on the purchases are different, it would be fine. It’s probably not smart to play with Amazon’s limits, but in this case of a personal account and business account they were okay with it.
My 10 or 15 year old quite active amazon account is also offering me 15% off in various categories. I see the message pop up periodically at the bottom of a product page (or maybe sometimes in the checkout page?)
I’m pretty sure this is something that isn’t targeted only at new amazon accounts.
I think you’re referring to this?
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/ymmv-amazon-get-15-off-specific-categories-use-one-american-express-membership-rewards-point-15-maximum-discount/
or this
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/amazon-save-15-various-categories-using-1-mr-point-tvs-toys-books-baby-auto-pet-video-targeted/
Our post is discussing something else. It’s a coupon, not a pay-with-points deal.
Chuck, where do you see these? On the coupons page in your account?
I’m not sure if it shows there. For me it shows on the regular item page where you add the item to your cart. I’ll clarify in the post.
I have had an Amazon account for years and see the 15% off for a max of $15 on Outdoors and Camera stuff, though that is all I’m looking at recently. It looks like the coupon is either inconsistent, or more likely, requires Amazon itself to sell the item.
Have you ever purchased anything from those categories?
I just noticed your comment. I have ordered from the Outdoors category before. Not Camera though. As I looked more into it, I found out the coupons were only for Amazon sold items only. I took advantage of the Camera one before they ended my coupon offers. Not sure if they were a temporary offer to maybe get me to order from categories I looked at recently at the time, especially since it was Black Friday time.
Yes, that might be true, might be only for items sold by Amazon themselves.
Since it’s what you always ask for I’ll take the audacity for a little criticism which I think is constructive
I don’t think it’s a good idea to encourage people to bypass those one per person limit by opening new accounts which can cause shutdowns. I wouldn’t be excited about it especially on a website I use a lot
Sayin it just because I love you DOC 🙂
I simply relayed my chat with Amazon. Wasn’t coming to encourage anything of the sort. Do you have reason to believe that information isn’t accurate?
I added a cautionary note.
This is obviously an interesting angle. It’s not worth risking a shutdown to do it, but it’s hard for me to imagine why Amazon would shut you down for this. Does it violate any terms?
In my case, the told me it was fine for one personal account and one business account.
All of the benefits listed here apply equally to opening a second account for your spouse / kid — my wife shared my account for years but have enjoyed double dipping on some promos with her having a separate account now.
It’s clearly in moderation and justified in this case though. Two accounts -especially with one being personal and one being business is not going to be seen as “abusive” by any company with a brain and especially with Amazon who are pretty laxed about these kinds of things.