Update: Amazon will now only offer 30-day price protection on TV’s. Also, when it comes to TV’s, they’ll only price match specific online retailers. But wait…

Amazon does not have an openly stated price protection policy. Most savvy Amazon shoppers are already aware that their price protection policy, which entitles you to money-back if the price is lowered after you receive the item, went away several years ago. BUT…not all hope is lost as often times the squeaky wheel gets the grease and you can still get price protection. Let’s break it all down…

Here is what you need to know to make this happen:

Keep an eye on your recent Amazon orders.

If you order regularly, check current pricing of the stuff you’ve recently bought.

I’ll login to my account and check prices at least once a week, especially during times of the year when my wife and I are doing a lot of purchasing (kids birthdays and Christmas).

Found a lower price?

Once you find an item you’ve recently purchased that is now being sold for less, simply go to the Amazon Contact Us page and start a chat session.

See Also: 14 Stores That’ll Happily Give You Amazon’s Lower Price 

Start a chat session.

Specifically, on the Contact Us page, under “Step 2 – Tell us more about your issue”, select “Payment issues” followed by clicking the “Chat” button at the bottom.

Be polite.

Politely explain the situation and inform them of the new lower price. They’ll ask for your order number, so be sure to have it at the ready.

Be Persistent…You Have Nothing to Lose.

When you start the chat, explain how ridiculous it is that you need to return the item then rebuy it at the lower price in order to get “price protection”.

Depending on the price of the item in question, ask for some money back for your inconvenience.

Either ask for the dollar amount of the price reduction, or on cheaper items ask for at least a $5 – $10 credit.

Be persistent.

In many cases, they customer service rep will grant you a promotional credit for the amount that the price was reduced.

Many in the comments have pulled off this tactic successfully so I figured it’s DEFINITELY worth trying.

Good luck.

See Also: Here’s How You Make an Amazon Return After 30 Days

The only requirement is Amazon fulfillment.

My watch batteries were sold by a company called “The Perfect Deals”, but the order was fulfilled by Amazon via Prime 2-day shipping.

I was happily surprised this was not an issue when it came to getting price protection.

A good rule-of-thumb is to look for Prime shipping eligibility; if it’s an eligible item then it’s almost always going to be fulfilled by Amazon.

You can EVEN get price protection if another Amazon seller has a lower price.

When I told the chat rep that the price of my batteries had dropped, I failed to realize that the price I was quoting him was actually from a different seller.

He informed me of this, and offered to give me the price of the other seller as a “one time exception”.

Keep this knowledge in your “discount holster” and fire it on an expensive purchase so you can maximize your cash-back.

Below is a copy of my chat transcript that details exactly how the whole thing went down.

Ask the Reader: Have you ever been able to get some money back from Amazon after buying something and then noticing that the price was lowered? Was it easy? How did the whole deal go down? I look forward to your comments.

By Kyle James

Kyle James( Owner/Founder )

I started Rather-Be-Shopping.com in 2000 and have become a consumer expert and advocate writing about out-of-the-box ways to save at stores like Amazon, Walmart, Target and Costco to name a few. I’ve been featured on FOX News, Good Morning America, and the NY Times talking about my savings tips. (Learn more)