Update 5/17/18: It’s been a nice run, but reader Alex tells us that this no longer works anymore.
You learn something new every day: If you order on Amazon via Alexa (available on any one of the Echo devices and on Dash Wand), the system allows you to order without any minimum, and no add-on restriction is applied.
Add-on items are products which Amazon will not give free shipping on, even to Prime members, since they are too cheap for it to be worth shipping out alone. Be sure to first activate Voice Purchasing in the Settings of your Alexa device, and then voice ordering will be able to bypass the minimum.
One tip which will make it easier to use voice shopping is to add the item to your cart manually, then when using voice ordering the system will immediately know which item it is that you want. (HT to minisnoey)
I personally hate the push toward voice shopping; I would sooner have people decide themselves how they like to shop. In any case, there are certainly some perks on voice shopping, including this add-on item trick and various Alexa deals. We’ve also written how you can use the Dash Wand to get Alexa-only deals, and as I understand this add-on item trick works with Dash Wand as well. (Dash Wand is currently free after Amazon credit.)
Others have been aware of this for a number of months now, but I just learned about it recently and thought I’d share.
There’s often another trick to bypass the add-on item problem: many small items are part of the subscribe&save program which does not have any minimums. I regularly use subscribe&save to get an item without a minimum, and it’s easy to cancel the subscription afterward. I’ve even surprised myself a few times and kept the subscription going.
I ordered an add on item on on 5/17 that was $4.69 on Alexa and the system approved the order so I am not sure if this is true.
Have you tried placing an order since then?
Sad they killed this. However, just pick a video game that is upcoming to pre-order and then cancel the pre-order once your add-on item arrives.
They’ll try to find a way to close that loophole by charging a cancellation fee and if it ships a restocking fee on video games. Enjoy it while you can as Amazon has gotten too big to fail.
The way I was grilled by Amazon chat agent the one time I used the pre-order then cancel “workaround” to get an add-on shipped made me think it’s far more likely Amazon would just outright ban the “abusers” just like it does to those who do “too many” returns.
It’s been a small nitemare trying to order an add-on item with the Wand.
Tried voice purchasing, adding the item to wish list, shopping cart.. No-go.
It finally went through via voice, but I lost track as to how it worked.
Anyone else pulling hair on this procedure?
You can also do the old preorder trick. Add an add on item to your cart, and then add a preorder item. There are tons of video games for preorder that don’t ship for 6-9 months. Since Amazon only charges you for things when they ship, not when they’re ordered, wait for the add on item to ship and then cancel the rest of the order which will now only be the preorder item. I’ve been doing this for years. Admittedly, using Alexa is probably easier than this method and you need to remember to cancel the preorder.
This is clever. Thanks for sharing!
Excellent tip. Thanks!
Thanks for sharing! Not a fan of voice shopping. Understand the savings but I have better things to do. 🙂 But want you to know I appreciate your sharing the information! As always, appreciate this blog very much and work you guys do. 🙂
Thanks!