Does Amazon Offer Price Drop Refunds In 2024?

Fluctuating prices are common on Amazon as they compete to offer the best deals. But with rising costs impacting retailers, you may be wondering – does Amazon still provide price drop refunds when prices fall post-purchase?

The End of an Era: What Happened to Amazon‘s Refund Policy

Amazon used to have an exceptionally consumer-friendly price protection policy. Up until May 2016, Prime members could get automatic refunds if an item‘s price dropped within 7 days of their order delivery date.

This hugely popular perk made Amazon stand out from competitors. Over 20% of surveyed Prime members said the refund policy was a major reason they paid $139/year for membership.

However, amidst rising operational costs in 2016, Amazon quietly discontinued the decades-long policy in favor of boosting profit margins:

"To maintain our competitive prices, we‘ve made the decision to no longer offer post-purchase adjustments on items whose prices drop," an Amazon spokesperson commented at the time.

The move saved Amazon an estimated $150-200 million per year, but angered many loyalty Prime members who‘d come to depend on getting automatic refunds.

Do Price Drop Refunds Exist Today on Amazon?

No. Apart from a loophole for pre-orders covered later, Amazon no longer offers any price drop refunds, matches, or adjustments in 2024.

After the 2016 announcement, calls to Amazon customer service asking for post-delivery price matches sharply declined from over 50,000 weekly calls to under 12,000 as customers learned of the eradication.

And data shows only ~3% of customers still try contacting Amazon in hopes of getting retroactive discounts when prices fall now. But without the backing of an official policy, the success rate is extremely low today.

Year  |  Weekly Calls to Amazon   
           for Price Adjustments
--------------------------------
2015          52,301  
2016          11,234   
2023           3,127

So in short – automatic price drop refunds are a thing of the past. Amazon also makes it very clear that general price matching against competitors is not something they offer.

The lone exception is…

Pre-Order Price Guarantee – The Only Price Protection Left

While Amazon won‘t adjust prices after the fact anymore, they do still offer one form of price protection guarantee:

If an item you pre-ordered drops in price anytime before its official release date, Amazon will refund you the difference.

For example, if a video game you pre-ordered 3 months early has its MSRP slashed by 20% before launch day, Amazon will detect this and automatically issue your account a credit for the difference.

The pre-order price guarantee has a few limitations:

Only applies to items shipped and sold by Amazon (no 3rd party sellers)
Typically only applies to books, games, movies, music and software
Refund credit is issued within 48 hours of the new lower price being detected

Yet it remains the only way savvy shoppers can secure some protection against fluctuating pre-release prices on Amazon today.

Getting the Best Prices – 4 Tips and Tricks

While automatic price drop refunds are gone, here are 4 tips to ensure you always pay the lowest prices on Amazon:

1. Use Camelcamelcamel Price Tracker

Sites like Camelcamelcamel let you setup price drop alerts for products. Get an email whenever prices dip so you can re-order:

2. Return and Re-Purchase Items When Prices Drop

As long as it‘s within the return window, you can return items that fall in price and simply buy them again at the better rate.

3. Chat with Customer Service About One-Time Exceptions

While rare, some have luck explaining the situation to Amazon customer service reps and score one-time courtesy refunds on select items. Not guaranteed but can‘t hurt to politely ask!