At one time, you were able to enjoy a price protection policy when shopping online at Amazon.com. That means that you would have received a refund of the price difference if an item had dropped within 7 – 30 days after making your purchase (if you asked for it). For consumer-oriented holidays, like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Memorial Day sales, you may have been able to take advantage of savings of as much of 10 – 50% off how much your item had originally sold for. Not too shabby, but Amazon did away with this perk commonly offered by retailers and credit card companies last spring.

Not to worry – there are still a few ways to get price protection, even if Amazon has more stringent guidelines for what it will offer consumers. By using your credit card price protection perks (especially when combined with Sift’s automatic updating features!), you can get the lowest price your item qualifies for even if it’s no longer part of Amazon’s official policy.

Credit Card Price Protection

Price protection is one of the most common but underutilized retailer and credit card perks that you probably already have. While many retailers have a period of time under which they cover price protection, credit cards typically allot a generous 60 to 90-day period to wait for the price to change and get paid the difference. Almost all major credit cards offer some type of price protection, including Capital One, Chase, Wells Fargo, and CITI (see below). Depending on the credit card issuer/brand that issued you a credit card, the rules of reimbursement are subject to terms and conditions. Typically, most items are eligible from retailers unless the lower price is from an auction site (i.e. Ebay) or specified in the fine print.

Credit Card Price Protection by Brand

Here’s is a quick comparison of price protection by credit card brand:

 *This is not a comprehensive list and benefits may vary depending on your credit card’s issuer. To find out more information, call your bank to get the specifics of your credit card price protection benefits.

Amazon’s Current Policy

The truth is that Amazon now has a more stringent policy in place for their price-matching, only allowing for changes in the price of televisions after the date of sale. However, you can still try by sending a message via Amazon’s “Returns and Refunds” page here. Many consumers have said that this method is hit-or-miss, but there is an even bigger drawback; while you may have your refund request granted, Amazon keeps track of how many returns you submit. Too many and you may find yourself blacklisted from Amazon.

Sift Solution

Whether you’re concerned about receiving price protection through Amazon, other credit card purchases, or retailer, Sift has you covered. Typically, to take advantage of your credit card’s price protection benefit, you must monitor changing prices and then submit a claim to your bank to get paid. Most claims require original receipts and proof (links, screenshots, advertisements, etc.) that the exact item did change in price during the period specified. This can be a bit of a laborious process if you don’t have Sift.

Sift automatically keeps track of each item’s price protection for you. If the price of the item drops within the retailer window, Sift automatically claims it for you and, if it drops outside of a retailer’s window but is covered within credit card price protection window, we will also claim it for you!