This Is Why AmazonBasics Products Are So Cheap

via amazon.com/amazonbasics

So just what is AmazonBasics, exactly? AmazonBasics is Amazon’s private label—the way Kirkland is Costco’s private label. AmazonBasics launched in September 2009 to sell primarily electronic basics (cables, blank DVDs… in other words, not the electronics themselves, but the basics you need to make them work). In the past nine years, however, AmazonBasics has grown into a full-on emporium—a microcosm of Amazon’s entire inventory, albeit, offering much better value. Find out the 24 things you should always buy on Amazon.

That being said, in some departments, the AmazonBasics offerings are a bit more, well, “basic,” as they say. For example, there are currently no televisions on AmazonBasics, but there are television wall mounts. There are no gas grills, but there are gas grill covers. However, in other departments, the choices seem endless. This is particularly true in Kitchen and Dining, which you could use to fully outfit your first kitchen, if not restaurant.

In either case, the savings are astounding. For example, you might see AmazonBasics’s red Solo-style cups offered at $16.49 for 240, while the Solo brand costs $26 for 200. Or you might see a cast-iron Dutch oven offered for $29.99, while the Viking brand version runs $99.99.

So how do they do that?

If you spend a little time surfing around all of the offerings on AmazonBasics, you’re bound to find yourself wondering, how are they able to offer these thousands of items from at least a dozen categories at prices this low? Brittney Mayer, a credit strategist at CardRates.com, shares the following insights with Reader’s Digest.

“AmazonBasics starts with the same premise as most private labels: they can skip the expensive packaging and advertising and allow the house brand name to speak for itself,” Mayer explains. And then they decide which items to include in the AmazonBasics line based on their analysis of actual customer demand. “You can be pretty certain that anything in the AmazonBasics line is a product Amazon has already deemed essential to its customers.”

Think washcloths, luggage, office supplies, cookware, bakeware, dishes, cutlery, and small kitchen appliances. Amazon knows its customers need, want, and actually purchase these items from the online site.

Prime customers save even bigger

Mayer points out that there are even bigger savings for Prime customers. “Everything in the AmazonBasics line is eligible for Prime treatment: free shipping and 5 percent cash back for Amazon Prime cardholders,” she said.  Read on for 17 Amazon Prime benefits you might not know about but should.