Looking for a one-stop shop? Amazon Canada offers just about anything you may need, from one website.
And it’s not just what they offer, there are also many deals, with plenty of sitewide sales from Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Boxing Day. Toss in Amazon Prime for fast and free shipping, plus movie and music streaming, and Amazon already has a lot of your entertainment covered.
But does Amazon have the best prices? Well, we decided to compare them to 6 other retail giants to find out.
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Shopping at Amazon Canada
Amazon is a one stop shop for almost anything you might need.
Here are some things to keep in mind when it comes to shopping at Amazon Canada, either online or through the Amazon app.
Is Amazon Prime worth it?
One big question that always arises – is an Amazon Prime membership worth the monthly cost of $7.99 plus tax?
To start, here’s what comes with an Amazon Prime membership:
- free 2 day shipping (can be faster depending on where you live),
- Amazon Prime Video, TV, and Music, and
- free access to a rotating selection of Kindle eBooks to download.
Free Amazon Prime media
To start, you’ll get access to Amazon Prime streaming, giving you unlimited access to plenty of movies, TV, and music. If you use the service, this alone is more than worth the cost of membership, especially since it’s cheaper than Netflix.
That said, you’ll likely find yourself needing to buy extra channels for certain movies and shows you want to watch – which could make it more expensive than Netflix.
The free Kindle eBooks are like getting access to a library from the comfort of your own home (assuming you don’t mind reading eBooks).
Amazon Prime shipping
If these items don’t appeal to you, you’ll have to weigh whether the faster shipping provided with Amazon Prime is worth the monthly price.
Amazon Canada does offer free standard shipping on orders over $35 (pre-tax). With standard shipping, your order can take up to 10 days to arrive, depending on where you live.
Free shipping with Amazon Prime takes things to the next level. You’ll get your items delivered within 2 days and there’s no minimum purchase required.
The service you receive varies depending on where you live, however.
If you live in Toronto, Calgary, or Vancouver, have an order of at least $25, and place your order before noon – you’ll get your order the same day.
There’s also 1-day delivery available for those in select areas. Order at least $25 in one cart by the afternoon and you’ll get your items the next day.
You can see if this option is available to you by going to this Amazon page and entering in your postal code.
How much does Amazon Prime shipping save you?
So how much can you save with a Prime Membership if you want the faster shipping?
Let’s test an order – we’ll order 2 sets of 48 Energizer batteries, which cost $26.83 each, for a total order of $53.26 before taxes.
For this order, which will be delivered to Ottawa, here’s what the options are for delivery service if you don’t have Amazon Prime:
For this order, you can get free shipping without Prime, but you won’t get your stuff for almost a week.
But there are plenty of other options – they’ll just cost you upwards of $17.93.
However, if you have a Prime Membership, there’s no additional charges to get your items the next day. In fact, for this basic order of just over $50, your monthly Amazon Prime membership has paid for itself twice.
But this depends on you. If you think you could wait until the following Monday for these items, then no, Prime shipping won’t be of much value to you either.
Here’s a chart comparing the various costs for shipping these batteries.
Does Amazon offer price matching?
What about price matching? Amazon used to offer price matching on products, but no more.
In fact, when you click on the link that takes you to price matching, you get redirected to the payment method page.
In short, this won’t be an avenue to save more money at Amazon.
Amazon Canada deals
Amazon has various sitewide sales throughout the year. They typically have special deals on Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Boxing Day, and Amazon Prime day.
Amazon coupons
Amazon has plenty of coupons you can use to save on select products.
To see what’s available, sign in to your Amazon account and then head to this page.
To use one of the coupons, simply add the item to your cart, and the coupon will automatically be applied at checkout.
Amazon Echo & Alexa
Have an Amazon Echo device equipped with the Alexa voice assistant? You’ll be able to shop by speaking to your device.
With your Echo Alexa equipped device, you’ll be able to:
- create shopping lists,
- add items to your shopping cart,
- get details on sales, and
- order items through your device.
You can learn more about Alexa here.
How do Amazon prices compare?
The top question on everyone’s mind – how do Amazon Canada’s prices compare to others?
It’s definitely easy to only look at Amazon when online shopping. It carries a huge number of items, and with seemingly low prices, it’s a convenient option.
The truth? Amazon’s prices aren’t always the lowest.
We’ve compared Amazon to 6 other retailers to see what they have to offer. These retailers are:
- Best Buy,
- Walmart,
- Canadian Tire,
- Indigo,
- Costco, and
- eBay.
We compared 10 identical (or near identical) items for each retailer. We looked at the competitor’s site for an item, and checked to see if it was available at Amazon, either as an exact match, or something incredibly similar (this last part was rare). If it was in stock, we added it to our list. We didn’t go out of our way scouring the competitor site to see what had lower prices than Amazon.
We also didn’t worry about shipping, unless we were told it specifically had extra charges (this only applies to eBay). For the others, you can either get it delivered for free, or shipped for free to your nearest store.
Without further ado, here’s what we found.
Electronics and computers: Amazon vs. Best Buy Online
Best Buy is one of Canada’s largest retailers when it comes to purchasing electronics. With plenty of locations around Canada, free shipping, and special sales like Black Friday, it’s not hard to see why shopping at Best Buy is popular.
Amazon is no slouch in this department either, giving consumers plenty of choice when it comes to purchasing new electronics.
Here are the various items we compared.
| Store & Price | ||
|---|---|---|
| Product | Amazon | Best Buy |
| Bose SoundLink II Over-Ear Wireless Headphones with Mic | $269.00 | $269.99 |
| JBL Flip 5 Waterproof Bluetooth Wireless Speaker | $149.98 | $149.99 |
| TCL 4-Series 55″ 4K UHD HDR LED Roku OS Smart TV | $379.99 | $399.99 |
| Canon EOS Rebel SL3 DSLR Camera with 18-55mm Lens Kit | $759.99 | $769.99 |
| Sony Blu-ray Player | $88.00 | $89.99 |
| Xbox One S 1TB Console | $379.96 | $379.99 |
| Canon PIXMA TR8520 Wireless All-In-One Inkjet Printer | $199.99 | $199.99 |
| Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.1″ 32GB Android 9.0 Tablet With 8-Core Processor | $299.99 | $299.99 |
| Microsoft Surface 3 13.5″ Touchscreen Laptop (Model VGY-00001) | $1,349.00 | $1,349.00 |
| Fitbit Versa 2 40mm Smartwatch with Amazon Alexa & Heart Rate Tracking | $229.95 | $229.95 |
| Total cost | $4,105.85 | $4,138.87 |
Savings if you shop at Amazon: $33.02
This was quite close, as almost every product was within $1 for price with the exception of the camera and TV we looked at. No matter which retailer you shop at, the prices should be competitive.
Groceries: Amazon vs. Costco
Amazon also has groceries for delivery. You’re able to purchase many basic non-perishable food items and have them delivered to you.
Costco also has its own online grocery delivery service. Simply make sure the list in your cart contains at least $75 worth of items, and there’s no delivery charge. There’s one more point to note with Costco – some of their items come in larger containers than what Amazon sells. To account for this, we proportionally increased the Amazon price for proper comparison.
| Store & Price | ||
|---|---|---|
| Product | Amazon | Costco |
| Grown Right Organic Orange Juice (1.89L, 2 count) | $31.94 | $9.99 |
| Almond Breeze Unsweetened Original Almond Milk, 6 pack | $35.89 | $13.99 |
| Tim Hortons Original Blend Fine Grind Coffee, 1.36 kg | $24.77 | $21.99 |
| Alcan All-purpose Cooking Pans, 30-pack | $21.95 | $9.99 |
| Lindt Lindor Assorted Chocolates | $36.78 | $18.99 |
| Gain Liquid Laundry Detergent, 5.91 L | $19.42 | $23.99 |
| Kraft Smooth Peanut Butter, 2 kg | $7.92 | $7.89 |
| Heinz Ketchup, 2-pack (1.25 L bottles) | $9.28 | $8.99 |
| Kraft Dinner Original Macaroni and Cheese, 12-count (340g boxes) | $20.33 | $13.99 |
| Hershey’s Chipits Pure Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips, 2.4 kg | $49.99 | $17.99 |
| Total cost | $258.27 | $147.80 |
Savings if you shop at Costco: $110.47
Amazon Canada was no match for Costco in the groceries department. And these Costco prices were all from their website, and would likely be less if you went to a warehouse location to get them.
Home products: Amazon vs. Walmart
Need some new products for your home? Whether it’s for a home office or home gym, Walmart has a lot of products in its inventory.
So, here’s how Walmart compares to Amazon when it comes to products for the home.
| Store & Price | ||
|---|---|---|
| Product | Amazon | Walmart |
| Instant Pot 6 Quart 6-in-1 Multi-Use Electric Pressure Cooker | $89.97 | $89.97 |
| Hamilton Beach Flexbrew 2-Way Coffee Maker | $119.98 | $79.98 |
| Fuller Hammer Tubular Claw – 16 oz | $9.98 | $9.98 |
| Glad Blue Recycling Bags – Large 90 Litres – Easy-Tie Handles, 30 Trash Bags | $10.49 | $22.51 |
| Texas Instruments TI-30XIIS Blue Scientific Calculator | $15.99 | $19.97 |
| Hilroy 1 Subject 3 Hole with Margin Notebook | $4.64 | $4.29 |
| SpongeTowels Ultra Choose-A-Size 6’s 2–Ply Paper Towel | $27.40 | $27.40 |
| VTech VM5261 5″ Digital Video Baby Monitor | $119.99 | $159.98 |
| Energizer MAX Alkaline AA Batteries, 48 Pack | $26.63 | $26.98 |
| Monopoly Classic Game | $19.93 | $19.93 |
| Total cost | $445.00 | $460.99 |
Savings if you shop at Amazon: $15.99
These retailers are well-matched in overall pricing. However, Walmart had one item whose price was much lower than at Amazon (the coffee maker), and Amazon had one item much cheaper than Walmart (the baby monitor).
Otherwise, these retailers had very similar prices.
Books and gifts: Amazon vs. Indigo
Canada’s largest book store, Indigo also offers plenty of products besides books. You can get toys, games, gifts, and even products for your home.
So let’s see how it compares to Amazon, whose origins were an online bookstore. We also looked at a few other products besides books, to see what’s available.
| Store & Price | ||
|---|---|---|
| Product | Amazon | Indigo |
| Book – Is This Anything? By Jerry Seinfeld | $33.10 | $25.00 |
| Book – Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man by Mary Trump | $21.39 | $21.69 |
| Book – The Answer Is…Reflections on My Life by Alex Trebek | $23.51 | $25.00 |
| Book – I Promise by Lebron James | $14.99 | $20.00 |
| Book – How the Grinch Stole Christmas Anniversary Edition by Dr. Seuss | $21.57 | $21.99 |
| Book – The Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook 2001-2021 | $49.50 | $50.00 |
| Melissa & Doug Busy Barn Shaped Jumbo Jigsaw Floor Puzzle | $16.99 | $16.99 |
| Bruder Caterpillar Excavator | $99.99 | $99.99 |
| Kobo Libra H20 | $199.99 | $199.99 |
| Total cost | $481.03 | $480.65 |
Savings if you shop at Indigo: $0.38
Indigo takes this round, but it was incredibly close. Overall you can’t go wrong with either store when it comes to books or toys.
Sports, tools, and outdoors: Amazon vs. Canadian Tire
One of Canada’s oldest retailers, Canadian Tire offers a large selection of products for the home, including tools, sporting goods, and items for the outdoors.
One thing to note about Canadian Tire – they don’t offer free shipping to your home, only free pickup at your local store. If you order something online, it’s either already in stock or will get shipped to your nearest store. There’s always a charge if you want it sent to your home.
| Store & Price | ||
|---|---|---|
| Product | Amazon | Canadian Tire |
| DEWALT 20-Volt Max Compact Lithium-Ion Cordless Combo Drill Kit | $195.07 | $199.89 |
| Stanley Professional Grade Socket Set, 99-pc | $119.95 | $299.99 |
| Spalding Hercules Acrylic Portable Basketball System, 54“ | $549.99 | $599.99 |
| Wilson Evolution Official Size Basketball | $69.99 | $69.99 |
| WORX 20V 2Ah Grass Trimmer | $149.57 | $129.99 |
| Coleman Poly-Lite Cooler, 45L | $69.06 | $28.99 |
| Gardena Zoom Maxx Spike Sprinkler | $49.99 | $49.99 |
| Thermacell Radius Mosquito Repeller | $72.49 | $69.99 |
| Coleman Instant Tent, 6-Person | $327.19 | $174.93 |
| 14-Gauge Outdoor Extension Cord, 50-Feet | $39.72 | $20.99 |
| Total cost | $1,643.02 | $1,644.73 |
Savings if you shop at Amazon: $1.71
Another close call, with Amazon Canada edging out Canadian Tire.
But unlike the other ones we’ve seen so far, there were some big swings in the prices between the 2 stores. It all depended on whether the item at Canadian Tire was on sale or not. If it was, it was cheaper, if not, more expensive.
If you’re looking to buy something that falls in Canadian Tire’s wheelhouse, always check to see what they have, you could score a great deal.
Cheap imported products: Amazon vs. eBay
A store you may think of for getting used items, eBay actually has a wide variety of new items available directly from retailers, including products like clothing, shoes, and appliances, often direct from the manufacturer.
Most of these items included free shipping, but if they did require paid shipping we included it in the total cost, based on eBay’s estimate.
| Store & Price | ||
|---|---|---|
| Product | Amazon | eBay |
| WORX WX254L SD Semi-Automatic Cordless Screw Driver with 11 Bits | $59.99 | $39.99 |
| Under Armour Men’s Rival Fleece Logo Hoody | $45.11 | $59.95 |
| Cuisinart Compact Single Serve Coffee Maker, Stainless Steel | $158.25 | $102.99 |
| Milwaukee 2697-22CT 18V Cordless Hammer Drill and Impact Driver Combo Kit | $299.99 | $279.99 |
| Breville BKE820XL 1.8L Variable Temperature Kettle | $199.99 | $111.99 |
| Bose Soundbar 700 | $999.00 | $999.99 |
| DEWALT DCS334B 20-Volt MAX XR D-Handle Cordless Jig Saw (Tool Only) | $299.99 | $205.99 |
| Citizen Quartz Black Dial Stainless Steel Men’s Watch | $121.98 | $107.99 |
| Lenovo 300 USB Keyboard | $31.26 | $27.99 |
| Superdry Surplus Goods Pop Over Hood | $125.49 | $103.28 |
| Total cost | $2,341.05 | $2,040.15 |
Savings if you shop at eBay: $321.14
Buying directly through eBay can save you some money. And, this doesn’t even touch all the used items people are selling that are in near-perfect condition.
Want to see the best cash back credit cards for online shopping? These credit cards will earn plenty of rewards anywhere you shop.
Amazon credit card and alternatives
What are the best credit cards to use for your Amazon shopping?
First, let’s go over the
| Annual fee: | $0 |
| Type of reward: | Amazon dollars |
| Reward details: | * Earn 2.5% back at Amazon.ca and on foreign currency transactions with a Prime membership * Earn 1.5% back at Amazon.ca without Prime * Earn 1% back on all other purchases |
| Average rate of return %: | 1.02% |
| Purchase interest rate: | 19.99% |
| Income requirement: | None |
What does this card offer? You’ll be earning Amazon dollars you can use towards purchases made at Amazon.ca.
What do you earn for rewards? It all depends on whether or not you’re a Prime member.
If you are, you’ll earn 2.5% back in rewards on purchases made at Amazon.ca and Whole Foods. You’ll also earn 2.5% back on purchases made in foreign currencies.
If you’re not a Prime member, you’ll earn 1.5% back in rewards at Amazon and Whole Foods.
Regardless of Prime membership, you’ll earn 1% back in rewards everywhere else.
The card also offers basic extended warranty and purchase protection insurance.
It has no annual fee or income requirements.
3 Amazon credit card alternatives
There are better credit cards out there, especially if you’re a frequent Amazon shopper and don’t have a Prime membership.
Here are 3 other credit cards to consider for not just Amazon Canada, but for anywhere you shop.
| Category | Credit Card | Average Earn Rate % | Annual Fee | Apply for Card |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best credit card for online shopping | Brim World Elite Mastercard | 1.3% | $89 | Apply Now |
| Best cash back credit card | Amex SimplyCash Preferred | 2.55% | $119.88 | Apply Now |
| Best no fee credit card | Brim Mastercard | 0.83% | $0 | Apply Now |
1. Best credit card for online shopping
Our top credit card for online shopping is the
With this card, you’ll earn 2% cash back on your first $25,000 in annual purchases (and 1% afterwards).
But where it really shines is with online shopping. You can earn anywhere from 3% to 40% back in rewards when you shop with Brim’s 150+ retail partners. There are a wide variety of different merchants to shop with.
One of those merchants? Amazon, where you’ll always earn double points on those purchases (so for this card, up to 4% cash back).
It also has no foreign transaction fees, saving you on purchases that aren’t made in Canadian dollars.
Just note that this credit card has a high annual fee of $89, and income requirements of either $80,000 personal or $150,000 household.
2. Best cash back credit card
Looking for a great credit card that has a high base earn rate, but also has no income requirements and a lower annual fee?
The
With this card, you’ll earn unlimited 2% cash back on every purchase you make. It’s increased to 4% on groceries and gas.
And while Amex acceptance can be an issue, almost every semi-major online retailer accepts American Express cards (Costco is one exception).
And, this package is for an annual fee of $119.88, with no income requirements.
3. Best no fee credit card
Prefer not to pay an annual fee? The
You’ll earn 1% cash back on every dollar you spend. And like its World Elite brother, you’ll get bonus rewards when shopping at select retailers, including double points on your Amazon shopping.
And it also has no foreign transaction fees, saving the typical 2.5% fee charged by most other credit cards.
3 credit cards head-to-head
How do these 3 credit cards stack up? These 3 cards are head and shoulders above the Amazon credit card.
Here’s how these 3 cards stack up in a few key categories.
Average rate of return
For average rewards, based on a typical $2,000 monthly spend, the Amazon credit card can’t really compete with our 4 alternative credit cards, with one exception.
The Brim and Amex cards are superior here.
Estimated insurance value
These credit cards all offer decent insurance packages, with the
Here’s what each of these 5 credit cards has in terms of the estimated value of their included insurance.
All of our alternatives are better in this regard compared to the Amazon credit card.
Want to see more credit cards that are great for Amazon purchases? Here are some other credit cards to look at.
FAQ
Does Amazon price match other retailers?
Unfortunately, no, Amazon doesn’t match prices from other retailers. If you see a lower price elsewhere, you’ll have to make your purchase with them.
What is the best credit card for shopping at Amazon?
Our top credit card for Amazon shopping (as well as any online retailer) is the Brim World Elite Mastercard, which offers up to 2% cash back on all purchases, and earns bonus rewards at 150+ online retailers – including Amazon.
Is Amazon always the cheapest option for shopping?
Based on our research, Amazon isn’t always the cheapest option when shopping. However, their prices are very competitive, and more often than not they will have the best prices.
How can I find the right credit card for me?
We have plenty of ways to find the best credit card for you. You could start with our best card pages, listing the best credit cards in many different categories. There’s our compare cards page, where you can set your preferences and see the best cards for you updated in real time.
Finally, you can take our creditcardGenius quiz. Complete our 3 minute quiz and we’ll let you know what’s the best credit card for you.
creditcardGenius is the only tool that compares 126+ features of 229 Canadian credit cards using math-based ratings and rankings that respond to your needs, instantly. Take our quiz and see which of Canada's 229 cards is for you.
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