Amazon Prime Pantry Takes on FreshDirect

Nobody gets more excited about a new food delivery service than I do, so when I heard about Amazon Prime Pantry I knew I wold have to give it a try. As a mother of two and a clean eating cook-at-home type, my family goes through all the pantry items regularly. But living in a small home in an urban neighborhood, I have neither the space or patience to make trips to warehouse stores like Costco to buy my pantry items in bulk. Where would I store them?

When I heard that Amazon Prime Pantry allows Prime members to fill a large box with regular size pantry items at Amazon low prices I knew this was something I had to try.

I am always looking for more ways to get my money out of my $99 Amazon Prime membership, but still, I want to make sure this service will actually SAVE me money.

How can I do that? Let's make a side by side comparison of an Amazon Prime Pantry box and the same items on Freshdirect - another fabulous grocery delivery service available to families like mine living in Manhattan and other urban neighborhoods.

Follow along as I compare prices on my pantry staples on Amazon and Freshdirect to see if Amazon Prime Pantry really is a good deal for families like mine...whether you're gluten-free, peanut-free, clean eating or goldfish cracker munching!

YES!

In summary, the prices on Amazon Prime Pantry are much better than on a grocery delivery service like Freshdirect. As long as you can deal with the constraints of Amazon Prime Pantry.

Amazon Prime Pantry ONLY offers shelf-stable grocery items. So no meat, produce or milk. You will still need Freshdirect or your local food store for those purchases.

Amazon Prime Pantry ships one (1) box which holds 4 cubic feet (or 45 pounds) of pantry items for a $5.99 shipping charge. Once your box goes over that volume or weight, another box is started for another $5.99 in shipping. So to get the most value out of this program, you need to buy 4 or 8 (or 12...) cubic feet of groceries - which are tracked in your cart so you know just how many boxes you will be getting. In contrast, all Freshdirect orders ship for $5.99 or $6.99 depending on your location - no matter the size of the order. But with Amazon Prime Pantry no awkwardness about whether or not to give a tip!

Wondering if you've filled up your box? Easily track your grocery volume by mousing over the shopping cart icon at any time. You will get a status on the top right of the page showing just how much of the box you have filled with your selected items.

Are you up for this money saving challenge? If so, Amazon Prime Pantry is for you. And once you get the hang of it, you can shop from previous orders to continue to get the best price for your staples over and over.

Here are the grocery items I put in my Pantry box:

The Amazon Prime Pantry groceries win hands down. Just the few items selected above come in at a collective 34% cheaper than Freshdirect.

Pay less for healthy snacks and staples with Amazon Prime Pantry

Are you leading a healthy gluten free or Paleo lifestyle? If so, you know that staples like coconut oil, gluten free pastas and chips, and protein bars can get pricey. Especially if you live in an urban neighborhood like Manhattan where grocery stores are few and far between. You might be tempted to order these items on Freshdirect, which does have a great selection, but I found a great price savings on all of these items on Amazon. Unfortunately, not all of them were available for the Amazon Pantry Box program. But ordering them separately with Amazon Prime would still pay off.

Here are the Gluten Free items I included in my Amazon Panty Box:

Clearly the Amazon Prime Pantry prices are lower, up to 37% lower in the case of the Almond Meal!

Everything from formula to food for less!

Got baby? I remember when my kids were small the best way to save money - or so we thought - was to rent a car and head to Costco on the weekend to load up on formula, diapers, wipes and baby food. But after the cost of tolls, and gas did we save anything at all? Probably not.

Now, even parents in small apartments who do not want to buy in bulk can save big. I compared several baby items on Amazon Prime Pantry to the same products on Freshdirect and found that the majority of them were less on Pantry. Find top notch baby brands like Earth's Best, Happy Tot Organic, and Gerber Organic and Enfamil on Amazon Pantry and buy regular sized items like you would at the grocery store, for lower prices. For even more savings, find these products in bulk sizes on Amazon and use your Prime membership to stock up with Free Shipping.

I would recommend against loading up your pantry box with diapers and large containers of formula since they do take up space. For those, take advantage of your Amazon Prime membership to get them delivered with free shipping in 2 days time.

Save your Amazon Pantry box for baby foods and cereals. A Pampers Swaddlers Diapers Economy Pack ships for free in 2 days with you Amazon Prime membership

Pampers Swaddlers are the #1 Best Seller in Baby Products on Amazon.com. With free 2-day shipping on Amazon Prime and a price even lower than Diapers.com it's no wonder. Amazon Prime members, subscribe to Amazon Mom for free and save an additional 20% on these already low prices!

Find conventional and organic household cleaners on Prime and Pantry for less

Whether you clean with conventional products like Tide and Windex, or all natural organic cleaners like Seventh Generation, you can find the products that you know and love in conventional sizes on Amazon Prime Pantry.

All of the items pictured right are cheaper on Amazon Prime and Pantry than on Soap.com!

Just remember, if you want to save space - order one at a time on Amazon Prime Pantry. If you have your own huge pantry at home, check out the savings when you buy in bulk with your Amazon Prime membership.

Amazon.com wins hands down. This 100 Fl Oz bottle of Tide HE Liquid Laundry Detergent is $11.97 on Amazon Prime Pantry compared to $19.29 on Soap.com