What is Jet.com?
Lately I have been hearing a lot about Jet.com, and how it is the cheapest way to shop online. To see if this is true I decided to compare Jet.com’s prices head to head against Amazon, my long time favorite online store to score a deal online.
But first, a little about Jet.com. Jet.com is a fairly new website that was started with the idea of taking on Amazon directly by offering consumers lower prices.
How does it work? Who cares? Jet.com’s home page has a whole section on how it works, but I’m just not interested in that. I want to get straight to how much money I will save.
The Test
To see how Jet.com compares to Amazon, I went through the old artofbeingcheap.com archives and found 10 items I had recommended buying from Amazon because I thought they could save you money. If you want a little context, I have included links to those articles. I then looked up those 10 items on Jet.com to see if the prices were really cheaper than Amazon. This isn’t a large enough sample size to be statistically significant, but I think it will give us all an idea of whether it is worth our time to open up another browser window when we are shopping to price things on Jet before we hit the buy button.
When you factor in shipping, this test can get a little more complicated than it seems. Jet.com offers free shipping on orders over $35, so I assumed their shipping was free. Shipping at Amazon varies, but is often free. I included the shipping charges when applicable to Amazon.com items.
All of the items and prices were accurate as of the time this article was written, but it is likely that things have changed since then. Here are the results:
Items I couldn’t find on Jet.com
| Item | Amazon’s Price | Jet.com’s price | Article where you can find recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chromecast | $38.25 | n/a | Best devices to stream TV |
| Varidesk Pro Plus 36 adjustable standing desk | $350.00 | n/a | A standing desk costs less than you think |
What makes Amazon so great is not necessarily that they always have the best prices, but that they will almost assuredly have what you need. Amazon’s selection is unbeatable, and in this case it beat Jet.com on 20% of the items. For these items, not only didn’t I find what I had recommended on Amazon, I also didn’t find an equivalent item I felt was substantially the same.
Items I found that were equivalent
| Item | Amazon’s Price | Jet.com’s price | Article where you can find recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|
| LUCID 3 inch memory foam mattress topper | $149.99 | $124.79 | The cheap alternative to a memory foam mattress |
| Certified Appliciance stainless steel washing machine hose | $6.29 | $9.12 | DIY Plumbing maintenance anyone can do |
| Ominpure JJ inline phosphate filter | $15.71 | $15.74 | How to save $40 every 6 months with a refrigerator bypass |
| Total | $171.99 | $149.65 | |
| Savings | $22.34 | ||
| Savings Percentage | 12.99% |
On these 3 items, I couldn’t find the exact item I had recommended on Jet.com, but I found something that looked about the same. Adjustments may have been made to the prices in cases when quantities were not the same.
As you can see, 2 of the 3 items are cheaper on Jet.com with a total average savings of 13% cheaper. Not bad!
Head to head comparisons
| Item | Amazon’s Price | Jet.com’s price | Article where you can find recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roku 2 streaming player | $93.95 | $47.99 | Best devices to stream TV |
| 220 10” Dixie paper plates | $17.99 | $20.90 | 10 things you should buy in bulk |
| Huggies 246 count size 2 diapers | $42.00 | $37.59 | 10 things you should buy in bulk |
| 48 AA Maxell batteries | $12.99 | $12.40 | Rechargeable batteries are the way to save money this christmas |
| Raindrip automatic drip watering kit | $20.53 | $25.50 | Maintenance free landscaping ideas |
| Total | $187.46 | $144.38 | |
| Savings | $43.08 | ||
| Savings Percentage | 22.98% |
For 1/2 of the ten items I chose for this study I was able to find the exact same item on both sites, so these offer the best comparisons. Two of the items were cheaper on Amazon and 3 were cheaper on Jet.com Overall, Jet.com saved a total of $43 or about 23%.
Most of these savings were for a single item though, so keep in mind that the small sample size of this study means the only real conclusion we can draw is that when are shopping online at Amazon, it is wise to compare prices at Jet.com just to see if maybe they will save you a couple dollars.
Disclaimer: Links to Amazon are affiliate links. Links to Jet.com are not.
Thanks for this great review! I’m a big fan of Amazon too and I want to check out this Jet.com.