Personal finance expert Martin Lewis has given anyone buying from Amazon three pieces of key advice and told people how to get 50 per cent discounts. Appearing on This Morning with hosts Dermot O’Leary and Christine Lampard the personal finance expert explained there were little-known sites withing the retail giant offering big savings.

He said people need to check out three areas – Resale, Renewed and Outlet for deals – but warned ‘check any offers’. He said: “There are three departments in Amazon people don’t know about. First is Amazon Resale which is 50 per cent discounts on stuff Amazon has sent out and has been returned. You might have a slightly damaged box but they’ll tell you and give you the quality level. It’s so much cheaper and there are tools out there that can help you home in on the specific gift.

“So if you’re buying something have a look especially good for – Sue on Facebook ‘I bought a coffee machine for less than half price. The box was bashed but the machine looked brand new. Bargain.’

“It’s that kind of stuff we’re looking at. But it’s not in the main Amazon you have to go the Amazon Resale.”

A second site is great for people looking for technology bargains even from manufacturers like Apple and Samsung. He told ITV viewers: “Then there’s Amazon Renewed which is used previous generation tech normally over a year old that it has refurbished with a one year warranty. This could be Apple, Samsung, Dell laptops, headphones, games consoles, smart watches.

“Then there’s Amazon’s Outlet which is odds and ends ‘junk that you would like to put in your trunk’ is how I like to phrase it. Often there’s a load of tat on there that you don’t want but sometimes there’s a goldmine – especially toys for kids and games.”

One thing people need to be wary of is putting too much reliance on supposed price reductions, Mr Lewis said: ”But the final warning on Amazon, really important. Amazon likes to play a little bit fast and loose with its discounts. So when it’s said it’s discounted by 22 per cent the question you want to ask is ‘what is it discounted by 22 per cent from and when was it at that price?’

“There is a website totally independent from Amazon called Camel Camel Camel. You go on, you put the item you’re buying on Amazon and it shows you its price history. And it might be 22 per cent off now, but you might see three months ago it was 57 per cent off. So you can actually see how relevant the discount is that Amazon is telling you about is.

He also told shoppers of a basket trick which stores like Argos, Currys, Morrisons ‘hate’. He said: “The first point you want to raise is people are abandoning their shopping baskets. What do you mean by that?”

Martin replied the first point was to sign up for an account at the online retailer. He said: “So If you have a membership of a store that you shop at, so you want an account, you always need an account. What you do is you go in, you put in what you want to buy, and there’s still time to do this, so you put in the things that you want to buy, and then you don’t complete the transaction.”

Dermot said: “Oh, they hate that. You walk away. They do hate it, cos they then email me going, you looked at this.” Christine Lampard added: “They bombard you as well.”

Mr Lewis explained: “But what they do is they often email you and say you looked at this, would you. I’d like to buy it, here’s 10% off to help you complete the transaction. Here’s 20% off to help complete the transaction. I would normally wait 48 hours. I did a big survey on this last year, Argos, Currys, Morrisons, lots of other stores are doing this.

“Chris got in touch with me. Thornton’s Chocolates did this. I left my basket and they sent me a 10% code, and the day after they offered me free delivery. So you still have time. Time to play the abandon you basket trick, put your stuff in, walk away for a couple of days, as long as you’re still in the free delivery period, see whether they offer you anything.

“Do get in touch if that’s happened to you, it will have happened leading up to Christmas, is that going to get more or that’s why we’re just, well, once we get closer to Christmas, you’re gonna have to start paying for delivery and that cuts it off, so this is the moment to be doing that, this is sort of the last chance to be doing that, the abandon your shopping basket.”