Digital sales of media continue to be a booming business, particular in the midst of a global pandemic. It allows people to get their TV, movie, game, or reading fix without having to leave your home or waiting for a package to show up at your doorstep. For companies, they see it as a way to make more money since they don’t have to pay to produce a disc or book, and they may decide to release a title they view as too risky to release outside of downloadable formats.
As I’ve said before, I vastly prefer physical media. I like to touch and show off my purchases — or even sell them. But while I personally find it ridiculous that some companies price their e-versions almost the same or the exact same as physical versions, some digital deals make it impossible to pass up. While I mostly share tips on how to get cheap anime and manga on places like Amazon, today is all about ways to get digital content even cheaper. Some of these tips may seem familiar to you, but hopefully you will find a new idea or two!
Humble Bundle
Probably the holy grail of digital deals. Mostly applies to Windows games and eBooks, but you can score an incredible new collection for as little as $1 and usually under $30 for the full, preselected set. For example, the last Kodansha Comics bundle included all of Beck, Descending Stories, Love Hina, Parasyte, and Princess Jellyfish, plus the bulk of the currently released volumes of Space Brothers and To Your Eternity for a minimum donation of $20 — and part of the money goes to charity!
Manga and/or light novel bundles run about every three to six months, but Japanese-related or inspired games appear much more often. Packages can run for as little as a week (usually those are in response to a major societal event) but most run two to three weeks. So check once or twice a month and you should catch most of these amazing deals.
Amazon No-Rush Digital Rewards
This program sometimes goes through some downtime and changes, and it has been currently more limited than before since the COVID-19 pandemic. Hopefully things will go back once things are back to normal, as it is how I acquired a lot of digital manga.
If you’re a Prime member and don’t need an order right away, check to see if you can opt for a slower shipping option. Amazon may offer you a credit to spend on digital TV/movies, music, books, or apps. It was $1 initially, but it climbed as high as $3 in the early days of stock-up fever in the pandemic. Keep an eye on expiration dates here, but there doesn’t seem to be a limit on how much you can acquire.
Amazon Kindle Spending Credits
Every few months (usually around events like Prime Day and Black Friday), Amazon has a promotion where you spend $20 in eBooks, get a $5 credit. While the terms may slightly change depending on the time, usually, the $5 is automatic once you hit the threshold. I can also confirm that the no-rush credits do count, so if you have enough rewards saved up, you don’t have to spend a penny out of pocket.
BOOK☆WALKER Sign-Up Bonus
BOOK☆WALKER‘s manga reading experience impressed me, but if you want to try it for yourself, I recommend waiting for the best offer possible. They usually offer 50% back in coins (BOOK☆WALKER credits) for new customers, but I’ve seen it as high as 80%. So unless there’s a specific sale you want to take advantage of (and yes, they can have some good coin back offers and sale prices), wait for a really good offer to join. As you might expect, the best times appear to be around holidays.
Steam Summer/Winter Sales
Another popular sale. For about two weeks around the Fourth of July and Black Friday, a large number of game publishers put their games on sale at Steam. Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft have their own major sales throughout the year, but none can match the breadth of games discounted during the biannual Steam sales. Plus, right now, they are offering an automatic $5 off $30, that makes the deals even better.
Buy gift cards
Save a few bucks and look for store promotions on gift cards to use at digital venues. Apple App Store and Google Play Store are usually the easiest to find on sale, but there are gaming store deals out there. App Store gift cards regularly go on sale for $40-45 for $50 and other similar discounts. The Kroger chain of grocery stores often offer 4X Fuel Points during the summer weekends when you buy gift cards. If you are planning on spending the money anyway, you can turn it into saving money on gas. Target recently had a ‘buy a gaming gift card get 10% off a second’. Even if you aren’t planning on buying anything right away, you can add the credit to your account and wait for a sale on what you want.
Google Opinion Rewards
Here’s an easy way to rack up some money to spend on digital items. Download the Google Opinion Rewards app, and you may be eligible to answer questions. Even if you don’t get the full survey, you still get at least $.10 for answer a couple of easy questions, like how old are you or did you watch a certain video. Sure, a dime may not seem like much, but if you go through the full survey (usually under 5 questions), that goes up to around $.50. Even if you can only do one a week, that money can add up when you combine it with sales.
Fandango
If you go to the movies often, you might have signed up for a rewards program with your theater, like AMC Stubs. With these, you may be able to avoid the surcharge for online ticketing at Fandango. Regardless, every four tickets purchased at Fandango earns you a $5 reward, which you can turn into another movie ticket or use at FandangoNow, their streaming/rental service which includes TV shows (including anime) and movies.