TL;DR
Yes. You can grab the full 3‑year AWS Reserved Instance (RI) discount but only pay for a few remaining months by purchasing through the RI Marketplace. Combine that with Compute Savings Plans for maximum coverage, cost control, and minimized risk.
Motivation
When you think “cloud,” you probably think infra, DevOps, security, not finance. But the skyrocketing and often unpredictable cloud costs hitting engineering teams are very real. With confusing saving plans and unexpected pricing surprises, cloud cost becomes a burden that tech leaders shouldn’t have to solve alone.
That’s precisely why FinOps exists: bridging the gap between tech and finance. Udi Limor, 2bcloud’s FinOps Engineer, is here to share a powerful strategy you can’t do without.
The Secret: Short-Term 3‑Year RIs via the Marketplace
What’s the RI Marketplace?
AWS EC2’s RI Marketplace is an official marketplace for buying and selling Standard Reserved Instances with varying remaining terms and upfront pricing. Sellers unload RIs they no longer need, and buyers scoop them, often deep-discounted, without the usual 3-year commitment.
Why Short-Term 3‑Year RIs Work
| Benefit | Explanation |
| Deep discounts, light commitment | You lock in 30–70% off On‑Demand pricing by buying someone else’s remaining months—only paying for what’s left. |
| Better RI coverage | Since you’re buying short-term, you can scale up RI capacity opportunistically—without fearing unused capacity. |
| Synergy with Compute Savings Plans | The smart hybrid: buying short-term RIs covers predictable usage; Compute SP fills in the rest—offering flexibility and risk management. |
Real-World Results
One of our clients implemented this exact strategy over the last 30 days:
✅ 100% Compute SP utilization
✅ 98.76% RI utilization
✅ 94.7% total EC2 coverage
These numbers speak for themselves: short-term RIs can dramatically boost coverage without long-term commitment.
How to Do It
- Identify stable usage – Monitor AWS usage by instance family and region.
- Scout the Marketplace – Watch or set alerts for RIs approaching end-of-term (1–6 months left).
- Bid smart – Purchase short-term 3‑year Standard RIs.
- Top off with Compute SPs – Cover remaining predictable usage.
- Track utilization weekly – Target >95% combined coverage.
Added Perks of the Marketplace
- Sell unused RIs—recover up to 88% of your upfront cost (minus AWS’s ~12% fee).
- Avoid long-term lock‑in—once the term ends, you revert to SP or On‑Demand—no surprise multi‑year obligation.
- AWS manages all transactions, transfers, and billing. No manual admin fuss.
Final Takeaway
The AWS EC2 RI Marketplace lets you access 3‑year discount pricing with just months-long commitments. Paired with Compute SPs, this hybrid FinOps model delivers maximum savings, minimized lock‑in, and optimized coverage – a cost-efficiency win for any forward-thinking engineering team.
Want to see this in action?
I can build a dashboard or cost simulation tailored to your environment, just say the word.
— Udi Limor, FinOps Engineer @ 2bcloud
[email protected]
