Amazon Prime Day is undoubtedly one of the “shopping holidays” more confusing than there are. The members-only event lasts 48 hours, with early bird deals arriving before the actual sale. Amazon promises “millions of deals”, but often the discounts displayed are misleading – or downright false. Add in the limited-time Lightning Deals frenzy and the low-stock of ongoing global supply chain issues and you have a perfect recipe for spending a lot of money.
Do not be afraid! We are here to help. The Gear team at WIRED is familiar with common shopping pitfalls, and I’ve been a deal writer for nearly a decade. What time do sales start and end? How do you know if a deal is really an agreement? We’ve gathered our collective knowledge to prepare you for Amazon Prime Day (and beyond).
When is Amazon Prime Day?
This year, Prime Day falls on July 12th and 13th. This is similar to daylight saving time we’ve seen in the past, with the only outlier being a fall sale during 2020 due to the pandemic. When do Prime Day sales start?
The first deals have already started, but Amazon’s big event officially starts at 3am on July 12th. The sale lasts 48 hours.
Officially, yes. You must be an Amazon Prime member to purchase Amazon Prime Day deals. There is a 30-day free trial available for new accounts. The trial will allow you to participate in the sale – remember to cancel your subscription to avoid subsequent renewal charges.
There are some discounts available if you are not a subscriber (these offers may not be that great). But other major retailers, such as Target, Walmart and Best Buy, often hold simultaneous sales during the Prime Day event. Their prices are often very close to what Amazon is offering on the same products, and sometimes they match the price. This is a good way to participate in Prime Day if you don’t want to support Amazon.
Or is Prime Day worth it?
It all depends. For some items, Prime Day prices tend to be some of the lowest we’ve seen all year. This is especially true for Amazon hardware like Kindles, Fire Tablets and Echo devices, but there are other factors to consider. Prices fluctuate throughout the year, and some products are discounted quite often. Even if the price is good, an offer on a product that is always on sale detracts from the overall quality of that offer.
The sheer volume of business promoted by Amazon during Prime Day is both a blessing and a curse. Really good discounts can be hard to spot – there’s so much on sale that the overall selection can feel overwhelming. But there’s a good chance that the item you want is on sale. We’ve seen some fantastic discounts during Prime Day in the past, from cheap Kindles to massive discounts on Nintendo Switch. The tricky part is finding the diamonds in the rough.
How do you know if a deal is good?
ABC: Always check (prices, that is). Researching the price of an item is the most important aspect of determining the quality of a discount. Don’t fall victim to misleading marketing language and inflated MSRP pricing – our tips only take a few moments. The easiest step is to Google the items you are considering to see the price at various stores.
One tool we like to use is Camelcamelcamel, which tracks Amazon prices over time. Simply paste the Amazon link or ASIN (found in the Product Information section on the Amazon product page) into the Camelcamelcamel search bar and you will be able to see the lowest recorded price of an item, its average price, and how often the price floats. Some deals, like Lightning Deals, are excluded from the price history, but it’s still useful to see why an item sold in the past.
We also really like Keepa, which has an extension (available for multiple browsers) that shows recent product price history right on the Amazon page so you never have to open a new tab. Other great tools are Honey, which can save you money via promo codes, but also tracks price history across multiple retailers across the web, and Octoshop, which can quickly show you the price of a product across multiple retailers.
Keep in mind that these services may not work all the time. But being able to see how much a product costs before the sale starts (and if the MSRPincreased) can be very helpful. Putting these tools together can help you deduce whether a business is worth your money.
What is a lightning deal on Amazon Prime Day?
Lightning Deals are limited-time deals that Amazon executes for just a few hours each. They are not restricted to Prime Day, but are especially prevalent during big sale events. When an item sells out, you may be placed on a waitlist, but not always.
Speaking bluntly, the Lightning Deals selection is often full of impulse purchases like makeup and skincare or toys. Prime members can browse upcoming deals on the Amazon website and mobile app. The app can also alert you before a Lightning Deal starts. How to be sure that a business will not be sold?
It’s always disappointing when an item on sale runs out of stock. If you know what time a business starts, actively pay attention to the product page at start time. You can also add an item to your cart before the sale starts, so you can refresh the page to pick it up right away.
It’s smart to create an account at trusted retailers so you can save your credit card information and shipping details in advance. This will make the checkout process as quick as possible. It’s also a good idea to clear your web browser’s cache before you start shopping during sales events like Prime Day. Just be sure to log back in to these retailers afterwards.
If an offer sells out, there is a high chance that another store will offer a similar or corresponding discount.. Check other stores, especially large merchants. Sometimes expired offers may also be back in stock.
Should I buy it?
It’s easy to fall into a trap on Prime Day: you can see too much in a product that you don’t really need.Do not do it. Make a list of items you really wanted to buy before the event and save those links. When Prime Day kicks off, take a look around to see if they’re for sale and use the practices mentioned above to make sure it’s a really good deal. So buy it! Don’t buy a productonlybecause it has a good price.
If you want to make the most of Prime Day, make a list of gifts you might want to buy for friends and family. You can buy them during Prime Day if the price is right, or wait until Black Friday for similar, if not better, deals.
This article is a translation of the writing by Louryn Strampe to the website Wired.
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