The Only Prime Day Shopping Tip You Need
Amazon Prime Day is almost here again. The shopping holiday has been a capitalist tradition since 2015, and this year the mega-retailer will offer four days of discounts on thousands of items of all kinds to Amazon Prime members instead of the usual two. The sale officially runs from July 8 to July 11, but early Prime Day deals are already in full swing — just check out our Prime Day Live blog to see for yourself.
While lists and online guides on how to take advantage of Prime Day savings can be helpful, the best advice if you want to save money on Prime Day is simple: Don’t buy anything you haven’t already planned on buying just because it’s on sale. And here’s the corollary: If you find a Prime Day “deal” on something you already wanted, make sure it’s actually a good deal .
Only buy things on Prime Day that you were planning to buy anyway.
The reason you should only buy things you already plan on Prime Day is because Amazon wants you to do the opposite. The entire sale is designed to entice you to buy things you don’t actually need or want, and to get you to sign up for an Amazon Prime membership.
Amazon sales (like all sales) are an attempt to inflate numbers by creating a “ticking clock” and a false sense of scarcity – which is why “lightning deals” have limited time windows and limited stock. They take advantage of people’s fear of missing out. Shouting “act now!” and “only available while supplies last!” is an old sales trick, but you’re unlikely to “miss out.” Amazon prices fluctuate constantly. Also: except for hot toys at Christmas and other special occasions, stocks usually don’t “run out.” So the trick is to keep an eye on Amazon prices.
Amazon Prime Day ‘Deals’ May Be Misleading
In the chart above (which I made using Keepa , a browser extension that compares Amazon prices over time), you can see the volatility of Amazon’s 5th-gen Echo Dot price over the past year. It’s not the same for every product, of course, but there’s nothing special about the Dot either.
We tend to think that the price of an item is fixed until there’s a special sale. But that’s not the case on Amazon. That $49.99 “list price” is very flexible; the item is regularly offered at a lower price. For example, the Prime Day price in October was $22.99. The price was raised right after Prime Day ended, which might make you think you “missed out,” but it was lowered again around Thanksgiving, so there was really no need to rush.
Here’s how prices have changed over a longer period of time:
As you can see, there was never a need to rush to Amazon to buy an Echo Dot lest you miss out on your chance to get a bargain. It was even offered as a “Lightning Deal” during the summer 2023 Prime Days, and the much-touted “lighting price” of $24.99 was higher than both the Prime Day price in October and the “Christmas shopping” price. In short, don’t fool yourself into thinking you have to act now to get a deal — and if you only buy what you planned, you won’t be burned as badly by the subsequent price drop.
How to Avoid Overspending on Amazon Prime Day
If you’re approaching this prime day with your eyes open and your heart of steel determined to resist the temptation to make foolish purchases, here are the steps you should take to maximize your chances of success and keep yourself from making impulse purchases.
Take advantage of a free trial of Amazon Prime
You won’t be able to take advantage of the Prime Day deals without an Amazon Prime membership . The service costs $14.99 per month or $139 per year, but they offer a 30-day free trial for new users, so you can sign up, get an Instant Pot, and then cancel for free. (Just set an alarm so you don’t forget.)
Amazon offers a six-month trial of Amazon Prime for students, and then it’s half price, $7.49 per month. If you’re on EBT or Medicaid, Prime costs $6.99 through Amazon Access and offers all the benefits of a traditional Prime membership and a free one-month trial for new users.
Use Amazon Wish List to Your Advantage
You can use Amazon’s wish list feature as a way to maintain shopping discipline — just go to the Amazon list page , create a new list called “Things I Was Going to Buy Anyway,” and add the items you hope will go on sale. Tell yourself that you’ll only buy these items, no matter how big the discount on LED light bulbs is.
Take advantage of Amazon promotional offers
During past Prime Days, Amazon has offered various promotions to earn free credits to buy Amazon products. Customers can earn credits by choosing slower shipping, watching certain movies, using various Amazon services, and jumping through other hoops. Explore and take advantage of these offers to save even more on Amazon Prime Day prices. It can be a pain at times, but if you want to save a few more dollars, this may be worth it for you. I will update this Prime Day promotions as they become available.
Set your own prices
Retail price comparison tools can be used to make sure your Amazon deal is actually a good deal. There are apps and extensions that provide price history for every item on Amazon and send you an email when your chosen items drop to a certain price. Some of them allow you to import your wishlist and then set the maximum price you’ll pay for your items — here’s how to do it . This will give you the freedom to ignore Amazon entirely on Prime Day unless you get a “buy” signal in your inbox.
Compare with other retailers
Even if the item you were planning to buy is already showing up on sale on Amazon at a price you like, don’t rush to click “buy.” It still might not be the best deal. Because of Prime Day’s popularity, other retailers (including Walmart, Best Buy, and Target) typically run their own promotions to compete with Amazon Prime Day, so check prices with those retailers before pulling the trigger.
Wait until November.
If you can stand the wait, you can get a better deal in November. Despite all the hype around Prime Day, the biggest discounts and markdowns almost always come during the holiday shopping season. Black Friday savings are likely to be greater than Prime Day savings overall, unless you’re buying things like school supplies and patio furniture, which typically aren’t on sale in November.