How to Tell If a Prime Day Deal Is Just a Scam
Amazon Prime Day 2025 is just around the corner . Over four days in July, you’ll find deals on products from companies both big and small competing for your clicks and the contents of your bank account.
Many of these offers will be called great deals, implying that by not buying the item on Prime Day, you’ll miss out on huge savings. But not all Prime Day deals are actually great deals — just because an item is discounted on Prime Day doesn’t mean it wasn’t cheaper before and won’t be cheaper later.
Luckily, there are a few strategies you can use to quickly figure out if that “great deal” really is just that.
How to Tell a Good Prime Day Price From a Bad One
One of the best ways to find out if a Prime Day deal is legit is to use a price tracker . These sites and tools track the prices of any item across many different stores and retailers where it is sold to give you the best possible price, as well as to show you if the current “deal” is actually that much lower than the original price or other offers that are out there.
A common trick to make a deal look good is to overprice a product : So when a company drops the price for something like Prime Day, it can claim a big discount even if the overall price isn’t much lower than the original price (if it’s lower at all). If something was originally $60, a company might raise the price to $75, then drop it back to $60, claiming it took a 20% discount. It’s accurate, but it’s sneaky, so be careful.
You can use a browser extension like Keepa to see the price history of an item. But other trackers, like Capital One Shopping , can help you find prices and price history for items across multiple stores. Their browser extensions are especially helpful: If there’s another store selling the same item you’re searching for on Amazon for a lower price, you’ll get a pop-up letting you know, with a direct link to that store’s product page.
However, knowing whether something is a good deal is not limited to getting the best price. You may see that the item is not cheaper elsewhere on the Internet, but there is more to consider than just the overall price.
Amazon’s own products will be sold at the best prices
It is Amazon Prime Day, after all. The company is here to sell as many products as possible, but it’s best if you buy Amazon products from Amazon . So the best tech deals are likely to be on Amazon’s own line of gadgets. Of course, just because an Amazon product is on sale for a great price doesn’t make it a “great deal.” If you’ve been looking for a brand other than Amazon, or just want to make sure you’re getting the best version of a product, be sure to compare deals from different companies.
Make sure you don’t buy outdated equipment out of ignorance.
I’m a big proponent of old technology: I think we should hold on to our devices longer than many of us do. However, I don’t think companies should sell you old technology as if it were new, especially when new technology is just around the corner.
Amazon is sometimes really helpful here: if you’re looking at an outdated version of a product, Amazon will let you know and link to the current version of that device. However, this is only true if Amazon offers that new version of the device, or if there’s a direct successor to that product. The lines are blurry these days: last year’s device isn’t necessarily outdated just because a new version came out, so Amazon isn’t always trying to sell you a newer product.
And that might be okay! The latest generation of laptops, tablets, smartwatches, and phones are often great choices: Technology advances so quickly that it can be economical and practical to buy older tech that still works well. However, Amazon telling you to buy something that won’t be able to update to the latest software this year is wrong. If you’re looking to buy tech on Prime Day, research is your friend. It’s more than okay to buy something that came out last year or the year before; what’s more important is to make sure the product still works as it should in 2026, and will last as long as you reasonably expect.
If the reason a device is priced so well is because it’s outdated, then it’s a bad deal.
Not everything that is “cheap” is good
Likewise, be wary of cheap equipment that just isn’t very good. It may be affordable, but if it doesn’t work well, it’s not worth the money.
This is often the case with many brands you’ve never heard of selling products for pennies on the dollar compared to other companies. Sure, you could save some money and go with these brands, but what about the long-term investment? Once Amazon’s 30-day return policy ends, you’re left without a customer support channel, something many of these small companies lack.
On the other hand, you may have heard of the brand, but the product itself just isn’t very good. It may seem like a steal to buy a huge 65-inch 4K TV for $500, but if the picture quality is bad, was it worth it? (No.)
Read reviews (not on Amazon if you can)
One way to make sure that TV is worth its steep discount, or that those cheap headphones will pass the listening test, is to read reviews of the products you’re considering buying. I’m not talking about Amazon reviews: Amazon ratings can be useful, but they can also be compromised. Sometimes the reviews don’t even match the product they’re supposed to be talking about, which doesn’t bode well for the honesty of the review. And in the age of AI, you can never be too sure who’s writing that customer review in the first place.
When it comes to tech, the best approach is to listen to reviewers with tech experience who put these products through their paces before giving their opinion. A resource like our sister site PCMag will help you figure out pretty quickly whether a TV is really worth the hype, and they show you their work so you can understand how they came to their conclusions.
In the end, it all comes down to taking your time and doing your research – the opposite of Amazon’s “BUY NOW” strategy. Resist the urge to buy something on impulse and make sure your money is going to the best possible product for your needs.