How Can You Tell If a Prime Day Promotion Is Just a Gimmick?
Amazon Prime Day is just around the corner . Throughout the week, you’ll find promotions on products from companies large and small, each vying for your clicks and your bank account balance. Many of these offers will be marketed as bargains , implying that if you don’t buy during Prime Day, you’ll miss out on huge savings.
But not all Prime Day deals are truly that great—just because an item is discounted on Prime Day doesn’t mean it wasn’t cheaper before or won’t be cheaper later. Luckily, there are a few strategies to quickly determine whether it’s truly a “great deal.”
How to distinguish a good price from a bad one on Prime Day
One of the best ways to determine whether a Prime Day deal is truly a good deal is to use a price tracker . These sites and tools track prices on any item across various stores and retailers to offer you the best possible price and also show whether the current “discount” is actually significantly lower than the original price or other offers.
A common trick to make deals look good is to artificially inflate the price of an item . When a company lowers the price, for example during a Prime Day promotion, it may claim a significant discount, even if the overall price isn’t much lower than the original (or even lower). If an item originally costs $60, a company might raise the price to $75, then lower it back to $60, claiming a 20% discount. This is true, but dishonest, so be careful.
You can use a browser extension like CamelCamelCamel to track product price history on Amazon. But other trackers, like Capital One Shopping , can help you find prices and price history across multiple stores. Their browser extensions are especially helpful: if another store sells the same item on Amazon at a lower price, you’ll receive a pop-up with a direct link to that store’s product page.
However, to determine whether a purchase is a good deal, simply finding the best price isn’t enough. You may see that the item isn’t cheaper elsewhere online, but you should consider more than just the overall price.
Make sure you don’t unknowingly buy an outdated piece of technology.
I’m a strong supporter of older technology: I believe we should all hold on to our devices for longer. However, I don’t think companies should try to sell you old technology as new, especially when new technology is just around the corner.
Amazon is often very helpful in this regard: if you’re viewing an outdated version of a product, Amazon will notify you and provide a link to the current version of that device. However, this only applies if Amazon sells a new version or if the product has a direct successor. These days, the lines are blurred: last year’s device isn’t necessarily outdated just because a new version has been released, so Amazon doesn’t always try to sell you a newer model.
And that’s perfectly normal! Laptops, tablets, smartwatches, and previous-generation phones are often excellent choices. Technology advances so quickly that buying older devices that still work well can be economical and practical. However, a store that advises you to buy a device that won’t be able to update to the latest software this year is wrong. For example, if you see a great deal on a first-generation Apple Watch Ultra, know that it won’t receive watchOS 27 this fall —even if the device itself is perfectly functional. If you’re looking to buy a device on Prime Day, market research is your best friend. It’s perfectly fine to buy something that came out last year or the year before; it’s much more important to ensure that the product will still work as intended in 2026 and last as long as you can reasonably expect. If the reason a device is so cheap is because it’s outdated, it’s a bad deal.
Not everything “cheap” is good.
Likewise, be wary of cheap equipment that’s simply not very good. It may be affordable, but if it doesn’t perform well, it’s not worth the money.
This problem often arises with the multitude of brands you’ve never heard of, selling products for pennies on the dollar compared to other companies. Sure, you can save money by choosing these brands, but what about the long-term investment? If the return period expires, you’re left in a bind without a customer support channel, something many of these small companies already lack.
On the other hand, you may have heard of this brand, but the product itself just isn’t very good. It might seem like a great deal to buy a huge 65-inch 4K TV for under $300, but if the picture quality is truly poor, was it worth it? (No.)
Read the reviews
One way to ensure a TV is worth the money, or that cheap headphones will pass the sound quality test, is to read reviews of the products you’re considering buying. I’m not just talking about Amazon reviews: Amazon ratings can be helpful, but they can also be distorted. Sometimes reviews don’t even match the product they’re supposed to be reviewing, which doesn’t bode well for the review’s credibility. And in the age of artificial intelligence, you can never be sure who’s writing the review.
When it comes to technology, the best approach is to listen to reviews from experienced tech experts who have tested these products before making an opinion. Resources like our sister site PCMag can help you quickly determine whether a TV is truly worth the hype, and they display their test results so you can understand how they arrived at their conclusions.
Ultimately, it all comes down to taking your time and doing your research—the complete opposite of the “BUY NOW” strategy on Prime Day. Resist the urge to buy impulsively and ensure your money is going toward the best product for your needs.