From USA Today:
"Amazon Prime Day: insider tips to getting the best deals and avoiding the hype"
Like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Amazon’s annual Prime Day features tons of products screaming “deal!” But sometimes it’s tough to separate the big discounts from the disappointments Here’s how to make sense of the sales bonanza that starts July 16.
What to buy… and what not to
Lots of gadgets and tech accessories will be discounted for the sale, but products from Apple and Google — from iPhones and MacBooks to Pixel phones and Google Home — probably won’t see much love. The three tech companies don’t always play nice with each other, so it’s typical for Apple and Google not to do anything special those days. What discounts you do see on iPads or Chromebooks mainly come from third-party sellers. Those deals are rarely as good as sale prices from retailers like Best Buy or Walmart, so it’s best to just avoid them. Amazon’s own gadgets, by contrast, are a great buy on Prime Day simply because the company is pulling out all the stops. Things like Fire tablets, Kindle readers, and Echo speakers will be at rock-bottom prices. Expect to get discounts on older TV and cameras, but prepare to wait if you want a deal on the latest upgrade. Prime Day gives manufacturers a chance to discount their stock of older models, but you’re not likely to see big price drops on newer models until the end of the year, during holiday sales. If you see a lowest-ever price on something, feel free to spring for it, but just know that the prices will probably be even lower if you can wait until Black Friday. This advice carries over to appliances as well, with the exception of refrigerators, which normally come out in the spring. With new models competing for floor space, a deal on a fridge will be easy to spot and could save you some serious cash. That is, if you’re comfortable buying such an important item online. My game plan is always to go straight for big ticket items I really need anyway, such as a new dishwasher. Some Amazon sellers raise the price of their products just before big sales, then “discount” them so that it looks like it’s a better deal than it really is. CamelCamelCamel is a super useful website that lets you track the price history of any Amazon product. If you see something you like on Prime Day with a huge discount, just copy at the top of the Amazon store page, and paste it into CamelCamelCamel. It shows you the highest and lowest sale prices for any product historically, so you’ll instantly know if you should buy on Prime Day or wait for the price to go down even more.
Move fast or miss out on lightning deals
Amazon has daily deals every single hour of every day of the year, but the Lighting Deals on Prime Day are notoriously frustrating to score. Some items sell out within minutes, which means while you’re flipping a coin to decide whether to spring for that new webcam it’ll already be gone before you even have a chance to stick it in your cart. Some Prime Day Lightning Deals are really fantastic, while others are just “okay,” but if you see an item you want for a price that seems to good to be true, nab it quick or you’ll be cursing your slow fingers later.
Ask Alexa
Amazon's voice-controlled assistant Alexa usually has a secret tip or two as well. If you already own an Amazon Echo, try asking Alexa for Prime Day deals early; Alexa should reply with a cryptic message or poem to reveal deals several days early.
No prime membership? No problem (Maybe)
It might be obvious, but you have to be a Prime Member to get all the sweet deals on Prime Day. If you've never subscribed before, you can get a free one-month Amazon Prime trial. Sign up sometime in early July and you'll be able to shop Prime Day during the trial period
Sneak Peeks
Most companies that sell on Amazon will hold their sale prices pretty close to the vest until the big day, but here are a few insider deals on products I love, and you can pick them up for big, big discounts.
^ These seem like good tips on what to get and what not to get on Amazon Prime Day. ^
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