Amazon Prime Day 2020, the biggest sale the enormous company has this side of Black Friday, kicks off tomorrow, October 13. The 48-hour event ends at midnight PT / 3 AM ET on October 15, which equals the duration of last year’s Prime Day. With Prime Day so close to Black Friday this year, it presents a great opportunity to get some holiday shopping done early. To take advantage of the deals–which will feature gaming, tech, entertainment, and much more–you have to be an Amazon Prime member. We’ve put together some tips to help you navigate Prime Day 2020 and get the best deals.
Get a free 30-day Amazon Prime trial
One of the best tips for anyone without a Prime account heading into Prime Day is that Prime subscriptions begin with a month-long free trial (six months for students). Seeing as trial members get full access to Prime deals, that means you can sign up for the month of July to take advantage of the offer. If you don’t like it, you can always cancel your subscription before paying a cent.
The only caveat here is that the free trial month is only open to customers who haven’t had Prime within the past 12 months. If you fall into that category, you can sign up for a one-month Prime membership for $13. That gives you access to all the Prime Day deals without having to spend $119 on a year’s membership.
Take advantage of early deals
Ahead of the big sale, Amazon has already started offering some early Prime Day deals. Right now, you can get an Amazon Echo Dot 2-pack for just $40, down from $100. This deal is pretty great, but you should know it’s for last generation’s Echo Dot, not the new model that was recently revealed. You can also snag a Fire TV Recast (DVR) for $130, down from $230. Meanwhile, those looking for a budget-friendly TV can pick up the Insignia 50-inch 4K Fire TV for only $250 (was $350).
Know that deals can–and will–sell out fast
The best way to take advantage of Prime Day deals is, of course, to spend a lot of time on Amazon. Many of the best opportunities will be the hourly Lightning Deals that are only available for a limited amount of time. To make matters worse, the best deals often sell out in minutes, so they’re only available to the first people who jump on them. That said, Amazon gives you 15 minutes to check out before removing a Lightning Deal from your cart. So if you miss out on a deal, it’s worth adding yourself to the waiting list to see if more inventory frees up because people take too long.
To keep track of the fast-moving deals, keeping an Amazon tab open while you’re at your computer might be a good idea. If you can’t do that and you’re primarily interested in deals relating to video games and tech, you can keep an eye on GameSpot’s Prime Day 2020 hub. We’ll be covering the best game deals for Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and more, so make sure to check back often. Plus, you’ll want to follow GameSpot Deals on Twitter for the most up-to-date information on lightning deals.
Turn on those notifications
We all hate excessive notifications, but during Prime Day, it’s worth downloading the Amazon app if you don’t already have it and turning on notifications. In the settings section of the Amazon app for iOS and Android, you can turn on notifications for when items on your watch list and wishlist go on sale. This is an especially handy feature for deal hunters who don’t want to be wooed by sales on products they’re not already seeking out. This way, if you’ve already expressed interest in an item by adding it to one of your lists, the Amazon app will let you know when and if any of your selected items get a discount.
Alexa can help in surprising ways
If you have a device with Amazon’s AI-driven assistant Alexa–like an Echo or Amazon Fire tablet–you can ask it about what deals are available starting now and running through Prime Day. Also, don’t be surprised if you see some deals that can only be ordered through Alexa once Prime Day rolls around. Amazon’s been known to do that in the past.
Make sure you’re actually getting a good deal
With deals flying around left and right, it can be hard to know if any given sale price is actually a good deal or not. To make sure you don’t blow the bank on bad deals, you can check price history on Amazon items on a third-party site like Camelcamelcamel.com. Here you can run a search for the item or paste in the Amazon URL to see how low the price of any item has gone in the past. That way you can determine whether the deal you’re considering is actually a good offer or not.
Watch for sales elsewhere
While customers are whipped up into a consumer feeding frenzy for Prime Day, you can bet other retailers will try to take advantage of the blood in the water by offering sales of their own. Target and Walmart have already announced competing sales, with Target’s Deal Days promotion running during the exact same timeframe as Prime Day, and Walmart’s having already kicked off yesterday. Target even has a batch of early deals that are live now. You can bet that more retailers will have anti-Prime Day sales. In recent years, GameStop, Best Buy, and Ebay have all hosted sales to compete with Prime Day.
Amazon Prime Day 2020 Coverage
- Amazon Prime Day 2020: Deals, Tips, And Everything To Know Before October 13
- Amazon Prime Day Early Deals: Echo Dot, Fire TV, And More
- When Is Amazon Prime Day 2020: Start Date And Time Revealed
- + Show More Amazon Prime Day 2020 Coverage Links (3)
- 7 Tips For Getting The Best Deals On Amazon Prime Day 2020
- Huge Target Sale To Compete With Amazon Prime Day 2020
- New Amazon Echo Devices, Cheaper Fire Stick, And More Announced Ahead Of Prime Day
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