My Best Amazon Prime Day Shopping Tips

It is no secret, I am a frequent and enthusiastic shopper of Amazon. Amazon Prime began in the early 2000’s and, not coincidentally, that’s about when my propensity for shopping really took off. My natural gift coupled with Amazon’s awesomeness has brought me very close to shopping at a professional level. 

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There are many reasons I love Amazon

You can find literally anything (giant unicorn sprinkler, anyone?) and, even if you live in a more rural area like I do, they’ll get it to you pretty quickly. As an Amazon Prime member you can expect your delivery in a two days without paying additional shipping costs. (Well, pre-COVID at least).

Is that not soon enough for you? Because Prime Now (though not available everywhere -yet- and certainly not in Topsail, NC) can even get your purchase to you in AN HOUR. 

Talk about near-instant gratification.  

In case you aren’t familiar with Amazon, or Amazon Prime Day, allow me to be your liaison to this wonderful world of, well, whatever you want. There’s no right or wrong way to celebrate Amazon Prime Day, but with these tips and tricks, you can minimize the stressful elements of shopping Amazon (tip 1: enjoy yourself, and hydrate) and maximize your savings. 

If Amazon Prime Day is about anything, it’s about saving tons of money on your wishlist. 

What is Amazon Prime Day?

Simply put, it’s a huge sale akin to Black Friday available only to Prime members. 

The first Amazon Prime Day was in 2015 as a way to celebrate Amazon’s 20th anniversary. Since then “Prime Day” has become something of a misnomer. Every year it lasts a little longer, like all good things should. Last year’s day lasted a whole 48 hours. 

In years past Prime Day occurred in July but this year’s has been rescheduled due to COVID-19. Amazon has finally announced OCTOBER 13-14 as PRIME DAY for 2020!!!

If you’re not already a Prime member, you can sign up for 30 free days to see what they offer (https://amzn.to/2Z5Uv7C). Year long memberships cost $119 and a three month membership is available for $39. Prime Membership is a great gift itself for the shopper in your life. Discounts on memberships are available to students, servicemen and women, as well as recipients of EBT or medicaid.

How should I prepare?

Past Prime Days have seen over a million items go on sale so it is easy to become overwhelmed. To complicate matters, not everything goes on sale at the same time. You’ll need a list to focus your energy and take advantage of Lightning Deals.

But first, Lists!

Much like grocery shopping, it is imperative to make a list before you start tossing items into the cart. Otherwise you’re going to end up spending all your money on everything you don’t need (four pints of ice cream? really?) and nothing you do (ice cream for dinner is less fun than it sounds). 

I like to make my list a couple weeks ahead of the big day. But if you’re an ice-cream-for-dinner kind of person, I understand and appreciate your zeal.

Lightning Deals are always available on Amazon and generally open to all shoppers. On Prime Day, however, they’re usually exclusive to members. With Lightning Deals, a sale on a specific product lasts only a few hours and while supplies last. Lightning Deals apply to a vast range of products and, in order to save the most, you’ll need to check back on Amazon regularly to see what has been struck by Lightning.

Let’s just say, Prime Day usually is not my most “productive” day at the office. 

Amazon Mobile App

An easy shortcut to accessing the best deals (and a leg up for when the frenzy starts to kick into high gear) is through the Amazon app. It is especially great if you are shopping between Prime accounts. Business accounts are color coded differently than personal accounts and can be toggled between them with ease (and to prevent any unmentionables from finding their way to your boss’s mailbox). The app also allows you to view the deals and has a one-click buying feature. If you own an Alexa home assistant you can also ask it “What’s on sale?” to make shopping the sales easy.

Almost too easy… 

set your priorities

When I make my Prime Day list I like to divide it into two categories: Need and Want. If I need it then I’ll buy it regardless of how much of a discount is being offered. 

For the “Want” group I try to be more discerning. For starters, I’ll make note of the pre-Prime Day prices and determine how much it needs to be marked down before I’ll buy it. The day of I’ll monitor “Upcoming Deals” and if what I “want” shows up at the right price then I’m a happy camper…er, shopper. 

Prime Day is an especially great deal for anyone in the market for televisions and other electronics. Anything your heart desires might be on sale though so get out there on October 13th and 14th, have fun, and Merry Prime Day, y’all.