Nathan Burrow is an editor who covers shopping, retail trends, and deals. He has scanned countless sales and discounts. Most underwhelm.
A lot has changed since the first Amazon Prime Day was held in 2015. The event has gone from being a relatively small, one-day sale for Prime members to a deal holiday spanning a few days, offering thousands of items on sale—not only from Amazon but also from a variety of retailers trying to nab a piece of the action. In 2020, in response to the pandemic, Amazon pushed Prime Day from its traditional July date to October. This year, Amazon Prime Day will happen on June 21 and 22, 2021. The Wirecutter Deals team has been covering Prime Day since its inception, and we’ve learned a thing or two during that time. These tips will help you get the most out of this year’s Prime Day.
Get Amazon Prime
Many of Amazon’s best deals are reserved for Prime members. In past years, these have included deals on everything from Instant Pots to Sonos speakers. If you aren’t a Prime member, you have a decision to make: You can opt for a trial, join permanently, or forgo Prime altogether and look for competitor sales. Free 30-day trials are intended for new members, so if you’ve recently done a free trial, you’re out of luck. A full Prime membership will cost you $120 per year. Assess the slate of Prime benefits—like Prime Video, free shipping, and early access Prime member deals—to see whether a membership will be worthwhile for you. Even if you’re not interested in Prime membership, there are still deals to be had. Amazon competitors like Best Buy, Target, and Walmart will have deals that can be just as good as those available to Amazon Prime members.
Make some lists: Wish List, Watch, and Waitlist
Making a list may seem elementary, but Prime Day list-making can take many different forms. Ultimately, list-making is all about preventing impulse purchases—by identifying ahead of time what you want and need. If taking pen to paper or making a spreadsheet seem insufficient, Amazon offers a few tools to help. Use its Wish List function to curate items you’re already interested in. Watch is a tool you can use to flag upcoming deals during Prime Day—you’ll get alerts via the Amazon app when those deals go live. Waitlist is a tool you can use when you’ve missed one of many Prime Day Lightning Deals. (Lightning Deals are available for a limited time, usually in limited quantities.) If someone doesn’t follow through and purchase that deal after adding it to their cart, you can potentially claim it.
As you make your lists, consider last year’s models. Recent releases, such as the new iPad Pro, are unlikely to see significant price drops on Prime Day. But last year’s models are a different story. Assess the features of aging models versus those offered by new models—a big price drop on an older model may be worth your time if the model offers the essentials you need. Typically, we think it’s a good idea to get last-generation Apple Watches (which don’t change much), while things like TVs and gaming consoles are better left alone. There are even product categories, such as Windows laptops and desktops, where we think it’s preferable to grab models with last-gen processors. And that’s good news for you, since 10th Gen Intel models are more likely to be deeply discounted on Prime Day. Follow Wirecutter’s coverage to see what’s new and whether the old models are still worthwhile.
It’s also important to note some of the potential disruption that the ongoing pandemic could cause. Canada and India have seen Prime Day delayed due to COVID-19 resurgence and its tragic impacts. Global semiconductor shortages could result in fewer and worse deals on electronics and products with electronic controls. Finally, retailers are resetting the market for certain product categories to reflect inflation, logistical cost increases, and demand.
Start price tracking
Amazon price trackers like camelcamelcamel and Keepa can help you get a sense of the price history of those noise-cancelling headphones you’ve had your eye on. (Like Wirecutter, these price trackers work on affiliate revenue, so they may get a cut of your cart if you do make a purchase.) Although tracking won’t reflect lightning deal or coupon code price history, it can give you general insights into whether that claimed sale price is worth your time. Once you put an item in your cart, Amazon usually gives you 15 minutes before it disappears. You can quickly do your research and get those tracking insights in that time.
Look for sales on Amazon-branded products
Amazon has already launched early Prime Day sales on its own line of products. So if you’re seeking an Echo smart speaker, a Show smart display, a Kindle ebook reader, or another Amazon-branded or -owned device, read our The Best Prime Day Amazon Echo, Fire, & Kindle Deals roundup, which is updated with new deals regularly.
Keep and eye out for credits and bonuses
As in Prime Days past, Amazon is offering a $10 credit to use to support small businesses during the event through their small business storefronts. According to an Amazon representative, more than 2.5 million people bought products from small businesses in the first 24 hours of the promotion.
Speaking of credit, if you have an Amazon gift card, add it to your account prior to Prime Day itself—that way, you’ll have the credit on file when the festivities begin. This does more than just give you more purchase agility—as recently as 2019, we noted complaints of difficulty redeeming gift card credit during Prime Day, likely due to the volume of buyers trying to do so. Once you’ve added your favorites to your virtual cart, consider Amazon Day Delivery. Day delivery lets Prime members opt to receive all available orders on a given day, consolidating the number of truck trips to your residence.
Check other retailers for competing sales
Though Prime Day may be Amazon’s own deals extravaganza, it isn’t the only big retailer to offer discounts leading up to and during the two-day event: Target, Walmart, and Best Buy are all planning multi-day sales set to run concurrently to Prime Day.
Best Buy’s Bigger Deal Savings Event has already launched and will run through June 22; the sale includes price drops on TVs, laptops, and tablets, but, outside of a stellar discount on a Nintendo Switch Online membership that includes a free SanDisk MicroSDXC, we’re still waiting for worthwhile deals on Wirecutter picks.
Walmart’s Deals for Days will run from June 20 through June 23, beginning a day before Prime Day and ending a day after. We reported previously that preview sales included in Walmart’s marketing materials noted price drops on budget TVs, Chromebooks, and robot mopping vacuums, and we plan to highlight the best prices on Wirecutter recommendations once the sale begins.
Target is also holding a own deal event, dubbed Target’s Deals Days, from June 20 through June 22. Though RedCard holders can earn an extra 5% during this sales event, Target’s upcoming deals, like those from Best Buy and Walmart, will be available to all shoppers, no membership required.
