Amazon Prime Day: How to get a good deal during the October promotion
Amazon is kicking off its two-day Prime Early Access sale on Tuesday, with the retailer offering discounts on products ranging from Peloton to KitchenAid appliances. But before buying, it's key that you do your research to make sure that deal is as good as it looks.
The promotion is Amazon's second Prime-linked shopping event this year, offering some holiday deals earlier than usual in hopes of convincing cautious consumers to open their wallets. With inflation running at a 40-year high, more Americans are cutting back on spending, denting sales at Amazon and other retailers.
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The biggest and best deals at the surprise Amazon Prime Day-like event, the Prime Early Access Sale
Amazon is billing the two-day event as providing hundreds of thousands of discounts to its members of its Prime shopping club. But, as in its regular summer Prime Day event, this latest sale may offer the steepest discounts on Amazon's own products, such as Kindle and Alexa devices.
At the same time, recent research indicates that some discounts available on Amazon might be less attractive than they appear. Some merchants even claim their products are selling at a discount when they've actually increased the price, researchers at the University of Florida, University of South Carolina and Arizona State University found. And some sellers appear to raise their "original" prices so that their "discounts" will subsequently look steeper, prior research indicates.
"The misleading discount displays that we discovered are difficult for shoppers to detect because that would require tracking both prices and the presence of discount displays over time," Jinhong Xie, a professor of marketing at University of Florida and one of the co-authors of the new study, said in an email to CBS MoneyWatch.
"However, shoppers can avoid this trap by checking prices more thoroughly before they buy," Xie added.
Here's what to know about Amazon's Prime Early Access sale.
What time does Prime Day start in October?
The event kicked off at 12 a.m. Pacific time on October 11 (3 a.m. Eastern time) and will run through the end of the day on October 12.
What does Prime Early Access mean?
The two-day event is aimed at convincing Amazon Prime members to start their holiday shopping early on the site. Like its summer Prime Day event, the two-day sale is also geared toward convincing people to sign up for Amazon's Prime membership, since the deals are available only to Prime members.
Do I have to be a Prime member to qualify for discounts during the event?
Yes, the promotion is only available to people who have signed up for the Prime membership plan, which costs either $14.99 a month or $139 for the year.
However, people can sign up for Amazon's 30-day free Prime trial and cancel before the time period is up. After the 30 days, they'll be charged either a monthly fee or the annual dues.
What is on sale during Prime Early Access?
The retailer is touting savings of up to 70% on some of its own devices, such as the Echo Dot bundle with Amazon's smart plug, which is selling for $17.99 during the event. Amazon says that is 72% lower than its regular price of $30.98.
Other brands that are on sale during the event include:
- Up to 50% on headphones from makers such as Bose, Sony and JBL
- Up to 50% off on toys from Hasbro
- Up to 45% on vacuums from iRobot and Shark
- Up to 15% off Peloton products, including its original Bike, which is on sale for $1,225, down from $1,445
- Kitchen items such as appliances from KitchenAid and Cuisinart are also on sale
How do I know I'm getting a good deal?
The most important step is to research prices for a product you are interested in.
One website that's frequently used by bargain hunters is CamelCamelCamel, a price-tracking service. You'll have to sign up for the site's free login, but after that you can enter an Amazon URL for a product and the service will give you the price history for that product.
For instance, this three-pack of Mrs. Meyer's hand soap is promoted as a Prime Exclusive Deal, selling for $8.47, or a discount of 42%. And putting the URL into CamelCamelCamel shows that the product recently sold at $14.48, but that its price also dipped as low as $7.56 in October 2021 via a third-party seller.
How to score $10 in freebies at Prime Early Access
There are some ways to get a little extra purchasing power during Amazon's Prime Early Access.
For instance, if you buy a $50 gift card from Amazon or other brands — including restaurants like Panera and retailers such as Gap — you'll get a future $10 promotional credit on your account.
What should I avoid buying during Prime Early Access?
According to experts at BlackFriday.com, there are two categories where you may be better off waiting for bigger sales during Black Friday events in November: TVs and computers. They recommend holding off on buying a TV, laptop or other computers until next month, when steeper discounts may be available.