UPDATE: Oct. 5, 2023, 2:00 p.m. EDT The Federal Trade Commission and 17 state attorneys general recently sued Amazon for allegedly “illegally maintaining monopoly power,” in part by employing a secret algorithm to monitor its competition and artificially inflate prices. This doesn’t affect customers’ current shopping experience on Amazon, as the company stopped using this algorithm back in 2019, and it’s unclear if it ever really did. However, it underscores the intensity of the competition that exists between different retailers, which frequently produces price discrepancies. It also highlights the importance of always cross-checking prices (especially during shopping events like Prime Big Deal Days) to make sure you’re getting the best deal. Our original story follows.
Amazon’s second Prime-exclusive sale of 2023 will soon be here: The retail giant is planning on kicking off its holiday shopping season with a new savings event called Prime Big Deal Days from Tuesday, Oct. 10 to Wednesday, Oct. 11, or about three months after its flagship Prime Day sale in July.
As its name suggests, Prime members can expect some steep markdowns sitewide during Prime Big Deal Days, from TVs and electronics to pet supplies and home goods. It’s an exciting time for savvy shoppers, but it can also be overwhelming to research the best deals and make sure you’re getting the best bang for your buck. Here are some tools and tricks to guide you on your Prime Big Deal Days journey.
Take advantage of price-tracking tools
Check out dedicated sites and browser extensions that do the work of tracking prices for you.
Camelcamelcamel is a website that gives you price history charts on Amazon products and even sends you alerts when a price has dropped. To up your price-monitoring game, you can install its browser extension called “The Camelizer,” which gives you instant access to price history while you’re shopping.
Keepa is a price monitoring site and browser extension that is dedicated to Amazon products. You can also use it to compare prices on other retailer sites like Ebay.
Other tools that can crawl the web for good deals and notify you about price drops are Honey and Slickdeals. These sites are particularly useful because “the Prime Day effect” usually causes other retailers to host competing sales.
Ask Alexa for help
If you have a newer Echo device, you can enable Alexa’s advanced deal alerts feature to find and keep track of deals on products you want. The smart assistant will notify you up to 24 hours in advance of a deal you’ve added to your shopping cart, saved for later, or added to your Wish List. To turn on this setting, go to the Alexa app and open Notifications under Settings. From here, tap Amazon Shopping and scroll down to toggle Deal Recommendations. Your Echo device will flash a yellow ring to indicate this setting is live.
Check curated lists
Finding the best Prime Big Deal Days prices is one thing, but how do you even know what deals are being offered elsewhere? It’s safe to assume that most products on Amazon have some kind of discount, but some deals are better than others, meaning it’s important to know what to buy and what not to buy on Prime Day.
Mashable’s shopping team is already doing the legwork of scouring Amazon’s vast inventory to highlight the best deals out there, and we’ll be on it through the sale and the rest of the holiday season. We’re expecting Prime Big Deal Days to be a good time to pick up tech like Apple devices, noise-canceling headphones, and robot vacuums.
Don’t forget about other retailers
As we mentioned above, other retailers are capitalizing on the Prime Big Deal Days fervor by hosting their own October sales. Best Buy, Walmart, and Target have all officially announced their own events that will run during or around Amazon’s.
Competition can be a great way to drive prices down, but certain retailers have specialties with these sales. Best Buy is usually good for big ticket tech like high-end TVs or laptops as well as gaming deals, Walmart is ideal for more budget-friendly TVs and home tech, and Target is best for everyday essentials.
Shop invite-only deals to avoid the chaos
Amazon has revived its invite-only deals program for Prime Big Deal Days, which it introduced this past Prime Day in July. You can already request invitations for high-demand products (including a 50-inch Amazon Fire TV Omni Series TV and a Blink Outdoor security camera system) that will be up to 60% off. Lucky shoppers who are chosen for access to these deals will receive an email with a unique link to buy them at some point when the sale is live.
