Along with the majority of the Business Insider Reviews team, I’ve been covering Prime Day and other major deal events for nearly a decade, and we’ve picked up a few tricks for spotting truly good deals. The truth is, when it comes to deal shopping, adding a bunch of discounted stuff in your Amazon cart doesn’t necessarily mean you’re saving money.
To help you shop smarter in the remaining hours of Prime Day, I asked our deals editors for their best advice and shopping hacks. Their advice includes some clever tips about how to spend now to save in the long run.
If you’re just starting your deal browsing journey, check out our roundup of the best Prime Day deals for a cheat sheet to the best deals you can still get. Otherwise, read on for our tips on how to get the best deals.
1. Start by going through your order history to see if anything you purchase regularly is on sale.
Toilet paper, cat litter, shampoo, cleaning products — think about your recurring purchases and check to see if they’re on sale. Buying an extra pack of something you’ll need in the future at a solid discount is a good way to save money in the long run.
If you don’t usually shop for those items on Amazon and your order history isn’t going to help you much, try browsing Amazon’s Prime Day deals on household essentials and see if anything you need or regularly buy is on sale.
2. Don’t be afraid to pause your Subscribe and Save purchases if the discount on Prime Day is cheaper.
Are those vitamins you subscribe to every month on super sale during Prime Day? Pick up a couple bottles now and pause your subscription for a short while.
3. Use a price-checker like CamelCamelCamel or Keepa to see an item’s price history.
CamelCamelCamel is an easy way to see an item’s price history, specifically on Amazon. Just drop the link to the product you’re looking at, and you can see long-term pricing data to understand if you’re getting a good deal. Keepa is a similar plugin tool that will show price history right on an Amazon product page.
4. Add things to your wish list or cart and track the prices there.
Adding items to your wishlist or shopping cart is a great way to keep track of everything you’re eyeing, but it can also help you track prices. Amazon tells you how the current price compares to when the item was added to your wishlist or cart, so you’ll know what’s on sale and if it’s a real deal. Plus, if your wishlist is set to public, you can “import wishlist” into CamelCamelCamel and also set alerts for when products dip below a certain price.
5. Trade in old Amazon devices and receive an immediate discount to use on top of Prime Day prices.
If you have old Amazon devices lying around and want to upgrade to a newer version, you can trade in your old device and get an immediate discount, which can be applied to Prime Day deals for extra savings. Most trade-ins will get you 20% off your purchase immediately, with the refund hitting your account once your old device is received.
Shopping for more discounts today? Check out our roundup of all of the best Prime Day deals or browse Amazon’s website for the full selection.
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Disclosure: Written and researched by the Insider Reviews team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our partners. We may receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at reviews@businessinsider.com.
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