Amazon Prime Day is next week. What you need to know
BY JAMEY TUCKER, Consumer Tech Reporter
Prime Day Isn’t Just Amazon Anymore. Here’s How to Avoid Fake Deals
Amazon Prime Day has gotten so big that it’s no longer just an Amazon event.
This year, Walmart, Target, and Best Buy are all running competing summer sales, turning Prime Day into something that looks a lot like Black Friday in June. That’s good news for shoppers, but there’s one important thing to remember: Not every deal is actually a deal.
Watch out for inflated prices
One common trick retailers use is raising prices in the days or weeks before a sale begins, then lowering them back to their normal price and advertising a huge discount. You’ll see a banner that says an item is 30 or 40 percent off. What you may not realize is that it sold for the exact same price earlier in the year.
Fortunately, there are a couple of easy ways to check.
Use CamelCamelCamel before buying from Amazon. One of my favorite shopping tools is CamelCamelCamel.com. Copy and paste the Amazon product URL into the site, and you’ll see a detailed price history that often goes back several years.
I recently checked a Nespresso coffee maker advertised at 38% off for Prime Day. The price looked impressive until CamelCamelCamel revealed it had sold for that same price from February through early June. Then, just before Prime Day, the price increased to $160, making the sale appear much larger than it really was.
It’s a great reminder that a percentage discount doesn’t always tell the whole story.
Walmart shoppers have a new tool too. The folks behind CamelCamelCamel have launched CamelMart.com, which tracks Walmart pricing. It works the same way. Paste in a Walmart product link, and you’ll see its price history.
Sometimes you’ll discover a deal isn’t very special. Other times you’ll find a legitimate bargain. For example, a recent sale on a Blackstone griddle turned out to be a genuinely good deal.
Check who’s actually selling the item:
Before you click Buy Now, pay attention to two things:
● Who is selling the item?
● Who is shipping the item?
If the product isn’t sold directly by Amazon or Walmart, take a few seconds to read the return policy before purchasing. Third-party sellers may have different rules, and some don’t offer free returns.
Consider grouping your deliveries
If you’re not in a hurry, choose a delivery day when you’ll be home.
Grouping multiple items into one delivery can help reduce the risk of porch pirates, and Amazon will sometimes reward you with extra cashback or credits for waiting a little longer.
Don’t forget to compare prices
Prime Day isn’t all about Amazon anymore. Before you buy, check prices at Walmart, Target, and Best Buy. Many items include free shipping, and competitors often match or beat Amazon’s prices.
One final statistic to remember
About 70% of Amazon shoppers say lightning deals have pressured them into buying things they didn’t even need. That’s exactly what these sales events are designed to do. The best deal isn’t always the biggest discount. It’s the item you planned to buy before the sale ever started.
