Amazon Prime Day: A Cheat Sheet for the Best Deals

Source: Men's Journal Tech

July 11, 2016 at 15:39

In the last few days, Amazon has released a few Prime Day spotlights to watch if you need new headphones, a hoverboard, or some wooden watch bling.

For most people July 12 is just another Tuesday this year. But for those who buy everything on Amazon, that means Prime Day. Amazon keeps the details of almost all of its Prime Day deals secret until the moment they go live, so there’s not a lot of insight into what you can save. It’s important to get on those as quickly as possible; often the best stuff is gone before you even realize it’s been reduced. With that in mind, here’s what we know so far.

Among the deals is a special Alexa promotion: Take $10 off any purchase over $20 by making your order on Alexa, via one of Amazon’s devices or apps. Plus, the price of the $50 Fire tablet is likely being reduced to $35, according to CNET. Kindle Unlimited, the $10 unlimited e-book and audio book service for Kindle users, will be discounted by as much as 40 percent.

In the last few days, Amazon has released a few Prime Day spotlights to watch if you need new headphones, a hoverboard, or some wooden watch bling.

Segway MiniPro hoverboard, $799
LSTN Troubadours cherry wood on-ear headphones, $75
Luno Wear The Orca men's wood watch, $40

Available today, here are the early-access offers worth grabbing.

Lumo Lift Posture Coach and Activity Tracker (50% Off)
HP 15.6" Business Notebook (30% Off)
High Speed HDMI Cable by EXHEED (50% Off)
Aerb Google Cardboard V2.0 Virtual Reality DIY 3D Glasses for Smartphone with Headband (50% Off)
T-fal P45007 Clipso Pressure Cooker (58% Off)

Everything beyond that is rumor. Some of them are promising, though: TechRadarsuggests significant discounts will hit Amazon’s Fire products, Beats by Dre Headphones, and Gibson guitars. The rest go live on a countdown system, and only when the countdown runs out do the discount price and opportunity to buy go live. The best way to see active deals as they become available is to check here.

But that doesn't mean you can't plan ahead: Your best strategy for budgeting is to start sorting through the upcoming details and “watching” items of interest to see if the deal is big enough to be worth your time. Upcoming deals are listed here, though the actual discounts won’t be listed until they go live.

As a reminder, you do have to be an Amazon Prime member to make use of any of these deals and offers. The good news is you can sign up for a free 30-day trial at any time, and it’s effective immediately. With access to streaming movies, music, and tons of savings and shipping reductions, the membership pays for itself for frequent users in a few months. And that might be the best deal available this week.