It’s official. Amazon has announced the date for Prime Day 2019. Actually, this year it will be PRIME DAYS as Amazon will hold their annual sales event on July 15th and 16th.
Prime Day, in case you aren’t in the know, is Amazon’s yearly sale exclusively for Prime members. If you aren’t a Prime member, you can still take advantage of this Summer-time Black Friday by signing up for a 30-day trial membership with no strings attached. If you choose to keep Prime, you’ll pay $12.99/month (less if you’re a student) and keep all the benefits such as free 2-day, 1-day and same day delivery when available, exclusive deals, Prime Video, Music and of course, access to Prime Day Deals.
Is Prime right for you? I can’t answer that for you. However, if you purchase a lot of stuff online and would take advantage of all the extras that come with Prime, it’s worth it. Still, it pays to be a smart shopper. Saving a few bucks on shipping may seem like a win but not if you’re overpaying for the product.
So, we have a couple of tips to help you make the most of Amazon’s 2-day extravaganza that is Prime Day.
First, know the product you’re buying.
In the past, there hasn’t been a ton of deals on Chromebooks during Prime Day but that could drastically change this year. With the Pixelbook and other flagship devices seeing frequent discounts, it is likely there will be some Chromebooks highlighted in the daily deals.
So, before you go pulling the trigger on something that’s too good to be true, take a couple of minutes to research the normal selling price and check out the competition. Many major retailers will launch sales of their own to counteract the loss of customers to Amazon during Prime Day.
One very helpful tool that will save you some time when comparing prices is Compass.
There are quite a few sites and even some extensions out there that will do the work for you but Compass came across my desk a few months ago and it works great.
When you’re shopping Amazon or other retailers, the Compass extension will instantly check the price of the product your shopping and compare it to dozens of other sellers including Best Buy and eBay. You’ll get a nice notification pop out at the top of the browser with a list of products sorted by price. The cheapest will obviously be at the top and it will even tell you if a better offer has been found.
Compass is completely free and you can find it in the Chrome Web Store or head to their homepage here.
Another thing to watch for when getting a “great deal” is the age of the Chromebook you’re buying. Chromebooks, like most computing devices, have an end of life. Some sellers may try to take advantage of Prime Days to offload aging devices that may only get updates for a couple of more yours.
You can learn more about the End of Life and how to check the expiry date of a device here.
Another little trick that a lot of people miss is checking other Amazon listings. When you’re shopping, right below the item description will often be this little link.
“Used and new”
If you click that, you will see a list of sellers with the same product and occasionally, you can find a new one for less than the one you were looking at in the first place. Just make sure the shipping is the same and that you’re looking at a reputable seller.
I hope this helps you find your way during Amazon Prime Days. As always, we will be posting the relevant deals as they are announced. You can go ahead and get a preview of Prime Day Launch products at the link below.
Prime Day PreviewUPDATE: Prime Day will be Jul 15 & 16 in the UK as well as Canada.
Prime Day UK Preview