For the past five years, deal seekers have awaited Amazon Prime Day with bated breath. The day has become known for deals on over a million items, from robotic vacuums to proprietary Amazon devices, like Echo and Kindle. Since its inception, Amazon Prime Day has been in mid-July, but COVID-19 changed that. Trae Bodge, Smart Shopping Expert at Truetrae.com, is here with details on what sales to check out, how we can all save the most on our purchases, and how to avoid holiday shopping debt.
Deals on Amazon proprietary devices
Amazon will have deals on so many things, but the real savings will be on their proprietary devices, like the Alexa-enabled items. I checked on Slickdeals.net, and found some exciting options:
2 Echo Dot (3rd Gen): The full price is $99.98 for two. The Prime Day price is $39.98 for two with promo code DOTPRIME2PK, saving you 40%! The new 4th Gen Echo Dot is headed to market October 22nd, so this is likely one of your best chances to pick up a Gen 3 device for a serious discount.
Echo Show 5 Kitchen Bundle: This bundle comes with an Echo Show – the one with the screen – plus a free one-year subscription to Food Network Kitchen. The full price is $129.98, but the Prime Day price is $44.99, which is 65% off!
Other favorite Amazon Prime Day deals
There will be deals in almost every category, but some of my favorites are other tech items that are good for gifting. The tech accessories brand, Eggtronic is offering between 30-50% off decorative phone chargers that look beautiful on your desk. And Nixplay, which makes digital photo frames – a perfect pandemic gift because we’re not seeing our families as much – is offering up to 35% off its 10.1-inch Smart Photo Frames.
Related: How to save on Amazon Prime Day
Competitive Shopping
Target, Best Buy, Bloomingdale’s, and Walmart are among retailers that are having massive sale events to go head-to-head with Amazon.
If you find something on sale on Amazon that might be available elsewhere, factor in any additional savings you might be able to find on a savings site. For example, on CouponCabin.com, you can save 2% cash back at Walmart and 10.1% at Bloomingdale’s, but no cash back on Amazon.
Also, compare prices. At the Walmart Big Save Event, you can save 37% off the JVC 55” Roku Smart TV ($248, originally $399). This deal is comparable to Toshiba and Insignia TV deals on Amazon.
At the Target Deal Days event, you can save $150 on Beats Studio3 Wireless Headphones & $80 on a Eufy RuboVac 35C, both of which are a better deal than Amazon. CouponCabin also has a slew of coupon codes that you can try at Target.
Not ready to shop – is it ok to skip Prime Day?
Many retailers, including Home Depot, Target and Amazon, have announced that they will be rolling deals out all season long. And remember, there’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday! Also, don’t forget your local shops who might have savings events planned.
Related: Hidden perks of shopping after Amazon Prime Day
How to avoid debt this holiday shopping season
Two things to commit to:
- Install a browser extension – Slickdeals and CouponCabin both have them. These free tools make it very easy to save as you shop online.
- Make a list of recipients, gift ideas and a budget for each person. And if your finances have changed since last year, be prepared to change things up.
- Spend less per person
- Suggest drawing names with family members or your friend group instead of buying a gift for each person.
- Make gifts instead of buying them
Ultimately, the goal should be to avoid carrying debt into 2021!