Amazon AMZN, +1.11% is hosting its annual Prime Day from July 11 to July 12. The 48-hour sale is exclusively for members of Amazon’s Prime program, and discounts are expected to fly fast and furiously.
Know the answers to these two questions before you start shopping: What is your budget, and what brands do you trust? Once you have figured those out, stick with them, Nick Drewe, founder of Wethrift.com told MarketWatch previously. One way to find bigger savings is to look for older generations of popular gadgets, said Andrea Woroch, a consumer-saving expert at Bankrate.com. The same goes for refurbished versions of in-demand products, she added. Check to see if there’s a refurbished option available when comparing different versions of the same product — they could be marked down even further during the sale event, she said.
Target, Walmart and Best Buy BBY, -1.60% are all offering sale events this summer around the same time as Prime Day, and it pays to check out the competition before clicking buy. Target Circle Week is July 9 – 15, with deals such as $350 off a Lenovo 15.6″ Touchscreen IdeaPad 3i laptop. Walmart Plus week is July 10 -13. Best Buy is hosting its Black Friday in July from July 10-12, with $200 off certain MacBook Pros.
“On paper, getting an Amazon credit card for Prime Day makes dollars and sense. In practice, it’s dangerous unless you’re super-disciplined,” he told MarketWatch in an email. “You need to be honest with yourself before making this decision,” he added. But consumers should still watch out for counterfeit products, especially on Prime Day. Pay special attention to the “sold by” and “shipped by” descriptions on Amazon, said Henry Jin, associate professor of management at the Farmer School of Business at Miami University. The most trustworthy products are always those sold or shipped by the manufacturer directly, followed by Amazon, he added.