The first two years of Amazon Prime Day led to a lot of jokes and a few wins.
But it’s looking like the third Amazon Prime day (officially July 11, but launching tonight) will lead to some improvements. To help you score the best deals, we’ll be updating this post through the day tomorrow, so check in from time to time for new ideas.
Planning for your Prime Day
First, if you’re not already an Amazon Prime member, you’ll need to be one. If you’re not ready to commit to the $99/year, you can sign up for a 30-day trial membership to participate in Prime Day. If you already have an Echo, you can sign up for Prime through the device and get the membership for $79.
If you don’t have one, that’s my first recommended buy. The Echo will be $90, which is 50% off, and the Echo Dot will be $35 instead of $50.
Second, you’ll need to get started early. New deals will be offered every five minutes, so if you miss one thing, something else is no doubt around the corner. Amazon recommends using the app to see deals posted before they’re available. You’ll be able to see upcoming offers and set alerts to be notified when they are live.
If there are already things you know you want and hope will be for sale, go ahead and add them to your Amazon wish list. Amazon will notify you if an item on your list goes up in a Prime Day sale.
When you see something you want to buy, you might find yourself trying to decide if it’s really a good deal. In addition to checking out the reviews, you can use thetracktor.com or camelcamelcamel.com to see the price history and decide if you’re ready to pull the trigger.
Finally, when you’re hunting for the best deals, check the Amazon Warehouse, where you’ll find an extra 20% off.
Best deals for geeks
This is the section where you’ll see ongoing updates, so check back in here if you don’t have time to sift through Amazon yourself! If you click an item below and don’t see the sale price, it’s either expired (and we’ll delete it as soon as we notice), or hasn’t come up on a lightning deal yet.
Amazon electronics
- Amazon Echo, $89.99
- Echo Dot, $34.99
- Kindle Paperwhite, $89.99
- Fire HD 8 Kids Edition, $89.99
- Fire 7, $29.99
- Element 55-inch 4K Ultra HD smart LED TV – Amazon Fire TV Edition, $399.99
Electronics
- Huawei Mate 9 with Alexa and dual Leica camera, $449.99
- Huawei Watch 2, $209.99
- Samsung Galaxy S8 unlocked with Gear VR, controller, and fast charge stand, $624.99
- Moto G Plus, $179.99
- FitBit Blaze, $138.95
- Samsung 32″ FHD monitor, $224
- Sony 55-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV
- Up to 30% off Seagate hard drives
- 8 TB USB 3.0 external drive, $153.99
- 8 TB Backup Plus Hub, $160.99
- 2 TB USB 3.0 portable external drive, $59.99
- Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 11E-G3, $249.99
- Simplisafe2 13-piece home security pack, $309.99
- Samsung Gear 360 Real 360° High Resolution VR Camera, $130
Prime Day sales by fandom
- Marvel
- DC
- Disney
- Doctor Who
- Star Trek
- Star Wars
- Harry Potter
- Lord of the Rings
- Game of Thrones
- Outlander
- The Hunger Games
- The Walking Dead
- Sherlock
Crafting and home
- Topo standing mat, $99
- Liquid chalk markers
- 9″x12″ portable light tracing pad, $18.97
- 45-color wool roving pack for needle felting
- Instant Pot DUO80 7-in-1, $89.99
- Anova Sous Vide cooker with wifi and Bluetooth, $129
- Under Armour Storm Recruit backpack, $20.57
Toys and Games
- Lego deals
- Spend $50 on Lego, get 40% off a Fire Kids Edition tablet
- Ozobot 2.0 Bit (robot that teaches coding), $39.96 or two-pack, $87.96
- Apples to Apples Junior
- Imhotep Builder of Egypt board game
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens X-Wing Miniatures Game Core Set
- Justice League wooden figure set, $13.85
- Yuneec TYPHOON Videography Hexacopter
- Mermaid tail with monofin
Video gaming
- Xbox One S 1TB Console – Halo Wars 2 Bundle + Play & Charge Kit + Xbox White Wireless Controller + 3 Digital Games, $289.99
- Xbox One S 500GB Console + Play & Charge Kit + Xbox White Wireless Controller + 3 Digital Games, $239.99
- Playstation 4 Slim 500 GB Console – Uncharted 4 Bundle, $229
- Playstation VR + Camera Bundle, $399.99
- DualShock 4 Wireless Controller (PS4), $39.99
- Nintendo 3DS XL Galaxy Style, $174.99
- Up to 40% of PC gaming goods
- Nintendo Switch Secure Game Case – Zelda Edition
- Dark Souls III: The Fire Fades Edition (PS4)
- Dragon Quest Heroes II Explorer’s Edition (PS4)
- Super Dungeon Bros (PS4)
- Lego Worlds (XBox One)
- Super Smash Bros (3DS)
Prime Now
Sale time started early for Prime Now, Amazon’s quick delivery service.
With the code 10PRIMEDAY, you can get $10 off an order right now and another $10 off an order from July 13-31. And there’s quite a bit in there already at 25-30% off, especially if you’re looking for ice cream. Halo Top for around $3 delivered to your door? Yes, please.
