Amazon Prime Day: here's how to get the best deals

Amazon Prime Day, or technically days, are here, turning an ordinary Monday and Tuesday into a global shopping phenomenon.

Around the world, Amazon is offering its Prime members discounts on gadgets, appliances, beauty products, and just about everything else it sells, with the two-day event expected to rake in $6.1bn (Dh22.4bn) for the e-tailer.

Much like ‘Black Friday’, the US-turned-global shopping holiday which directly follows Thanksgiving, Amazon Prime Day has a special way of producing a sense of manufactured urgency among shoppers, coercing them into making purchases, that, let’s face it, they probably don’t need.

Nevertheless, if you are in the market for spending, there are deals to be had. Here’s how to make the most of them:

To cut down on impulse purchases, write down what you want ahead of time and set a spending limit, says Ross Steinman, a professor of psychology at Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania.

Much of what is on sale is kept a secret until the event, but you'll be able to browse deals ahead of time on Amazon's app, the company says. Based on past Prime Days, expect its deepest discounts to be on Amazon devices, like its voice-activated Echo speakers and Kindle e-book readers.

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Sara Skirboll, a shopping expert at deals site RetailMeNot, recommends setting up a "Wish List" on the Amazon app and allowing it to send notifications so you can get alerts if those items get a price cut.

 

The deals are only for Prime members. But if you're not a member, you don't have to pay the fee to take part. Amazon offers a 30-day free trial when you sign up for Prime. Just remember to set a calendar reminder to cancel the subscription before you are charged Dh16 for the month or Dh140 for the year.

Use the two days of discounts to your advantage. Before you buy, give yourself some time to think about whether you actually need the items you're eyeing. It can help cut down on overspending, says Steinman. "You have some time to cool off," he says.

 

Other stores are crashing Amazon's party, which means more deals for shoppers. Noon.com is hosting a day of ‘big deals’ here in the UAE, with discounts of up to 75 per cent, while globally, sites like eBay plan to offer their own online discounts during Amazon's Prime Day event. So make sure to search around on other sites to make sure it isn't cheaper elsewhere.

In the US, price tracking websites such as CamelCamelCamel or Keep, show how the price of an item has changed on Amazon over time. While it does not work for Amazon UAE, it will give you a rough idea of how the site fluctuates its prices throughout the year to help you see if you're really getting the lowest price or if the item tends to be cheaper during other times of the year.