This sounds like fake news, but it isn’t. Black Friday is happening right now…starting tonight (July 10) and going through tomorrow (July 11, 2017). For the third year, Amazon.com is throwing a party in July and calling it Prime Day with sales, insider deals, and lots of consumer-friendly pressure on all the retail markets. If you are already an Amazon Prime subscriber, this is not news to you since you’ve been getting non-stop emails from Amazon this week, so I’m really talking to the 8 people who are not yet Amazon Prime subscribers.
If you are one of those folks, NOW is the time to fire up your 30-day trial Amazon Prime membership. Like, right now. Go ahead. I’ll wait.
This I didn’t know until today, but students, those on government EBT cards, and apparently some credit card holders can get Prime for free or a reduced fee.
Yes, the fee is $99 a year, but even thrifty and shoppers-club-averse-me thinks this is well worth it. The benefits I personally use the most are the:
- Kindle First free books each month (est. $120/year value)
- Free shipping on the 22 orders I shockingly placed in 2016. I had no idea! (est. at least $220-440 value)
- Amazon Prime Photos storage (est. $60 value)
- Amazon Prime Music, a decent alternative to Pandora or other paid music services
- Amazon Prime Video- (as they say, priceless!)
It’s a no-brainer, and I more than get my money’s worth! One of my favorite things about Amazon is that I can add to an order over time before I hit the buy button, and items stay in my cart until I’ve done all my comparison shopping and am ready to place an order, so I am not constantly getting boxes cluttering up my front porch.
If you aren’t sure where to start, or want to learn about a BUNCH of stuff I didn’t even mention, then check out the Insider’s Guide to Getting the Most out of Prime Day.
Amazon Prime Day is coming at just the right time, since my trusty watch just called it quits, and finding a watch that fits all of my criteria is pretty tough. I picked out this waterproof, powered by the sun, never needs a battery beauty earlier today, and now I see this watch is an additional 30% off during Amazon Prime Day (starting now), so it’s going to be right in my budget! Yay!
Just don’t get really distracted and start buying stuff you don’t need…. Coffee Panda Cold Brew Coffee Maker.
A few more tips before you head off to shop…
- Set up an eBates.com account, and be sure to start all of your shopping from that site, and click on the Amazon button. Yes, it’s legit. Yes, you’ll earn only a couple of bucks off each order, but it’s a nice little perk.
- Check out the Warehouse Deals part of the site for open box items electronics and appliances at a discount.
- Now that you know Prime Day and Black Friday come twice a year, start a WishList (like the one I started with some favorite organizing tools) to keep track of all those things you might want to buy when the sales come up again. This is a version of my 24-hour rule to avoid impulse purchases.
- Amazon is kind of a big deal and has a lot of influence on the market, so if you don’t find what you need at Amazon (perish the thought!), search the ‘net or your other favorite stores for steep one-day deals on the thing your heart desires.
- Last but not least, remember that digital content and experiences will take up less space and have been scientifically proven to make you happier than physical things.
Just to keep the FTC happy, here’s disclosure I am an Amazon Affiliate, I hope the info has been valuable to you.
Shop wisely.
