Tips for Prime Day

UPDATE: Prime Day is almost over but these tips are “reusable/recyclable” for both regular Lightning Deals and also the Holiday Shopping season…

Prime Day is almost here, so here’s some tips to make the most of it:

  • make sure your addresses and payment methods are correct (but you can make some adjustments shortly after an order placed)
  • make sure the Default Payment method is the one you want to use
  • if you want to Pay with Credit Card points, make sure the accounts are connected and you know what the balances are. Keep in mind, Discover and Chase offer a 1:1 exchange (1 Reward point = 1 cent buying power at Amazon), while AMEX and Citibank are more stingy, 1 Reward point is less than 1c buying power at Amazon
  • empty your shopping cart to be ready in case of fast-moving doorbusters
  • if there are any Add-On items you want/need, don’t forget to attach them to any $25+ orders
  • in general, the more desirable an item is, the faster it sells out, there are millions of customers chasing deals
  • once you add something to the shopping cart, you have 15 minutes to decide whether to buy it or not. If an item is not in Wait List or sold-out, you can do this again during the offer
  • the same song and dance as Black Friday and the regular Lightning Deals happens, you can Join The Waiting List. If that fills up, that’s not a hopeful sign, but there’s still a chance depending on how much time is left. Eventually an offer dies when it either expires or their computers mark it as sold-out/expired
  • strategically some people add an item to the shopping cart immediately and use those 15 minutes to decide whether to buy it, so after the first 15 minutes of an offer, expect some of the inventory to return, eg if it’s in Waiting List mode