This time of year retailers across the UK start to launch price drops on stock. With Easter and early May bank holidays fast approaching it's a popular time for sales ahead of the summer.
Amazon is a top contender when it comes to finding the best price or 'lightning deals' as it launches hundreds of pounds off items in its annual Prime Day sales. Money off tech items, beauty products, fashion brands and household staples are just a few of the departments shoppers can find savings in.
Last year Amazon launched two major Prime Day sale events, a surprise sale for 24 hours in July and its annual October sale even before the huge price drops of Black Friday in November.
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Whilst it's not been confirmed when the discounts of 2023 Prime Day will drop there are a few 'money-saving' tips shoppers can do the next time they buy through online retail, which is likely to slash money off the price both in and out of sales.
How to get the best deal in an Amazon sale
With Amazon stocking thousands of products and third-party sellers often selling identical items, it can often be tricky to spot when a 'deal' is a saving, or not.
This is where we'd recommend shoppers compare the prices of the specific item in the 'sale', that way they can know if the current price is cheaper than usual. The site CamelCamelCamel is a price tracker made just for products listed on Amazon, so shoppers can compare listed prices.
Browse deals on Amazon Warehouse - 'Good as new' second-hand listings
There's a specific page on Amazon that launches additional discounts on items, meaning the same products listed on its main retail site can be found for hundreds of pounds cheaper.
The 'hidden page' is officially known as Amazon Warehouse, a deals section of the site where shoppers can find discounted brands.
Amazon sets out clear thresholds on the re-selling of the items on the Warehouse page; used - like new, used - very good, used- good and used-acceptable. Products are priced depending on the status, with the cheaper options being used- acceptable and the more expensive are used - like new.
Amazon is currently offering 30% off all items listed on its Warehouse page, and the biggest savings are likely to be found on tech. This iPhone 13 is reduced to £600 and the Xbox Series X can be found here for £300.
Always sign up for Amazon Prime - you'll get the deals first
As the name may suggest, the Amazon Prime day sale is only available to shoppers who sign up for a Prime membership. Whilst next-day delivery and Prime Video are it's more 'known about' perks shoppers with this membership can also get more money-off products.
The Amazon Prime subscription costs £8.99 a month (or £95 per year) but shoppers can sign up for a free 30-day trial and cancel (with no charge) if they don't think it is for them. Another sale tip is for shoppers to sign up for the free trial in the days leading up to the discounts, that way they can benefit from the membership but leave as soon as they've shopped.
Browse the 'lightning deals'
This is where shoppers can find the 'best deals' of the day, during huge sale events, clicking into this section of the website and filtering the search by 'saving' will get shoppers the best prices.
It's similar to the everyday 'today's deals' section, which shoppers can browse through each day, even during non-sales.
Items are only available here until stocks last and it's where the 'viral' discounts can be found. In last year's October Prime Day sale, the sell-out Ninja air fryer was reduced here, as well as the Nespresso Vertuo coffee machines.
Check the 'sold by'
It may sound simple but checking the 'sold by' information next to the price of the product can give you an idea if the products you're getting are worth your money.
Whilst the majority of third-party sellers on Amazon are the real deal, and Amazon has checks to verify, there have been rare cases where 'fake' items have been sold. It's also worth checking here as third-party sellers are more likely to push the price of items up, as a lot of third-party sellers have different delivery costs on Amazon Marketplace.
All sold-by sellers operate through Amazon Marketplace which isn't inclusive of Amazon's free delivery on orders over £20, so shoppers should be aware that items here may cost more to deliver.
Subscribe and save
The 'subscribe' option can be found on the majority of Amazon's beauty and toiletry products, where shoppers can set up a monthly delivery of a specific item. The benefit of doing so reduces the price compared to if you were to buy the item as a 'one off'.
An example of this can be seen below on a pack of Simple Make-up wipes, if shoppers buy in bulk each month they will pay £11.99 compared to the one-time purchase price of £12.62. Obviously, this is only handy if you need a lot of a product.
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