Prepare your wallets and get ready to sign up for that free Amazon Prime trial membership: An Amazon press release has officially revealed that Prime Day 2024 will occur this July 16-17. Amazon's biggest sale of the year (and arguably the biggest sale of any retailer) will soon be underway, and we'll help you parse out which are the best deals available—and the ones you should steer clear of.

What is Amazon Prime Day?

Amazon Prime Day is a 48-hour sale, offering discounts on the Amazon website in virtually every category. It began in 2015 as a one-day event to celebrate Amazon's 20th anniversary, but it has grown exponentially since then, and now qualifies as a major shopping event, with other retailers spinning up their own sales to capitalize on the hype.

Of course, calling it "Prime Day" is a bit of a misnomer. In recent years, Amazon has also released "early Prime Day" deals that can last up to a week or two, and there's another "Prime Day"-like sale in the fall, officially called Prime Big Deal Days (though the deals usually aren't quite as impressive).

When is Amazon Prime Day 2024?

Amazon has officially announced the dates of Prime Day 2024 to be on July 16 and 17 in their official press release. Keep in mind that Amazon is already releasing "early" deals that will lead up to the two-day event.

What you can expect on Amazon Prime Day

Amazon Prime Day always comes with surprise deals, but there are usually sales across a wide variety of products. To get an idea, you can see our 20 favorite deals from Prime Day 2023. While you might not find all of these same deals, you are very likely to find similar ones this summer. Amazon products like Fire TVs, tablets, smart speakers, and security cameras will hit new low prices or match their lowest prices from previous sales. Some products that Amazon says will be at their lowest price include Ring Battery Doorbell Plus, Blink Outdoor 4 multi-packs, Fire TV Cube (3rd Gen), Kindle Scribe, and eero Max 7 mesh wifi systems.

Some brands that Amazon officially announced will be part of Prime Day are Clinique, Allbirds, Kiehl’s, Sony, KitchenAid, Coach handbags, Dyson Beauty, Peloton, Youth to the People, New Balance, HP, Jansport, PlayDoh, Nordic Track, Poppi Prebiotic Sodas, and Hatch. As far as categories, Amazon has said to expect deals on electronics, kitchen, beauty, and apparel, with new deals sometimes dropping as often as every 5 minutes. They also mentioned they will have 40% off Sony Wireless Headphones and up to 30% off Peloton as invite-only deals.

Can you shop on Prime Day without being a Prime member?

You don't need to be a Prime Member to shop on Prime Day, but most of the best deals are for Prime Members only. If you aren't a member, you can sign up for a free 30-day trial, which is definitely enough to cover the whole event. However, not everyone will be eligible for these trials, so be sure to read the terms.

What is special about Prime Day?

As a shopping writer, I can tell you that most of the lowest prices I have seen, whether for a tablet, a TV, or an appliance, hit on Prime Day (at least according to price-checking tools). The breadth of products on sale is also much greater than at other points throughout the year. But that doesn't mean all of the deals are great—you'll still have to do your due diligence to make sure the deal you're looking at is legit.

Is Amazon Prime worth it?

While it probably doesn't make sense to become a Prime member only to score Prime Day discounts, there are a lot of other benefits to subscribing. In any case, if you're shopping for Prime Day, make sure you come out a winner and go in with a plan.

Are other companies also doing deals during Prime Day?

Yes. While Prime Day is solely an Amazon deal, it also gets competition from the likes of Walmart, Best Buy, Target, and other retailers. Walmart announced the dates for its "Prime Day" deals this summer (called Walmart Week), taking place from July 8 to July 11. The deals are for Walmart+ members, which, like Amazon Prime, is not free. However, you can get a free 30-day trial; otherwise it'll be $98 a year.

This post will be updated with all the latest information about Prime Day 2024 as it is released.

Walmart had its "Walmart+ Week" sale last week, which was hyped up to be something special. It wasn't. None of its deals were remarkable nor memorable. However, in what seems like a shot at redemption, Walmart is prepping to launch another sale, Walmart Deals, before Prime Day in mid-July. (July 16 and 17, specifically, if the dates TechRadar says Amazon leaked are to be believed.)

When does Walmart Deals start?

Walmart Deals kicks off on Monday, July 8 at 5 p.m. ET and runs through Thursday, July 11 at 11:59 p.m. ET. If you are a Walmart+ member, you'll get early access to the sales beginning at noon Eastern time — five hours before the general public. You can sign up for a free 30-day Walmart+ subscription or get the annual plan for $98 ($8.17/month).

What you can expect from Walmart Deals

Walmart says its sale will include many different categories, including deals on electronics, home, toys, travel, back-to-school materials, and many other categories. The sale will be on Walmart.com and the Walmart app. Here are some deals Walmart says will be available:

• TCL 65” QLED Google TV for $398 (was $498.00)

• HP Victus 15.6” FHD 144Hz Gaming Laptop for $599 (was $979.00)

• Dyson V12 Detect Slimm Cordless Vacuum for $449.99 (was $649.99)

• Samsung Galaxy Watch4 Classic 46mm Smart Watch with Bluetooth for $99.00 (was $179.99)

• Westin Adirondack Chair for $89.99 (was $119.99)

• TCL Air Purifier for $29.99 (was $69.99)

• KidsKraft Swing Set for $248 (was $399.00)

• Emeril Lagasse Power Grill 360 Plus, 6-in-1 Electric Indoor Grill and Air Fryer Toaster Oven with Smokeless Technology, XL Family-Size Capacity for $50 (was $169.00)

• Rayovac High Energy AA Batteries & AAA Batteries, 1.5 V, 72 Pack for $19.97 (was $39.94)

• Lifetime 50-inch Adjustable Hoop for $249.99 (was $329.99)

• Jurassic World T-Rex for $19.97 (was $48.99)

• Hoverstar Flash Wheel Hoverboard for $62.99 (was $89.99)

• Kids’ Dodge Charger Ride On for $164.99 (was $299.99)

• AovoPro Scooter for $219.99 (was $439.00)

• Ozark Trail 10-Person Cabin Tent for $99 (was $170.00)

• Keurig K-Slim + ICED Single Serve Coffee Maker for $49 (was $129.00)

• GE Profile™ Opal™ Nugget Ice Maker for $397 (was $579.00)

• Nintendo Switch Joy Con with Game for $69 (was $99.00)

• Lego Star Wars for $35 (was $49.99)

• Travelhouse 3 Piece Luggage for $85 (was $119.99)

• Shark IQ Mapping Robot Vacuum, 60 Day Capacity Base, RV2302AE for $288 (was $499.99)

• Philips Sonicare DiamondClean 9000 Special Edition Adult Rechargeable Toothbrush for $149.96 (was $199.96)

You can choose between in-store pickup and different delivery options, including early-morning delivery, late-night express delivery and next- and two-day shipping.

You can get one year membership to BJ’s on sale for $20 right now (reg. $55). The warehouse retailer has 244 clubs across the eastern US with savings on everyday grocery items, household staples, tech, furniture, and seasonal decor. You can also shop online and get same-day delivery or curbside pickup, and download the BJ’s mobile app and use ExpressPay to scan and pay. It also includes other member-exclusive perks like BJ’s Gas, BJ’s Home Improvement, BJ’s Optical, BJ’s Tire Center, and BJ’s travel.

You can get one year membership to BJ’s on sale for $20 right now (reg. $55), though prices may change at any time. 

Living in a consumer paradise has its downsides, like the sheer amount of packaging that you wind up throwing away—mostly plastic. Plastic is an amazing material, and it gets used to package everything from shampoo to produce for one simple reason: It works really well at keeping food fresh and protected from damage. Plus, it’s really convenient.

But that convenience has a price, because we’re throwing away a lot of plastic packaging. Almost all plastic packaging is thrown away after a single use (hence the term “single-use plastic”), and a huge amount of that plastic winds up in the environment. That’s a big reason why so many Americans are looking for ways to reduce their dependence on single-use plastic.

Which often leads them to zero-waste stores, also known as refill stores (or, more charmingly, “refilleries”). These stores let you bring your own reusable containers to buy groceries, health and beauty products, and cleaning products, eliminating (in theory) plastic waste. This might seem like an obvious way to live a more sustainable life—but there are downsides.

How it works

Zero-waste or refill stores all operate similarly: You bring your own containers, whether that’s Tupperware or other sealable plastic bowls, glass jars, or literally any container that can be filled, sealed, and then cleaned for re-use. Most products are offered raw, in bulk, in large dispensers or pump stations without individual packaging; some products (like dissolvable cleaning tablets that you mix with water) are sold individually. Most stores offer containers for sale (or for free, via donations) if you don’t have your own, or if you miscalculate and need a few extra.

You weigh your containers when you enter the store, then fill them up with whatever you want. Aside from eliminating single-use packaging, this also has the advantage of enabling you to buy only as much as you need. If your cereal regularly goes stale at home because you don’t eat through a standard box fast enough, you can purchase just a small amount that’s ideal for your consumption rate.

When you’re done, you weigh the containers again and pay for the weight of each product. You bring the stuff home, use it, and when you’re done you clean out your containers, bring them back, and repeat the process. If you commit to the lifestyle, you eliminate all that packaging you would otherwise throw into the trash.

Downsides

A refill store can definitely help you reduce the amount of stuff you’re throwing into the trash or the recycling bin. And less plastic in our landfills and oceans is definitely a good thing. But that doesn’t mean zero-waste stores don’t have their downsides:

• Sanitation. You have to clean your reusable containers very thoroughly if you’re going to prevent bacteria or mold from creeping in—but the act of washing them can actually make them less safe to use, as rough scrubbing or dishwasher cycles can create grooves where bacteria can grow, as well as break the plastic down, allowing its components to leach into food.

• Reusable math. The plastic, glass, or metal container you bring to a refill store most likely required a lot more resources to create than the flimsy single-use plastic in a standard grocery store—which means you have to use them a lot to actually have a net-positive impact. If this is a permanent shift in how you shop, you’ll eventually get there—but the number of uses resets every time you have to introduce a new container, further eroding the impact.

• Price. Zero-waste shops usually have some pretty tough margins, and can be as much as three times more expensive for certain products than a traditional grocery store.

• Spoilage and spillage. Single-use plastics are pretty good at keeping food fresh and free from blemishes—one study demonstrated that plastic-wrapped cucumbers lasted more than a week longer than “naked” ones. Unwrapped produce may spoil faster, leading to increased food waste.

  There’s also the issue of spillage in the store—mistakes with dispensers or knocking loose produce onto the floor leads to waste and bruising, further increasing the potential for food waste.

• Choice. Most zero-waste stores are fervently local and focused on environmentally friendly products, which makes sense. But that means that you might not find a lot of familiar brands in those dispensers, so you might need to adjust your expectations and preferences.

Best practices

That said, zero-waste stores offer an opportunity to lead a less wasteful lifestyle. If you have a refillery nearby and want to give it a go, there are some basic best-practices to follow:

• Choose containers wisely. You want to bring containers that are appropriately sized so you can buy the amount of products that you need. You can use just about anything—old cereal boxes can be filled with fresh cereal, for example—but filling a square plastic storage container with shampoo might be a little awkward.

• Pre-plan. Because you have to fill up your own containers, shopping at a refill store can take a little longer than shopping at a regular grocery store. Know what you need (and how much of it you need) before you go to cut down on the amount of time it takes to get through your list.

• Contain containers. Don’t forget you’ll need to transport your collection of jars, bowls, and boxes from the store to your home, so you’ll need to bring some shopping bags to put everything into. You might already bring your own bags when you shop, but keep in mind that your glass and metal containers may be heavier than the single-use plastics at a traditional store, so make sure your shopping bags are strong enough—and that you can carry them all.

• Go slow. Many dispensers in zero-waste stores work using gravity, so it’s easy to have a torrent of beans or whatever just go shooting everywhere. Your container will fill up quickly, so be careful to avoid spillage.

• Ask. Zero-waste stores are usually run by people who have a lot of knowledge and passion about the environment and consumption. If you need advice on replacing your usual products or storing something, asking the owners or employees is almost always your best bet.

Invite-Only deals started last year during Prime Day in an effort to give more people an equal chance to take advantage of the best deals Amazon has to offer. The program must've worked well for Amazon because they repeated it during Prime Big Deal Days later in October. While we don't have the official dates for Prime Day yet, we know it'll be sometime in mid-July. Knowing how to sign up for the Invite-Only deals will give you a fighting chance at taking advantage of these deals.

How to sign up for Prime Day Invite-Only deals

As Amazon explains, you must be a Prime Member to sign up for the Invite-Only deals. What you're doing is essentially requesting an invitation to the deal, which will come by email. Here are the steps from Amazon:

1. Find an "Invite-Only Prime Deal" that you want to purchase. You can find the deals on the Deals page.

2. Navigate to the product detail page.

3. Select "Request Invite." If you are not a Prime member, sign up for Prime to be able to request an invite.

4. You will receive an email notification confirming you requested an invite. The confirmation will be sent to the email that is on your Amazon account. If you don't have an email on your account, add one by navigating to Your Account > Login > Security.

Keep in mind that just because you requested an invitation doesn't mean you'll receive one. If you are selected, you'll receive a push notification and email during the sale. If you're not selected, Amazon will also let you know you didn't get one. You can only buy one of the products that you were invited for, but you can request as many different product invitations as you want. The invitation will last as long as Prime Day lasts (two days).

As you can see from our past coverage of Prime Day Invite-Only deals, they are impressive. In October, Amazon had a 43-inch 4K Smart Fire TV for $99. You'll likely see similar deals this year. Some other tips to shop smartly for Prime Day are to use Alexa to remind you about deals and use deal alerts to receive notifications related to your recent Amazon searches and recently viewed items.

With Amazon Prime Day on the horizon (the date hasn't been announced, but we know the sale will take place sometime in July), now is a smart time to make an Amazon wishlist to keep track of all the things you plan to buy using your Prime account. You can also share your list with friends or family (hint, hint) in case they need gift ideas in the future. Here’s how to do it.

How to create and add to an Amazon wishlist

To create an Amazon wishlist in your browser, hover over Accounts & Lists in the upper-right corner of the navigation bar and select Create a list from the left column. (You can also access this by clicking Accounts & Lists > Your Lists > Create a List). Enter the name of your list in the pop-up and click Create List.

To create a new list on the Amazon Shopping app, select the profile icon on the bottom navigation bar and click Your Lists. Hit the plus icon next to Your lists and registries, enter the list name, and click Create List.

To add an item to a wishlist, go to the product’s page you’re interested in and look for the Add to List drop-down (simply text on mobile) underneath the Add to Cart/Buy Now box. You can either select an existing list or hit Create a List to make a new wishlist.

How to share an Amazon wishlist

All Amazon wishlists are private by default, but you can share specific lists with friends and family. Open the list you want to send and hit Invite or Send list to others (if using Amazon via browser). In either case, you have the option to allow others to view and edit your wishlist, or view-only, and to copy the link to your list or invite other users via email.

If you decide you want to change your privacy settings, update the name of your list, or enable Alexa to add items to your list, simply hover over the three horizontal “More” dots and select Manage list. You can also toggle on Don’t spoil my surprises if you want others to be able to gift you items from your wishlist without you knowing about it.

To make the most out of July's upcoming Amazon Prime Day, you need to be an Amazon Prime member. However, a lesser-known Amazon Prime feature is that you can share membership perks with your family and only pay one membership fee. You can add one other adult, up to four teens, and up to four children to your Amazon Household, which allows everyone in the household to access all the standard benefits, from free shipping to streaming.

With an Amazon Household, everyone creates or keeps their own Amazon account but gets shared Prime benefits, even if they don’t actually live together. Here’s how to set it up for your family.

How to share Amazon Prime benefits with your family

To get started, you’ll need an Amazon account and a Prime membership (here’s how to sign up for Amazon Prime if you don’t have it already). After logging in, head over to the Amazon Household page and select Add Adult, Add Teen, and/or Add Child, depending on who you’d like to share your account with.

If you want to add an adult, you’ll be prompted to enter their name and the email associated with their Amazon account. You’ll then have to agree to link your payment wallet and choose which types of content—apps, audiobooks, and/or e-books—you want to share. Amazon does notify you if a Household member moves one of your payment methods to their wallet.

From here, your family member will receive an invitation via email to join your Household. To accept, they’ll click Get Prime Benefits and follow the prompts to agree to wallet sharing and to cancel their own Prime membership if they have one. Invitations are valid for 14 days. If the person you want to invite doesn’t have an Amazon account, they can create one during sign-up.

To add a teen who is 13 to 17 or a child who is 12 or under to your Household, you’ll need to follow the prompts to set up a teen or child profile—for teens, this includes indicating whether and how you want to review and approve orders and selecting a linked payment method. Children can’t shop on Amazon but can access Amazon Kids content and features.

A few limitations:

• Amazon Households can only contain two adults and up to four teens and four children.

• Household members must have an address in the same country (but do not have to have the same address).

• If an adult has left an Amazon Household, neither adult on the account can join a different one for 180 days.

If you need to remove someone from your Household, you can do so via the Manage Your Household page.

Prime Day is just around the corner. For two days in July, you’ll find promotions on products from companies both big and small, all vying for your clicks and your wallet. Many of these will claim to be great deals, and that not buying the item during Prime Day will mean you miss out on some big savings. But there are a few strategies you can use to quickly figure out whether that “amazing deal” really is all that.

How to tell a good Prime Day price from a bad one

One of the best things you can do to tell if a Prime Day deal is legit is to employ the use of a price tracker. These sites and tools keep tabs on the prices for any given product across the many different stores and vendors where it is sold, in order to give you the best possible price, as well as show you whether that current “deal” really is that much lower than the original price or other deals that are out there.

A common technique to make deals look good is to pump up the price of the product: That way, when the company slashes the price for something like Prime Day, it can claim a large discount, even if the overall price tag isn’t much lower than the original price (if it's lower at all). If something originally costs $60, a company can raise the price to $75, then cut it back down to $60, claiming it took 20% off. It’s accurate, but scummy, so watch out for it.

You can use a browser extension like Keepa to watch a product's price history. But other trackers, like Honey or Capital One Shopping, can help you find prices and price histories for items across multiple stores. Their browser extensions are especially useful: If there’s another store selling the same product you’re looking at on Amazon for less, you’ll get a pop-up letting you know, with a direct link to that store’s product page.

Knowing whether something is a good deal isn’t all about getting the best price, though. Sure, Honey might have confirmed this item isn’t any cheaper elsewhere on the web, but there’s more than just the general price tag to consider.

Amazon’s own products will have the best deals

It’s Amazon Prime Day, after all. The company is here to sell as much inventory as it can, but it’s happiest if you’re buying Amazon products from Amazon. As such, the best tech deals are likely going to be with Amazon’s own line of gadgets. Of course, just because an Amazon product is massively on sale, doesn't make it a "good deal." If you wanted a different brand over Amazon's, or if you just want to make sure you're getting the best version of a product, make sure to compare offerings from different companies, too.

Make sure you’re not buying an old piece of tech

I’m a big believer in old tech: I think we should be holding onto our devices for longer than many of us do. However, I don’t think companies should sell you old tech as if it were new, especially when new tech is right around the corner.

Amazon is actually sometimes helpful here: If you’re looking at an outdated version of a product, Amazon lets you know, and gives you a link to the current version of that device. However, that’s only true if Amazon carries that new version of the device or if there’s a direct successor to that product. Lines are blurred these days: Last year’s device isn’t necessarily obsolete just because there’s a new version out, so Amazon doesn’t always try to sell you on the newer product.

And that can be fine! Last-generation laptops, tablets, smartwatches, and phones have their place: Tech is advancing so rapidly that it can be frugal and practical to buy older tech that still works well. But Amazon telling you to buy something that won’t be able to update to the latest software later this year isn’t right. If you’re looking to buy a piece of tech on Prime Day, research is your friend. It’s more than OK to buy something that came out last year or the year before; what matters more is making sure the product still works as it should in 2024, and if it’ll last as long as you’d reasonably expect it to.

If the reason a device is such a good price is because it’s obsolete, that’s not a good deal.

Not everything that is “cheap” is good

On a similar note, be wary of cheap tech that simply isn’t very good. It might be affordable, but if it doesn’t work well, it’s not worth the cost.

Often, this issue arrises with the many brands you’ve never heard of selling items for pennies compared to other companies. Sure, you could save some money and go with these brands, but what about the long-term investment? After Amazon’s 30-day return policy is up, you’re sunk without a customer support channel, something many of these tiny companies lack themselves.

On the other hand, you might have heard of the brand, but the product itself just isn’t very good. It might seem like a steal to get a giant 65-inch 4K TV for $500, but if the picture quality is poor, was that really worth it? (No.)

Read the reviews (not on Amazon, if you can help it)

One way to make sure that TV is worth its steep price cut, or whether those cheap headphones are going to pass the listen test, is to read reviews for the products you’re considering buying. I’m not talking about Amazon reviews, either: Amazon’s ratings can be helpful, but they can also be compromised. Sometimes the reviews don’t even match the product they’re supposed to be talking about, which doesn’t bode well for the integrity of the review. And in the age of AI, you can never be too sure who's writing that customer review in the first place.

When it comes to tech, the best approach is to listen to the reviewers with technical experience, who put these products through their paces before issuing an opinion. An outlet like our sister site PCMag will help you figure out pretty quickly whether that TV is really worth the hype, and they show their work so you can understand how they came to their conclusions.

At the end of the day, it’s all about taking your time and doing your research—the opposite of Amazon’s “BUY IT NOW” strategy. Fight the urge to buy something on impulse, and make sure your money is going toward the best possible product for your needs.

Amazon’s Prime Day sale is coming this July—but keeping up and keeping track of the best discounts yet to land and figuring out which deals are worthwhile may be almost impossible. As an alternative, you can have Alexa give you a heads-up about deals on products you already know you want to purchase, so you don’t have to spend time sorting through the noise.

Amazon Prime subscribers in the United States who also have Echo smart speakers can enable deal alerts to receive notifications 24 hours before discounts go live and even have your Alexa purchase these items for you. Here’s how to do it.

How to set up Alexa deal alerts

First, open the Amazon Shopping app or go to Amazon’s website via browser and add products you want alerts for to your Wish List, your Shopping Cart, or a Saved for Later list.

Then head to the Alexa mobile app and go to More > Settings > Notifications > Amazon Shopping and toggle on Deal Recommendations under the Shopping Recommendations options. This ensures you’ll receive notifications for items that appear in your shopping activity.

If Alexa finds an upcoming deal on something in your Saved for Later, your Wish List, or in your Shopping Cart, you’ll receive a pop-up alert on your Echo Show display or see a yellow light ring on your Echo speaker. You can also ask, “Alexa, what are my notifications?” to hear a list of deals it has compiled thus far.

Alexa can detect deals up to 24 hours in advance, so you can either ask it to remind you again when a deal starts or request that it buy the item when the deal goes live. Simply say, “Alexa, buy it for me,” and it’ll charge the default payment and send the item to the default delivery address on your account.

Here are some Alexa smart speaker options:

Full sound compact smart speaker with Alexa

Amazon Echo Pop

$39.99 at Amazon

Get Deal

Get Deal

$39.99 at Amazon

With bigger vibrant sound, helpful routines and Alexa

Echo Dot (5th Gen, 2022 release)

at Amazon

Get Deal

Get Deal

at Amazon

Smart display with 2x the bass and clearer sound

Echo Show 5 (3rd Gen, 2023 release)

$89.99 at Amazon

Get Deal

Get Deal

$89.99 at Amazon

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