How you can find the best deals — and avoid scams — on Amazon’s Prime Days in October

Cortlynn Stark, The Sum
·4 min read

Amazon’s fall Prime Day sale is around the corner.

How can you make sure you’re getting the best deal? And how can you look out for scams?

We’re breaking it down for you.

What is Amazon Prime Day?

Prime Day is Amazon’s deal event for Prime members. It started in July 2015 to celebrate the company’s 20th anniversary.

The Prime Big Deal Days sale runs from Oct. 10 to Oct. 11. You do have to be a member.

This is the second year for the company to host two Prime Days. The last Prime Day event fell on July 11 and 12.

Do other companies have sales?

Yes. Here’s what NBC Select found:

Target Circle Weeks runs from Oct. 1 to Oct. 7.

Walmart Deals — Holiday Kickoff runs from Oct. 9 to Oct. 12.

Home Depot’s Decor Days goes from Oct. 5 to Oct. 9.

Lowe’s hosts a Super Savings sale from Oct. 9 to Oct. 11.

Are you getting the best deal?

While prices may seemingly be getting slashed, it’s possible you still may not be getting the best deal.

“The 10 most popular items on Prime Day last year were sold for lower prices outside of those deal days,” reported NBC’s Emilie Ikeda.

But there are still ways you can find sales.

Monitoring Lightning Deals can be a good way to find the best sales. These discounts are only available for a short period of time and they expire when the timer runs out or if the item sells out. If you’re on the app, you can see upcoming deals before they’re active and get notifications for when a deal will go live.

You can also look for Deals of the Day, according to Consumer Reports. These last for 24 hours.

Amazon also offers Alexa Deals. You can access these through an Alexa-powered device or download the Alexa app to access the offers.

You can sign up for invite-only deals at amazon.com/primebigdealdays.

Plus, the Amazon Asisstant plug-in, available on most common browsers such as Chrome or Safari, can help you compare products and prices, according to Consumer Reports.

How to watch out for scams?

Since 2018, the Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Sentinel Network has received about 3 million reports of impersonation scams with losses of more than $6 billion, according to a November 2022 report.

Amazon topped the list of impersonated businesses in 2021, according to a report from the FTC. About 1 in 3 people reporting an impersonation scam said the scammer pretended to be Amazon.

From July 2020 to June 2021, about 96,000 people reported being targeted and nearly 6,000 said they lost money with a median individual loss of $1,000. Losses totaled more than $27 million, according to the FTC.

If you find a scam, you can report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. If you’ve paid a scammer, visit ftc.gov/scams.

Phishing scams occur when scammers pretending to be a trusted entity try to trick you into giving up your personal or financial information. During periods of busy shopping, such as Prime Day or even Black Friday, phishing increases, according to the Better Business Bureau.

For Prime Day specifically, you should watch out for Prime membership and order confirmation hoaxes, Fortune reported during the July sale.

You should keep these tips in mind while shopping for Prime Day — and even for holiday shopping over the next few months:

  • When you’re shopping, click on the Amazon Prime box to limit exposure to scams.

  • If a product doesn’t have any reviews, that’s a red flag.

  • Research the seller as well as the product. NBC reported you should Google the seller’s name and the word “scam” to see what comes up.

  • Bad grammar or spelling, or poor descriptions, are also red flags.

  • If something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

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