Whether it will take place at its usual time, which is the second week of July, or is pushed back a bit to avoid competition with the World Cup, Amazon Prime Day is likely right around the corner.
Amazon usually doesn’t announce the official date of Amazon Prime Day 2018 until the very end of June — and holds off as long as possible to announce specific deals. However, based on Prime Day patterns from previous years, trends from the most recent Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and Amazon product news, shoppers can make predictions for this year’s hot items.
Read on for the best anticipated Amazon Prime Day deals.
[See: 12 Ways to Be a More Mindful Spender.]
Prime Day Basics
Before jumping in to the Prime Day hype, know the following pieces of information to make your shopping experience smoother and easier.
— Amazon Prime Day is for Prime members only. If you’re not signed up for Prime, you’ll need to do so to take advantage of the sales. If you’ve never had Prime before, you can sign up for a 30-day free trial.
— Many Prime Day deals are limited-time promos. Lightning deals may expire within hours, and some deals may run out of stock quickly.
— Plenty of other retailers will try to compete with Prime Day. And that’s a good thing for your wallet. Thanks to Prime Day’s success, rivals such as eBay, Overstock, Walmart and more have launched concurrent sales of their own during Prime Days past — and offered free shipping to compete with Prime’s free two-day shipping. So before pouncing on a deal, run a quick price-comparison.
Predictions: Hot Items for Prime Day 2018
Practically every category of product sold on Amazon will have discounts. However, consumers can expect that prices will drop dramatically on these items:
4K TVs with built-in Fire TV. TV deals are generally Black Friday’s territory. However, Prime Day has a reputation for low TV prices as well. Pay particular attention to TV brands that have built-in Fire TV, which is Amazon’s smart TV platform. These brands include Element and select Toshiba and Insignia models.
Fire TV Cube. This new product launched June 21. It’s a hands-free, Alexa-capable remote that allows you to control your TV with voice commands. It works with any IR-enabled TV. IR refers to infrared-blaster technology, which allows a TV to communicate with other devices. Many newer TVs from major brands are IR-enabled.
The Fire TV Cube’s sticker price at launch was $119.99, but given its debut so close to Prime Day, consumer can expect a promotional price drop. Or perhaps they’ll see it bundled (for a combined steep discount) with another Amazon device.
[See: 10 Steps to Cut the Cable Cord.]
Smart home tech. Last year’s most-buzzed-about Prime Day price drops were on Amazon’s Echo devices. Prices on first-generation Echos and Echo dots fell by 50 percent and 30 percent, respectively, that year. That brought the Echo down to $89.99 and the Echo Dot down to $34.99.
Since then, the second-generation model of the Echo has launched. So consumers can expect discounts on it, plus other Echo models, such as the Echo Plus, Echo Show and Echo Spot.
Virtual assistants aren’t the only smart home devices to shop for on Prime Day. Expect to see discounts on Amazon’s other proprietary tech, such as Cloud Cams.
Even better, Amazon has a history of bundling smart home items for deeper discounts. It did so extensively during this past Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend. So keep your eyes peeled for Echo devices bundled with smart light bulbs and more.
Amazon services. Historically, Prime Day has been one of the only days during the year when you can get discounts on Amazon services, such as Amazon Home Services, which offers furniture assembly and housecleaning, AmazonFresh, Amazon Music Unlimited and Kindle Unlimited.
In the past, shoppers have seen Amazon Prime Day discounts on monthly subscription costs and one-time discounts on Amazon Home Services appointments.
Whatever form deals take this Prime Day, be on the lookout for incentives to sign up and try Amazon’s proprietary services.
[See: 12 Habits of Phenomenally Frugal Families.]
23andMe DNA-testing kits. Amazon has offered discounts for this brand of at-home DNA-testing regularly, most recently for Father’s Day. The Ancestry version and the Health + Ancestry version were both discounted by 50 percent on Prime Day 2017. In its press release rounding up Prime Day 2017, Amazon listed 23andMe kits as one of its top sellers. So shoppers should expect it to try to reel in more buyers this year with deep discounts.
Companies and products mentioned in this article may be promoted on www.offers.com.
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5 Best Items to Buy on Amazon Prime Day 2018 originally appeared on usnews.com
