5 mistakes everyone makes on Amazon Prime Day

One of the biggest sales events of the year, Amazon Prime Day, is coming up on the 12th - 13th July and we’re already getting excited!. This annual 2-day event is exclusive to Amazon Prime members and offers huge money-saving deals sitewide, from laptops to toys, clothes to fitness equipment and beyond.

It goes without saying that if you want to shop the Prime Day sale, you’ll have to have an Amazon Prime account, either for £7.99 / $14.99 a month or £79 / $139 a year. While non-Prime members can find good deals at Amazon during the event, these won’t be nearly as big as the official Prime Day sale that promises huge savings and price cuts.

It might seem like an obvious reminder but not having an Amazon Prime account is one of the many mistakes people make when shopping the Prime Day sale. If you have a Prime subscription and you want to know what to shop and how to save money this Prime Day 2022, I’ve put together a list of 5 mistakes that people make on Prime Day to help you avoid making them this year.

1. Forgetting to making a list before shopping

The biggest mistake people make is not making a list before they start shopping the sale. We’ve all been there where we head into a supermarket or store without a plan and end up splurging on things we don’t need. This is definitely the case with Prime Day as with so many discounts on offer, you can get wrapped up or overexcited by the sheer amount of deals and end up spending far too much money.

Before shopping any sale (especially Black Friday and Prime Day sales), make sure you have a list of things you’re shopping for. This helps narrow your focus and makes it easier to find what you need. It also helps you not get distracted by the big discounts and means you can finish the sale with everything you wanted. If you know what you want to buy, make sure you stick to your list and shop around a little for a good deal. Of course, Prime Day is likely to have the best deals during the weekend it’s on, but it also doesn’t hurt to check other popular retailers to make sure you’re getting the right price.

2. Not setting a budget

Similar to making a list, it’s also important to make sure you set a budget and stick to it. Setting a budget is a great way to avoid distractions and spending too much on impulse buys. Impulse buying is one of the worst mistakes you can make as you’ll end up spending way over budget and come delivery day, you’re lumped with things you don’t want. In the long run, you’ll also end up throwing things away which is a huge waste of money and is damaging to the environment too.

3. Skipping the best product categories

Another mistake people make when shopping the Prime Day sale is skipping popular product categories. Every year, there are specific categories that tend to do the best and have the biggest discounts. As these categories or departments are extremely popular, many people dive headfirst into them to find the best prices and others avoid them so they don’t get disappointed if something sells out.

Before shopping the best product categories for Prime Day 2022, do a little bit of research to find what were the bestsellers last year and to remind yourself what Amazon sells the most of. Amazon is well known for its Daily Deals section which is full of the best deals and discounts you can find sitewide. By having a look at this page leading up to the event, you can get a good idea of what will be popular and this way, you’ll feel more prepared for the sale and won’t want to avoid the best products.

To give you an idea of the top performing categories on Amazon and what we anticipate will be heavily discounted this year, make sure to check out smart home, laptops, TVs, headphones and Amazon devices. A lesser known department is fashion and beauty which is often overlooked but you’ll find huge discounts here. In the lead-up to the event, you’ll also find themed weeks like Smart Home Week or Toy Week which gives you a little taste of what you can find on the day, so check these out too.

4. Not checking the Amazon Warehouse

Amazon Warehouse is where you can find quality pre-owned, returned, used, open-box or refurbished products. While they’re not seen as ‘new’, every product that you find at the Amazon Warehouse is in good condition and has been tested and checked before being put up for sale.

At Amazon Warehouse, you can already find huge discounts of up to 50% off and while Prime Day doesn’t specifically highlight Warehouse deals, the last few Prime Days have had extra deals on Warehouse products and categories, including an extra 30% off. If you’re really trying to save money, refurbished items are a great way to do this and you can find lots of leading brands like Dell, Apple, Samsung, Lenovo and more. For more details, see 4 reasons to shop certified refurbished.

5. Missing out on extra Prime deals

Finally, a big mistake people make on Prime Day is missing out on extra deals on the day or in the lead-up to the event. For example, previous years offered a £10 / $10 credit to use in the sale when you downloaded and shopped on the Amazon app and if you spent £10 on small businesses, you could also get a free £10 / $10 Amazon credit too. We anticipate that there will be similar credit offers this year so keep an eye out for these.

For more money-saving tips, check out our guide on how to save money on Amazon Prime.

When is Amazon Prime Day?

The official Prime Day date was announced on 16th June 2022 and will be taking place on Tuesday 12th - Wednesday 13th July.

In terms of specific timings, it's likely the UK sales will start at 12.01am on Tuesday 12th and finish at 11.59pm on Wednesday 13th. For US shoppers, the sale is predicted to start at 12.01am PST (3.01am EST) on Tuesday 12th and finish at 11.59pm PST Wednesday 13th (2:59 am EST Thursday).

The 48-hour event is going to be busy so make sure to sign up for Amazon Prime to shop the sale and to make sure you get the deals you want before things sell out.