6 Important Things To Know Before Amazon Prime Day

Play your cards right and you could save a ton of $$$.

One way or another, July 12, 2016, will be a good day on the internet: Amazon will either live up to the hype it's created around its "Holiday of Deals" or it will spark another hilarious round of #PrimeDayFail.

Twitter: @AdmiralBahroo

Created last year in celebration of its 20th anniversary, Amazon's first Prime Day was pretty underwhelming for a lot of customers expecting huge discounts. Many of the bigger deals on electronics or gadgets sold out quickly, and the bulk of the deals, like $0.10 off a Playstation or 50% off a 55-gallon barrel of lube weren't quite what people had expected.

But this year the retailer says they have doubled the deals, increased inventory on big-ticket items, and made the search process easier, on its site and app.

While we can't be sure yet exactly how this will go down, here are seven tips to getting the most out of whatever happens:

1. First step: Actually get Prime.

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Even the worst deals on Prime Day are only available to Amazon Prime members. But even if you aren't a member, you can still get the deals if you sign up for a 30-day free trial (and even if you cancel once Prime Day is over). And college students get six months free.

2. Turn on 1-Click ordering.

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While it may be dangerous the rest of the year, some of the best Prime Day deals sold out last year within a matter of minutes. So make sure your delivery info is all correct, and turn on 1-Click ordering if you plan on taking advantage of any quick-moving deals. Though 1-Click can't be used on the official "Lightning Deals," it is good for other things that may sell out.

3. Check the previous price on CamelCamelCamel.

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CamelCamelCamel is a site that tracks the history of an item's price on Amazon. Once you see a deal, copy the item URL into CamelCamelCamel to check if it was ever priced lower than the sale price. If it has, there's a likelihood that it was hiked to show a better deal or it will be reduced again for another sale. If not, you might want to pounce.

4. Set up app alerts if you don't want to wade through all the shitty deals.

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Amazon will have something like 100,000 deals tomorrow, and if your search history is anything like mine (random, filled with things I'll never actually buy), your suggested algorithms might not match what you're looking for.

The app, available on iTunes, Android and Amazon Fire, allows you to set up notifications for certain items or deals you want to watch. Here's how to do it.

5. Know the best deals will probably be on Amazon's own items.

Nicole Nguyen / BuzzFeed

Last year some of the best deals were for Amazon's own products, so if you're in the market for an Echo, Kindle Tap, or other Amazon device, it might be a good day to pull the trigger.

If you're not sure yet, or you don't even know WTF those are, check out our review of the Echo, Tap, and Dot.

6. Make sure to follow #PrimeDayFail.

Evan Thomas @EvanDerekThomas

Ah yes, my favorite electronic: Flintstones vitamins #PrimeDay

Wed Jul 15 15:25:15 UTC+0000 2015

Even if you get a great deal on a TV that's bigger than most people's apartments, it will definitely be good for a laugh.

Official Prime Day deals go live at 12 a.m. PT. Check back on BuzzFeed tomorrow for selections of all the best, worst, and weirdest deals of the day.

CORRECTION

Jul. 12, 2016, at 11:55 AM

Turns out you can't use 1-Click to order lightning deals, which is a huge bummer; an earlier version of this post misstated that you can. But you can use them for other Prime Day deals, which will sell out quickly.