Amazon’s first Big Spring Sale is happening right now — from today until March 25 — and CNET editors have been scouring the best available deals on everything from Google Pixel Buds and Echo speakers to security cams, home gym equipment and the best kitchen appliances.
To help you take full advantage of all the deals at Amazon this week, including free money and more, we’ve created a guide with the best tips and tricks for getting the most out of Amazon Prime Day sales like this one.
Whether you’re a pro at shopping Amazon deals, or if you’re brand-new to them, here’s what you need to know about the five-day deals extravaganza. For more tips for shopping at Amazon, get the full scoop on returning products to Amazon or check out some of the little-known Prime perks that come with a subscription.
You can’t get in on all of these March deals without a Prime subscription, but you don’t have to be a paying subscriber to shop the sale. One of the best parts about Prime Day events is that even those on a Prime free trial are eligible for Prime discounts and other benefits. That means you can sign up for Amazon’s free 30-day trial of the service and participate without having to pay anything, as long as you remember to cancel before the trial ends and the paid subscription starts.
Since we know that the March’s Big Spring Sale falls is taking place between the 20th and 25th this year, you can start your trial now to make the most of any early Prime Day deals and the main event in just a couple of days.
If you’re a frequent Amazon shopper, this is a no-brainer. The Prime Visa offers Prime members 5% cash back on purchases made at Amazon’s website, Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods. It also earns 5% for travel booked through Chase, as well as 2% cash back on restaurants, gas stations and local transit (like rideshares). There’s no annual fee, but it does require a Prime membership. The card could put money back in your pocket with little effort if you shop at these places often. And when you sign up right now, you’ll get an Amazon gift card upon approval.
CNET has an overview of the Prime Visa, too.
Set up deal alerts in the app
Since Amazon knows your recent searches and the types of purchases you make there, it’s also very well placed to offer deal alerts you’ll be interested in. Prime members can opt in to receive deal notifications related to their recent searches and viewed items in the Amazon app. You’ll be able to hit up the Big Spring Sale page before the event to create these alerts and, once the event rolls around, you’ll get push notifications on any available deals.
Let Alexa keep you up to date
As you might imagine, Amazon’s smart digital assistant comes in pretty handy around events like Prime Day. You can have your Alexa devices inform you when the Big Spring Sale is about to begin by asking for a reminder about the event. Better yet, Prime members can ask Alexa to notify them about deals on products in their Wish List, Cart or Save for Later lists — and even place an order on their behalf so they can shop the sale hands-free.
Keep an eye on other retailers
Amazon won’t be the only one running deals during the spring shopping period. Other major retailers like Best Buy, Walmart and Target have offered their own competing anti-Prime Day sales in the past, with some deals starting earlier than Amazon’s or lasting longer.
Is that Big Spring Sale “deal” really a deal? Instead of looking up prices on Amazon’s retail competitors one by one, do it instantaneously with a price comparison extension for your web browser. There are several on the market, including CNET’s own in-house extension, CNET Shopping (formerly known as PriceBlink). It works across a bunch of retailers and can show you the best current deal, price history for select items, retailer coupons that can help you add to your savings and more. The best part? Our extension is completely free. Give it a try right now on Google Chrome.
You probably don’t remember to check out CNET Deals every day, because sometimes life happens and you’ve got other things to do. Instead of letting you miss out on a good deal, we’ve created a daily text service to deliver a special message every day with something you might like — usually something under $50 that is worth knowing about. During major shopping events like Black Friday and Prime Day, you can opt in to a greater volume of deals texts regarding any retailer offering something unique or interesting. We’ll send out a notice ahead of these events so you always have control over how many texts you get from us.
The CNET Deals team will be covering the event from the minute it starts, right up until the last minute when the deals end. You can follow the main CNET account on X, formerly Twitter, for the best of the best deals, along with the CNET Deals account for a wider stream of deals.
Don’t miss our other shopping tips, including how to stop porch pirates from ruining Amazon’s Big Spring Sale event and all about the shopping perks returning to Target Circle.
