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    Prime Day + Black Friday

    Real deals + fake hype. Know the difference.

    Sale calendar

    • Prime Day — early/mid July. 2 days.
    • Big Deal Days — Amazon's October Prime Day.
    • Black Friday — day after Thanksgiving (now starts in early Nov).
    • Cyber Monday — Monday after Thanksgiving.
    • Christmas in July — many retailers mid-July.
    • Year-end clearance — Dec 26-31.
    • Memorial / Labor Day — appliance sales.

    Real deals on these

    • Amazon devices — Echo, Fire TV, Kindle. Best prices yearly.
    • TVs — November-December.
    • Laptops — Black Friday, back-to-school.
    • Vacuums + air purifiers — Prime Day classics.
    • Smart home devices — Ring, Nest, Google Home.
    • Apple products — limited but real $50-200 off.

    Fake deal warning

    • Many "deals" are SAME PRICE rest of year.
    • Use Camelcamelcamel.com for Amazon price history.
    • Honey extension shows "is this lowest price?"
    • Kohl's, Macy's "original" prices are inflated.
    • Compare to Walmart + Target + Costco.
    • If you wouldn't buy at full price — don't buy on sale.

    Senior strategy

    • Make wishlist BEFORE sales.
    • Add items to Amazon wishlist — alerts on price drops.
    • Set price tracking on Camelcamelcamel.
    • Check 3+ retailers for big purchases.
    • Wait 24-48 hours — most deals last whole event.
    • Don't fall for "limited time" pressure.

    Stack discounts

    • Sale price + Rakuten cashback + credit card reward = 20-30% off.
    • AARP discounts at participating retailers.
    • Senior days (1st Tuesday at Goodwill, last Wed at Kohl's).
    • Email signup discounts (10% first purchase).
    • Costco price match within 30 days.

    Best resources

    Slickdeals.net — community-vetted deals. The Wirecutter — only legit deals on their picks. Reddit r/buildapcsales — tech. Skip pre-Black Friday hype articles. Buy what you need, when you need, at lowest historical price.