Amazon shoppers urged to do check before buying on Prime Day | Personal Finance | Finance

Amazon Prime Day is upon us once more and with that comes an increase in fraudulent activity, a tech expert has warned.

The event – which is actually spread over four days from July 8 to July 11 – offers Prime members the opportunity to snap up exclusive discounts and often heavily discounted goods across a wide range of categories including electrical and beauty.

“It’s not Amazon’s fault, but fake deals have become the norm on Prime Day,” expert Max, known on social media as PCHaxWithMax explained in a TikTok video. “The typical shenanigans are going off where tech companies put their prices up a few days before Prime Day and then ‘discount’ them back to the regular price on the actual day.”

Doing so makes the customer feel like they are getting a “crazy deal”, however, Max has advice on how to look beyond this. “The easiest way to avoid falling victim is to Google Amazon price history,” he explained.

Max revealed there are several websites that cater for this, including CamelCamelCamel.com that logs changes in prices through any given product’s retail history on Amazon. “I’ve just looked up a robot vacuum, which is on sale for £549 – apparently down from £800,” he explained as an example.

Sharing a screenshot, he continued: “But if we put it into Amazon price checkers, we can see that it has been this exact £549 price for the entire year.”

Max closed with a tip: “If you can avoid buying for an extra 10 seconds, just Google the price history to avoid falling victim to it.”

Writing in response, one TikTok user slammed: “Very dishonest practice, mostly why it’s the no-name brands doing this because they have nothing to lose and no customer trust anyways.”

A second person revealed their tactic to avoid being ‘scammed’: “I’ve always saved all the things I like/want in a list and just monitor the prices of them and see if they end up in a deal worth buying.”

Whilst a third shared: “I had a pair of sneakers in my basket for two weeks at 53€ and today it’s shown with a -48% discount, but the same price. Never buying on Prime days.”

Others defended Prime Day, however, claiming there are still bargains to be had. “Already founds some pretty good deals on it to be fair,” one shopper wrote.

Whilst a second added: “Amazon’s devices are worth it if you need one.”

New for 2025, Amazon is introducing ‘Today’s Big Deals’, with technology being one of the main categories, plus a limited-time ‘New Deal Drop’, if you can be bothered to stay up till midnight to see which items have been newly discounted.

Prime Day sales and the special prices are only available to Amazon Prime subscribers. If you aren’t signed up, you can claim a free 30-day trial, which if you start today will cover you for the remainder of the event.

Outside the trial, Prime membership costs £8.99 per month and with it comes one of the best benefits – its next-day delivery service on thousands of products, and even same-day delivery in some areas. Delivery without Prime takes longer or incurs a cost.

Subscription also grants you full access to Amazon Prime Video and Prime Music, as well as Prime Reading and Prime Gaming services.