Amazon Prime Day 2024: here are offers, discounts and tips to avoid scams

But we also find discounts of around 50 per cent for smartphone accessories, Amazon products, carpets and mattresses.

Some discounts also on outdoor and sports products, although given the period we would have expected more focus on this category.

The biggest savings in an absolute sense - a few hundred euro to over two thousand euro - can be found on televisions, large household appliances and tablets, plus a few computers and a few Amazon products (for video surveillance and Wi-Fi, for example).

We are in a period of travel and holidays, but those who know how to organise themselves well can wait at home for the arrival of the fridge and TV at a super price. Or they can save on new appliances for summer villas and second homes.

Be careful to keep an open mind, however, as to what offers to find. In fact, discounts also apply to products that we may not even all be used to buying online, such as ground coffee, beers and toilet paper.

Indeed, events like the Prime Day also serve Amazon to raise social awareness of online shopping, extending it to new groups of people and new product categories. An important mission especially in Italy, where the population has always been more conservative when it comes to ecommerce.

It is no coincidence, therefore, that Amazon with Prime Day also works with territory and culture.

"This year we are celebrating the tenth edition of Prime Day and we are thrilled to celebrate this wonderful milestone not only by offering our Italian customers hundreds of thousands of exclusive offers on a wide selection of products, but also by sharing a great moment of celebration thanks to the Prime Day Festival," said Mariangela Marseglia, VP and Country Manager of Amazon Italy and Spain. The festival took place from 12 July to Sunday 14 July in Puglia, between the city of Lecce and the beach of Otranto. "Not only shopping, offers and savings, but also the promotion of the territory, exclusive entertainment, sports and activities for children. Among the scheduled events also the Amazon Music showcase with guests The Kolors and the Prime Reading event with the special participation of Elisa True Crime," the company announced.

"In 2023, Amazon customers worldwide saved approximately $24 billion through our offers and coupons," says Marseglia. "In particular, Prime customers saved more than $2.5 billion during the last Prime Day in 2023. We have worked hard and passionately to further enhance our customers' shopping experience and ensure they can save even more on Prime Day 2024. We have selected exclusive offers, capable of responding to the most diverse needs of our customers, within all product categories, including thousands of offers on Made in Italy products".

On a practical level, Amazon recommends a few little tricks to avoid missing out on the best offers in your case. You can receive personalised product recommendations, set notifications and reminders about offers, and take advantage of favourable delivery and payment options.

Set up custom deal notifications: Prime customers can receive custom deal notifications based on their latest Amazon.co.uk searches and recently viewed products. Simply visit the Prime Day page on the Amazon shopping app to activate deal notifications.

Personalised offers: 'Offers you might be interested in', 'Offers for you' and 'Offers on products saved for later' will be available on Prime Day 2024. In addition, Prime customers will have the opportunity to discover an even wider selection of products, with dedicated collections including 'Everyday Essentials', 'Top Brands', 'Most Loved by Customers', 'Top 100' and 'Trending Offers'.

Receive offer alerts and reminders via Alexa: you can use Alexa to monitor offers on products in your Wish List, Shopping Cart or Save for Later. Just say: 'Alexa, add [product name] to my cart' and then ask Amazon's voice assistant to notify you when an offer is available. Those who don't want to miss a single moment of Prime Day can ask Alexa to remind them when the bidding event starts simply by saying, "Alexa, set a reminder for Prime Day".

Some additional advice: we urge caution. First of all, beware of emails with Prime Day offers. They can be scams and point to sites that only resemble Amazon's graphics and name, but are actually run by criminals who would only steal our money. This year, cyber experts have already detected a spike in new pseudo-Amazon sites activated in the days leading up to Prime Day.

Beware also of false discounts, as Altroconsumo suggests. There are various websites that monitor the online price trends of various products, allowing us to find out whether a discount is actually advantageous compared to the average price. Among the best known are CamelCamel, Keepa, MaxSpar and Watch4Price.

These sites also allow you to compare prices on different versions of Amazon, such as those in Italy, France, Germany and Spain. We may find that, despite the higher shipping cost, we save more by buying on another Amazon.

Another useful resource is the Price Tracker app for Android, which allows you to import your Amazon wishlist. This app can help you spot fake online discounts and may even reveal that that product costs less in a physical shop. To find the best deals in nearby physical shops, we can use platforms that aggregate the flyers of chain shops.

Some of the most famous are Doveconviene, Promoqui and Ultimoprezzo.

Finally, let us remain calm and critical when we buy. Not only to avoid scams or false discounts, but also - enticed by discounts - to buy items that we do not really need after all. At least those, however, when the excitement is over, we can return them for free (within 14 or 30 days, depending on the product).