The Vivid guide to Amazon Prime Day 2021

One of the biggest shopping events of the year is here again: Amazon Prime Day, the two-day bacchanal of discounts and deals, is taking place on June 21 and 22 this year. 

Like many other shopping events, there’s a tendency for shoppers to go in unprepared and either buy things they don’t need or miss out on good deals because they didn’t do their homework.

But that’s not going to happen to you, thanks to your friends at Vivid. We’ve got all the tips you need to be prepared for Prime Day, and come out with your wits, and bank account, happy.

Keep in mind we’re offering extra cashback on Prime Day shopping. More on that below. 

Make a two-step wishlist 

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A lot of articles will recommend making a wishlist for Prime Day, so you can hunt for what you need once the deals are announced. But Prime Day is also about discovery, which means a wishlist will only get you so far. 

Instead, make a two-step list: one with specific articles, and one with categories you’re interested in. You might know that you want a new coffee machine, for example, but you might also be looking to redesign your bedroom without knowing whether that means buying wall art or a new rug.

By organizing your goals beforehand, you’ll be able to hunt for your specific wishes, but also save time while discovering new deals, and be less reliant on scrolling mindlessly through pages of electric razors in the flash deals section. Unless you’re looking for an electric razor of course. 

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Take advantage of Vivid’s Prime Day cashback 

This year, your discounts are going to be bigger than ever before. We’re giving you 2% cashback on all your Amazon Prime Day purchases if you're a Vivid Prime member— that’s on top of the discounts Amazon is already offering. We also have our 10% cashback offer on an Amazon Prime subscription, which means if you’re not a member yet and want to start specifically for Prime Day, doing it with your Vivid account will make it even cheaper.

Combining discounts like this is where you’ll really start feeling a difference in your wallet. You’ll get that cashback immediately into your rewards pocket, and if you feel like it you can transfer it back immediately to your main account and keep spending.

A word of advice here: prepare in advance. Top your account before Prime Day starts, so you don’t run out of money and miss out on any cashback. Which leads us to our next tip.

Create a budget (and take it a step further)

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The most common piece of advice you’ll get from others is to make a budget. Limiting yourself to a specific amount to spend, they’ll say, is the best way to avoid overspending. 

We’re not here to give you advice you’ve already heard before, so let’s take the budget a step further: extend your budget by looking at your needs for the next few months. If you can afford it, spending a bit more now (and saving more thanks to the discounts) can help you down the road if you figure out things you’ll need to buy later in the year. 

It might sound ridiculous to prepare for events like Christmas and holiday shopping half a year in advance, but presents don’t have expiration dates, and locking in a discount now will prevent you from overspending later. There are also birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, and all the other events you’ll find yourself shopping for between now and then.

Here’s our tip on how to do this effectively: look at your monthly amount you set aside for this kind of spending (easy enough if you follow our jar method!) and take some of the amount for the next few months and bring it forward to now. You’ll have less to spend over those next months, but you also won’t need to buy much, as you’ll have taken care of it in June. You might even find yourself with more money leftover at the end of the year thanks to some clever spending now.