What You Need to Know About Amazon's Treasure Truck Deals

It's been a little over three years since Amazon's first Treasure Truck hit the streets of Seattle. Since then, Amazon's deals-on-wheels program has grown to include 25 U.S. cities from San Diego to New York. 

The concept behind Treasure Truck is pretty simple. It's essentially a mobile pop-up shop that carries what the company describes as "highly-desirable, limited-quantity products, food and more," and brings them to different neighborhoods each day. In other words, it's an ice cream truck for adults.

The truck carries only one item, and to find out the day's deal, you must sign up for Treasure Truck notifications via Amazon's Mobile Shopping app. (Tap the Menu icon and scroll down to See All Programs > Treasure Truck). Notifications are sent via text and you can opt out at any time. Alternatively, you can follow @TreasureTruck on Twitter.

Previous sale items have included everything from a Philips Air Fryer to a Nespresso Pixie Espresso Machine. The truck also carries freebies and samples that consumers can enjoy. 

Purchasing items is easy. Simply make your purchase via the app and then pick it up based on the Treasure Truck's location. You can also cancel your order if you're not able to get to the location.

MORE: Amazon Prime Day 2018: Everything You Need to Know

In addition to being a new way of drumming up public interest, the Treasure Truck seems like a smart way for Amazon to get rid of leftover stock and increase downloads of its app.

Earlier this year, Amazon parked its Treasure Truck outside Whole Foods supermarkets and offered the Instant Pot Duo Mini for $48.99 (30 percent off). It also bundled an exclusive — and very rare — $10 off $40 discount for purchases made at Whole Foods.

We're not sure what type of role Amazon's Treasure Truck could play on Prime Day 2018, but we're bound to find out soon enough.

Cherlynn Low

Cherlynn is Deputy Editor, Reviews at Engadget and also leads the site's Google reporting. She graduated with a Master’s in Journalism from Columbia University before joining Tom's Guide and its sister site LaptopMag as a staff writer, where she covered wearables, cameras, laptops, computers and smartphones, among many other subjects.