Amazon Prime Day prep has become an annual tradition for me.
Every year, I spend the weekend before the big sale scouting early discounts and building a wish list of items I hope to snag at the lowest possible prices. Over the years, Prime Day has helped me amass a sizable collection of video games, anime Blu-rays and Marvel and DC graphic novels — and this year is no different.
But this time, I decided to bring ChatGPT along for the hunt.
With AI tools becoming increasingly useful for shopping and research, I wanted to see whether ChatGPT could uncover deals I might have overlooked or point me toward products I didn't even know were on sale.
The results surprised me. Not only did the chatbot offer practical strategies for finding the best Prime Day bargains, but it also surfaced several deeply discounted items that made their way into my shopping cart almost immediately.
Prepping for Prime Day sales with this essential advice
To get this money-saving mission underway, I presented this prompt to ChatGPT to see how it could assist me:
“I'm into video games, anime on Blu-ray, and graphic novels from Marvel Comics & DC Comics. What are the best ways to prepare for Amazon Prime Day and find the best sales for those types of items during that sale period?”
The chatbot initially responded with a piece of advice that set me up nicely: For the categories you're interested in—video games, anime Blu-rays, and Marvel/DC graphic novels—Prime Day rewards preparation more than impulse buying. The biggest savings often go to people who build watchlists weeks in advance and know the "normal" prices before the sale starts.
After taking note of its suggestion to build a watchlist of all the items I’m looking to buy before and during Amazon Prime Day, I also jotted down ChatGPT’s five tips on how to locate the best prices imaginable:
- Track Historical Prices: One of the biggest Prime Day mistakes is assuming every "deal" is actually a deal. Use sites/tools like camelcamelcamel and Keepa. These tools show Amazon price history.
- Follow Deal Communities: Prime Day moves fast, and some of the best deals disappear within minutes. Stay updated on them by following sources such as Wario64 on X, Cheap A** Gamer, Slickdeals and IGN Deals. For your interests specifically, these sources are often faster than Amazon's own deal pages.
- Set a Budget by Category: A collector's trap is buying too many "good deals." Try something like a $150 budget for video games, a $100 budget for anime Blu-rays, and an $80 budget for graphic novels, for example. Then rank your purchases for each category under must-have, nice-to-have and only-if-heavily-discounted. This prevents regret purchases.
- Focus on the First 12 Hours: The strongest deals are often midnight launch deals, Lightning Deals and limited inventory offers. If there's a specific omnibus, collector's edition or anime box set you've been waiting for, check as soon as Prime Day starts.
- Set Up Prime Day Alerts Through Alexa: Alexa can notify you about discounts on items in your Wish List, Cart or Buy Later collection up to 24 hours in advance or track target prices for specific products. Open the Alexa app, go to More, select Settings, tap on Notifications, proceed to Amazon Shopping and turn on Deal Recommendations.
Putting those tips into action
With all of those money-saving tips in the back of my mind, my search for the best Amazon Prime Day sales I could find became a much more streamlined process. Plus, I came upon a bunch of amazing deals that went live before the Amazon Prime Day madness officially kicked in:
- Borderlands 4 - PS5: was $49.99 now $34.99
- Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition - Nintendo Switch 2: was $69.99 now $57.99
- Akira - 4K & Blu-ray [4K UHD]: was $29.98 now $11.99
- Bayonetta [Blu-ray & DVD]: was $19.98 now $12.82
- Samurai 7: The Complete Series [Blu-ray]: was $49.98 now $34.99
- Daredevil: Born Again [Marvel Premier Collection]: was $14.99 now $11.27 (with Amazon Prime)
- Wolverine: Old Man Logan [Marvel Premier Collection]: was $14.99 now $12.82 (with Amazon Prime)
The takeaway
Patience isn’t one of my best traits—the act of impulse buying has a hold over me that’s just too hard to ignore.
But for this year’s Amazon Prime Day routine, I didn’t rush to buy everything I saw for sale, kept ChatGPT’s money-saving advice close to mind and followed every step it laid out to discover the best deals imaginable.
That plan worked to perfection and made two video games, three anime Blu-rays and graphic novels a part of my growing collection of physical goods I’ll be cherishing forever.
Follow Tom's Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Subscribe to Tom's Guide on YouTube and follow us on TikTok.
More from Tom’s Guide
- That viral Jeff Bezos quote about AI and water isn't real — here's what actually happened
- TikTok’s AI slop problem is spiraling out of control — and kids are getting the worst of it
- I used ChatGPT to discover my hidden strengths — and it changed my perspective on work
