Amazon has officially kicked off its October Prime Day event. For only two days, Oct. 8 and 9, you can get unbeatable deals in just about every category: books, e-readers, laptops, household appliances, fashion — you name it. If you can find it on Amazon, you can find it on sale for Prime Day.

To prepare yourself for a successful Prime Day, we’ve laid out an assortment of tips and tricks to keep in mind for the two-day event. Some may seem obvious, but some you might not have thought of before. And let’s just say that we know our way around an Amazon sale. 

For more, don’t miss these essential Amazon shopping tips that you should know about. 

Grab an Amazon Prime free trial

First things first, you’re going to want to make sure that you actually have an active Amazon Prime subscription. Without one, you’re not going to be able to access all of the Prime-exclusive sales that will run during the sales events in October, so it should be an essential part of your Amazon shopping prep. 

Thankfully, you don’t have to be a paid Amazon Prime member and can in fact be on the Prime free trial, as long as your 30-day period overlaps with the event days which, if you start your trial today, will be the case. 

Prime Day requires an Amazon Prime membership, though you don’t have to be a paying member to get in on the savings. Start your 30-day Prime free trial now and you’ll be able to shop the best deals without paying for a subscription — just remember to cancel before it renews.

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Start your shopping early

Though the official Amazon Prime Day sale dates are October 8th and 9th, in reality, the savings are already rolling in — as is often the case with these shopping events. Several deals can already be found on Amazon right now, so you don’t have to wait to save, though the discounts could become great during the official event days. 

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Know your targets

It’s easy to become overwhelmed with all of the deals during sales like Prime Day, so it’s wise to decide what products you want to try and grab on sale beforehand. Amazon makes it super easy to add products to your Wish List or Save for Later section, which will make it much easier to try and check things off your shopping list once the sale kicks off. 

Better yet, if you have Alexa devices you can even be alerted if a product you’ve saved goes on sale during the Prime Big Deal Days sale. We truly live in the future. 

Be open-minded to alternative picks

Sometimes the price of the product you really want just doesn’t budge. Instead of staring at its Amazon listing and missing out on other great deals, maybe have a backup pick or two in mind in case this situation arises. That way you can still ensure you’re saving money on a product that will fit the bill, even if it might not have been your go-to choice. 

Think about what makes your top pick the most attractive choice, assess its pros and cons, then see if any other products check some of the same boxes. Chances are, there’s an alternative product that gets you 90% of the way there and may save you a decent amount of money come Prime Day. 

Don’t dismiss anti-Prime Day sales

This sounds counterintuitive, but some of the best Prime Day deals don’t actually crop up on Amazon. Walmart and Target have already launched their own anti-Prime Day sales, and if you’re looking specifically for electronics, gaming, TVs, or home appliances, Best Buy has it’s own anti-Prime Day sale of it’s own, too. 

Competition is good news for consumers, especially if you’ve been holding out on making some big purchases until the fall sale season.

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Keep checking back

Amazon deals are ever-changing, especially during events like Prime Day, so you’re going to want to peep the sale periodically throughout the event to ensure you’re giving yourself the best chance of scoring the best deals. 

Like previous events, we expect that we’ll see the first tranche of Prime Day deals go live at midnight PT (3 a.m. ET) when the event officially kicks off on October 8th, with a second batch dropping at the same time on Day 2 of the event. That said, super-limited-time lightning deals will be popping up and expiring throughout the two-day span, and Amazon will also be trying its best to match any stellar sales offered at other retailers. There are a lot of moving parts, and prices rarely stand still for too long during the event hours. 

Let us do the work for you

The CNET Deals team will be hard at work throughout October surfacing the very best deals for our readers, so follow along with our coverage if you want to separate the signal from the noise during Amazon’s Prime Day sale. 

Check out some of our coverage now with our guides on the best Prime Day deals under $100 and the top Prime Day headphone deals.