The Best Prime Day Deals Are Slightly Hidden

The next few days, we’ll all be bombarded by Amazon’s Prime Day deals and the equivalents from other stores. But, the best are just off stage. A new Mac Mini for less than $287, for example.

Amazon Resale has become the hidden gem of these sales that gets very little notice. Formerly known as Warehouse Deals, Resale is where all the Amazon items that get returned — what is often called “open box” — go for a second chance at life. Many of those items were never even technically opened, just returned.

The sub-site of the retailing behemoth always exists, but on Prime Day, they take an additional 30% off at checkout on many of the items on the site. Just follow this link to find the Amazon Resale Prime Day Deals page. The search box on the top of that page specifically searches the deals that qualify for the extra discount.

Caveat Emptor

A few tips can help make the best use of this portion of Prime Day:

1. Focus on items that are of higher value, if you have any of those on your list. While Resale occasionally has a good deal on a USB cable or returned book, the starting price of low dollar open box items is often nearly the same as the new, retail price.Always check the current retail price before ordering. Especially during sales like Prime Day, occasionally they already have a great discount — perhaps even a greater discount.
2. Check the condition. While many items are listed as “very good,” “like new,” or “mint,” not every item is. Doublecheck so you don’t get an unpleasant surprise.
3. Remember Amazon’s strong return policy. I usually find Resale items meet or exceed the described condition — they usually seem perfectly new — but it’s nice to know you can return an item you’re not satisfied with.

Yes, I Wasn’t Teasing About the Mac Deals

The aforementioned Mac Minis remain one of my favorite deals every time Amazon does this. Right now you can get 2023’s M2 version — not current, but still powerful — for $287. To put that into perspective: Raspberry Pi 5 kits often go for well north of $100 and Intel-based mini PCs can reach the price of this Mac. While I find both incredibly useful for different tasks, they quickly bump into limits with demanding tasks like photo or video editing or even browsing some web sites. This Mac can edit 4K video streams, do accelerated AI processing and more, which makes it a steal at this price.

Likewise, the 2020 M1 MacBook Air, which is still far nicer than low-end Windows laptops or Chromebooks, is on-sale at Walmart for $599, but is just $312 on Amazon Resale. This isn’t a fancy laptop — it’s nearly five years old — but the M1 is still fantastic for even for more demanding tasks such as video editing. (The 2022 redesigned M2 version also clocks in under the price of the Walmart special at just $578.)

There are many more deals to be found in a similar vein. Many are limited, though, so search early and often. For example, right as Prime Day started, they had a PlayStation 5 in the mix. That sold out, but there are plenty of other deals, such as Dyson vacuums There are several Apple Watch models available, plenty of computer monitors and lawn sprinklers. Numerous categories of clothes, music and more also offer bargains to be found.

The spotlight may not end up on these deals, but if you’re on the hunt this week, your eyes should end up there.

Timothy R. Butler is Editor-in-Chief of Open for Business. He also serves as a pastor at Little Hills Church and FaithTree Christian Fellowship.