Cringe! Amazon Shopping Tips

Here are a few Amazon shopping tips based on the disgusting amount of shopping I have done over the past several months for a home remodel.

1. Amazon search is rigged. Not only do they push all “sponsored” results first, they ignore key words including brand names. So, always scroll through the results a bit more than you usually do, keep a keen eye on what you are clicking on and try different searches until you see what you are looking for. I’ve sometimes found products that Amazon search didn’t bring up, but external Google/Gemini or other AI search did.

2. Alexa for Shopping is decent. Give it work. Describe what you are looking for, and what your criteria and constraints are. When it comes back with some nonsense, correct it, and make it go look again.

3. Look at the Price History. Most products go on sale at random times. Unless it’s a small amount and/or urgent, wait for the sale to come back. For example, the drink cooler I bought is normally priced at $570, but from the 1 year price history chart, I knew it’ll go down from time to time. I waited and got it for $470.

4. Most products have paid or fake reviews/ratings. Depending on the case, I’d ask Alexa to only show me products with say 300+ reviews, which helps filter out mostly fake rating products.

5. Many products are sold under different impossible to pronounce brand names. Sometimes, you can find deals this way. A popular product may be introduced by another brand, but to gain traction they sell for less.