Amazon Prime Day may be the last thing on your mind right now. But Amazon's big retail holiday will be here before you know it. Unlike last year, we predict that Prime Day 2021 will likely take place in July as usual.

While July is still a few months away, it is never too early to prepare for Amazon's annual celebration. So, to give you an idea of what to expect on Prime Day 2021, we've gathered last year's Prime Day deals. There are still many days until Prime Day, but given the size of Amazon Prime Day and the number of deals Amazon is announcing, you can get a head start on Prime Day. (If you are not a Prime member, you can sign up for a free 30-day Prime membership trial.)

Prime Day is a 48-hour retail holiday designed specifically for Prime members. Amazon Prime Day originally began in July 2015 as a way to celebrate Amazon's 20th anniversary; for 24 hours, Amazon slashed prices on hundreds of items on its site. It was a Prime members-only sale. The event was a hit, and since 2015, Amazon Prime Day has grown into a major retail holiday.

Prime Day sales include discounts on everything from Echo Dots to Nike sneakers. It has been a massive juggernaut for Amazon, and the company expects 2021 to be as strong as previous years.

Prime Day is typically held in July. Last year, however, Prime Day was held on October 13. Due to a pandemic and an unprecedented surge in deliveries, Amazon postponed Prime Day; in 2021, the company expects Prime Day to return to its normal July date.

The first Amazon Prime Day was celebrated in nine countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Canada, and Austria. Since then, the popularity of Amazon Prime Day has expanded. Last year, Prime Day was celebrated in 18 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Spain, Singapore, Netherlands, Mexico, Luxembourg, Japan, Italy, India, Germany, Austria, France, China, Canada, Belgium, and Australia.

In 2017, Amazon also expanded the duration of Prime Day; it went from a 24-hour event to a 30-hour event; in 2018, Amazon expanded the holiday to 36 hours, and in 2019 it lasted 48 hours.

Price check everything: The first rule of shopping on Prime Day is to price check what you are about to buy. Price checking on Prime Day is very easy. We're big fans of CamelCamelCamel is a website that checks prices on millions of products sold on Amazon. The website tracks the lowest prices, so if the item you are looking at was cheaper in March, you can see the price difference.There is also a Chrome extension called Camelizer, which you can install to see the price history of an item at any time.

Keep in mind that there are some products that CamelCamel cannot track. In those cases, use Shopbrain or Shopsavvy; while Shopbrain or Shopsavvy cannot give you the price history of an item, they can let you know if a competing retailer is offering a better price.

Don't limit yourself to Amazon: This leads to the second point: Prime Day is a sham retail holiday designed to promote Amazon devices and services. But just as you wouldn't buy your entire wardrobe from one designer, you shouldn't do all of your Prime Day shopping on Amazon. Wal-Mart, Target, and Best Buy are just a handful of competitors planning "Prime Day" sales.

And based on what we saw from these retailers last year, we expect them to once again offer very competitive sales during Prime Day. Conclusion: Amazon does not always offer the best prices.

Take advantage of free credit: Amazon wants you to spend money on Prime Day. However, if you don't see an item you want to buy, or if you want to stick to your budget, there are Prime Day deals available right now. That's because when you make a $10 purchase, you get a $10 Amazon credit instead.

Don't Buy New Gadgets Yet: Amazon announced a number of new gadgets a few days ago, including the new Amazon Echo and the new Echo Dot. However, not all of them are ready for Prime Day. So be on the lookout if you see deals on Amazon's new devices. Furthermore, with Black Friday just around the corner, there is a very good chance that they will be even cheaper in a few weeks. In fact, Black Friday prices, especially for Amazon devices, are usually $20 to $100 less than Prime Day prices.

The same goes for Apple's new devices: the Apple Watch SE and iPad 2020 are already on sale, but are likely to be cheaper on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Don't buy junk: The pandemic has completely changed the way we shop. For example, Clorox wipes were more popular than swimwear this summer. Lysol sprays, on the other hand, are still in high demand and nearly impossible to find online. In other words, Amazon and many third-party sellers have unsold inventory. As a result, expect fire sales on off-season items and clothing on Prime Day this year. Sure, prices will be lower, but if you've made it through the past few months without them, chances are you don't really need them.

Watch out for shady reviews: In addition to fake deals, shoppers should always be on the lookout for fake reviews. Amazon has removed many fake reviews from its website, but there are so many that it is nearly impossible for Amazon to keep up. That's why we are fans of Fakespot. The site's engine can analyze the quality of reviews on any Amazon page and come up with a letter grade that indicates whether most reviews for that product are fake or real; ReviewMeta is a similar site that looks for suspicious terms and repeated phrases in reviews and determines whether they fail or pass or pass.