The one Amazon Prime Day tip I beg you to follow

Don't get taken in by artificially inflated prices and deeply misleading headlines.

DISCLAIMER: Some of the links included herein are affiliate links, meaning if you make a purchase via one of them, I may get a small commission. I promise you, now and forever, that I won’t choose deals based on whether there’s an affiliate option available.

Happy Fourth of July, everyone! To say I’m having mixed feelings about patriotism right now is putting it mildly, but yesterday I was reminded of what America looks like when you strip away all the yelling and screaming.

I sat in an open field on a warm summer night, listening to an orchestra play marches and jazz, Copland and Sousa and Ellington, surrounded by smiling couples, families, friends. I listened to cannon fire at the culmination of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture and watched fireworks burst overhead while the band played on. Magical, all of it.

This is what we’re supposed to be doing, right? Gathering, experiencing, communing. Enjoying life outside of screens. Turning off the fire-hose of daily horrors.

More of this, please. And less of being told I’m supposed to hate people I disagree with.

Sorry, I know you didn’t come for this. But sometimes my heart escapes to my sleeve and I leave it there for a minute.

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QUICK HITS

🚗 Save $1/gallon of gas this weekend: If you’re an Amazon Prime subscriber, link your account with the Earnify app and you can save $1 per gallon of gas between now and July 6. Just follow the instructions and fill up at an Amoco, BP, or AMPM station.

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⚡ No more pokey plugs: I’m a sucker for flat-plug power strips, which not only look better but also accommodate encroaching furniture more easily. For a limited time, and while supplies last, this Nutict Power Strip is just $9.99. Reg. price: $19.99. It turns one AC outlet into eight, while also giving you two (admittedly low-power) USB-C ports and two USB Type-A ports. Me, I’m mostly in it for the flat plug.

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🦷 Whiten your teeth for cheap: At my workplace, people rave about Crest Whitestrips. Why? Don’t ask difficult questions. Let me just note that for Amazon Prime subscribers, Crest 3D Whitestrips Professional Effects home treatment kit is on sale for $29.99, tying its lowest price of the year. Let me also note that I bought this a few weeks ago when it was $45 [heavy sigh], and I’m already noticing a difference. (YMMV.)

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Amazon Prime Day has some great deals, yes, but don’t fall for this deceptive practice

Back in January I warned Deal Secrets readers about the shady ways Amazon sellers manipulate product prices to make sales seem better than they are.

With Amazon Prime Day kicking off on Tuesday, I think a reminder is in order. Especially with the increase in headlines like this:

Amazon is selling $140 noise-canceling headphones for $30, and shoppers say they deliver ‘clear, punchy sound’

Let me dissect that for you:

• Although the product page shows a list price of $139.99, these headphones have never sold for anywhere near that much. The actual regular price: $50. 🤨

• “Shoppers say”? That context-free, user-review snippet came from one shopper, not a chorus of them.

It infuriates me that Amazon allows this kind of artificially inflated pricing, but it infuriates me more that so many web sites fall for it — or at least look the other way. It’s not hard to check a product’s price history.

And while we’re on the subject of headline chicanery, a tech site I used to deeply respect is now routinely running stuff like this:

HP 14-Inch Touchscreen Chromebook Is Practically Free

That is some shameless clickbait right there. What’s constitutes “practically free” in this author’s mind? A $479 laptop on sale for $299.

The sad part is, those headphones might actually be pretty decent, and $30 is a great price. It’s the exaggeration, the outright deception, that bugs me.

Anyway, this is merely a reminder of the old adage: If it sounds too good to be true…

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PLAYLIST

📕 I’m Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom, by Jason Pargin

I’ve read some great books this year, but I suspect this is the one I’ll be thinking about most.

This is a rare exception where I’m going to share the premise with you, because it spoils nothing:

Outside Los Angeles, a driver pulls up to find a young woman sitting on a large black box. She offers him $200,000 cash to transport her and that box across the country, to Washington, DC.

But there are rules:

He cannot look inside the box.
He cannot ask questions.
He cannot tell anyone.
They must leave immediately.
He must leave all trackable devices behind.

Great premise, no? But this book is not what I expected (based on the clunky title and goofy cover art). As always, I’m loathe to spoil anything, but if you like madcap odd-couple adventures with real stakes and surprisingly deep insights, read this thing.

I’ll add that the author deftly and cohesively articulates some thoughts that have been rattling around in my brain for a while, specifically that many of us have fallen prey to social-media machinery that does a lot more harm than good. And if you’re thinking, “Ugh, politics,” the book is almost staunchly apolitical.

Needless to say, Black Box of Doom has earned a spot on my curated Bookshop list. I understand it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Rick’s Rating: A

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There's also my book: Everything I Need to Know, I Learned Playing Pickleball. And check out my curated book list at Bookshop.org, which donates to local bookstores with every purchase.