Technologies

Forget Black Friday. This Amazon tip gets you deals and discounts any time

One of our go-to Amazon shopping hacks can help you save you up to 70% or more, no matter when you shop.

Black Friday deals are here, from luxury bedding to Apple AirPods Pro, laptops and so much more. While great Black Friday sales on items of every price keep coming down the chute — and holiday shipping deadlines approaching fast — you should know about our favorite hidden Amazon shopping trick that has routinely gotten us up to 70% off almost any kind of product.

You just need to be an Amazon Prime member and know where to look. We’ll tell you everything you need to know, including the fine print. But the big thing is that these products are listed as Amazon Warehouse deals, major discounts on returned, damaged, lightly used or refurbished items. And yes, free two-day shipping (one of the Amazon Prime membership perks) applies in case you need a rush holiday gift. (P.S. Here’s what to know about detangling Amazon’s sometimes confusing return options
.)

Look for the Amazon Warehouse Deals page

We often begin Amazon searches on the Amazon Warehouse Deals landing page, because it cuts out full-price listings almost entirely so you mostly just see the discounted items (we’ll get to one exception shortly). To get there, open Amazon using either a desktop browser or the Amazon mobile app and search for «Amazon warehouse» or «warehouse deals.»

Rather than getting a list of search results like normal, you should see a screen that looks a lot like the main Amazon search page, with a search bar, categories and so on. From there you can browse categories like Computers & Tablets, Kitchen or Home Improvement (click these and other links in this story to see actual, current Warehouse Deals listings) or you can search for more specific items just like you would on the regular Amazon homepage, except the results will be discounted, sometimes heavily.

This quick and easy approach works best if you’re not in the market for something in particular — say you’re just looking for gift ideas or killing time during your lunch break. It can be a lot of fun to scroll through the various categories looking for stuff that pops out at you. If you’re shopping for something more specific, however, keep reading for pro tips on how to find it discounted using Amazon Warehouse Deals.

Why Amazon Warehouse stuff is so cheap

Just like other major retailers such as Walmart or Target, Amazon takes in a lot of customer returns, which it can no longer sell as new-in-box, regardless of why the buyer sent the item back or whether it’s even been opened. That’s why everything Amazon Warehouse sells is listed as used, even if the product itself has never been touched. Regardless of its condition, used stuff is just worth less — sometimes a lot less. And that’s good for you.

Amazon Warehouse Deals work for almost anything

Everything we’ve shown you so far works great so long as you’re a little flexible about what you’re looking for. If, on the other hand, you’re shopping for something really specific — like, say, an Otterbox case for your iPhone 13 — it can be frustrating to limit your search to just Warehouse Deals listings. You might turn up nothing at all relevant.

Whenever you head to Amazon to buy an exact product, go ahead and search for it just like you would otherwise. There’s a way to check and see if a discounted Warehouse Deals version is available from any Amazon listing.

First, pull up the item you want to buy just as you normally would on Amazon, but don’t add it to your cart just yet. Scroll down the page and keep your eyes peeled for words like «New & Used,» «Buy Used,» «New & Used Offers» or just plain «Used,» which you should see on the right side of the website.

Usually there’ll be a price listed, too, representing the cheapest option available (but not including tax or shipping costs). If you’re not having any luck finding the link and you’re on a computer, try using your browser’s «find» function (usually Control-F on Windows PCs and Command-F on Macs) to look for these keywords.

Once you locate the link, look for items with «Amazon Warehouse» listed as the seller and an Amazon Prime logo displayed near the price. If Amazon Warehouse has more than one of the same item in stock, there will sometimes be a separate listing for each, especially if the items are in different conditions.

Be careful of Amazon’s redirecting trick

Another thing to keep an eye on — make sure you always go back to the Amazon Warehouse Deals splash page before starting a different search. Otherwise, if you just search for another item from the search bar at the top of the page, Amazon might bounce you out of Warehouse Deals and into the full site.

Same goes for «recent searches.» If you searched for, say, «bunny slippers» across all of Amazon, then went to Warehouse Deals and searched for «banana slippers,» then decided you definitely want bunnies over bananas, don’t select «bunny slippers» from the drop-down menu that appears when you select the search bar. Those recent searches will search not just the same terms but the same Amazon sections as the original search. In other words, it’ll yank you out of Warehouse Deals and back to the land of full-price slippers. Instead, type the search in again on the Amazon Warehouse Deals main page.

You’ll find the best deals if you’re not loyal to one brand

Say you’ve been thinking about getting a new cordless drill for a while. You don’t care who makes it, you just don’t want to spend a lot of money. Or a new dog leash, robot vacuum, whatever. You’re not brand-loyal, just cost-conscious. That’s the perfect time to search from inside Amazon Warehouse Deals.

Do it just like you would on the full Amazon site — type your search terms in the dialog box, then select «Search.» Searching from the Warehouse Deals main page, your results won’t be cluttered with a bunch of full-price listings.

Except for one caveat: Amazon’s «sponsored» listings. Unless you have an ad blocker that specifically removes Amazon’s paid listing results (you cna use the Amazon Ad Blocker Chrome extension), you’ll still see full-priced items peppered among the discounts. These non-discounted listings look almost identical to Warehouse Deals, except they’re labeled «Sponsored.» Sneaky, but that’s why I’m warning you.

How Amazon Warehouse returns work

Of the dozens (if not hundreds) of Amazon Warehouse listings we’ve bought over the years, we only ever ran into problems with a handful of them — a Bluetooth adapter for a car that would randomly shut off, a wireless router that didn’t broadcast any signal, a very well-worn puppy harness with dog hair stuck to it; stuff like that.

Whenever that happens, just return the item like you would any defective product, then order another one. Sure, it’s a bit more hassle, but considering the hundreds, if not thousands of dollars we’ve saved over the years this way, it’s worth the extra effort.

Truth is, most Amazon Warehouse items are in perfect working order — many haven’t even been so much as pulled out of their packages. Even for stuff that has been taken out of the box, Amazon puts everything through what the company calls a «rigorous 20-point inspection process,» after which each item is given a quality grade and priced accordingly.

Some items may have cosmetic damage or be missing parts, accessories, instructions or assembly tools, but Amazon will detail any damage to the product or packaging, as well as any missing element along with the condition, so you won’t be surprised.

What the different Amazon grades mean

Amazon has five different grades it assigns to items it resells. Here they are with brief explanations of what Amazon means.

Renewed: This is the highest grade an Amazon Warehouse item can receive and is on par with what other companies might call «refurbished.» Renewed items have been closely inspected and tested and determined to look and function like new and come with a 90-day replacement or refund guarantee. The «refreshed» Roku Express Plus we once ordered had never even been opened.

Used, Like New: No noticeable blemishes or marks on the item itself, although the packaging may be damaged, incomplete or missing altogether. All accessories are included, and any damage to the package will be described in the listing. The box for the Like New Evenflo locking gate we bought saved $6 on was a little banged up, but we’ve seen way worse on Walmart’s shelves. The gate itself was flawless.

Used, Very Good: The item has been lightly used, with minor visible indications of wear and tear, but is otherwise in good working order. Packaging might be damaged, incomplete or the item repackaged. Any missing accessories will be mentioned in the listing.

Used, Good: Item shows moderate signs of use, packaging may be damaged or the item repackaged and it could be missing accessories, instructions or assembly tools. Another Bosch Icon wiper blade we got was only in Good shape, but we saved $15 on that one, and honestly can’t tell one from the other now that they’re on the car.

Used, Acceptable: Very well-worn, but still fully functional. Major cosmetic defects, packaging issues and/or missing parts, accessories, instructions or tools. I got an Echo Dot for $23 that was considered Acceptable. It has a scratch near the power port, but on a nightstand it’s hard to tell and cost half price.

How to choose the right quality grade

If there are multiple listings with different grades available, think about what it will be used for. If it’s something purely functional and we couldn’t care less about its cosmetic condition, like hair clippers or a cordless drill, we’d go with the cheapest option.

If it’s something for display, like a kitchen mixer, end table or wall clock, read the descriptions a little more closely and look for items that are rated Very Good or Like New.

But honestly, a low enough price on just about anything could woo you into putting up with some scratches or scuffs. In our experience, Amazon tends to err on the side of caution, marking items as Good or Acceptable that the average person would consider Very Good or Like New.

Beware, you may not have a warranty with your Warehouse Deal

One of the benefits of purchases made through Amazon Warehouse is that Amazon’s standard 30-day replacement or refund return policy applies, which comes in handy if you wind up with a lemon. Amazon does caution that because these products are considered used they don’t come with the manufacturer’s original warranty.

That said, if the product hasn’t already been registered in someone else’s name, there’s a decent chance any issues you run into past Amazon’s 30-day window can be resolved with a call to the manufacturer.

Amazon Prime members still get free shipping

Subscribing to Amazon Prime won’t get you a bigger discount on Amazon Warehouse Deals, but you’ll get free shipping just as you would for any other Prime-eligible item, which is why we pay for Prime even though many of our purchases come from Amazon Warehouse.

Most of the stuff we bought through Amazon Warehouse ships and arrives within the same one- to two-day window we get with new items, although some orders do take longer to fulfill. If that’s the case, the extra handling time is usually indicated on the listing, so you’ll know what to expect.

Quick tips about buying from third-party sellers

While wading around in the listings looking for Amazon Warehouse Deals you may have discovered even more discounted listings not sold by Amazon. What you’ve stumbled upon are items sold by third-party retailers whose only relationship with Amazon is that their items are for sale on Amazon’s marketplace, much like eBay.

Amazon’s buyer protections lag considerably behind eBay’s, however. eBay guarantees customers their money back in the event of a dispute, and although Amazon will ultimately do the same, its process is a bit more convoluted, so proceed with caution. Generally, if you can’t find a good enough deal on Amazon Warehouse, tab over to eBay and look for the item there instead. eBay is a little more transparent about both its vendors and the merchandise they sell. If you’re going to buy garage-sale used as opposed to Amazon’s never-opened used, eBay may well be the better way to go.

The editorial content on this page is based solely on objective, independent assessments by our writers and is not influenced by advertising or partnerships. It has not been provided or commissioned by any third party. However, we may receive compensation when you click on links to products or services offered by our partners.

Technologies

Worried About Prices? CNET Is Monitoring the Daily Tariff Impacts on 11 Key Products

CNET is keeping track of prices for several key products as prospects for the months ahead remain uncertain, including one popular TV speaker you might want to buy right now.

President Donald Trump continues to clash with companies over their reactions to his contentious tariff agenda. Last week, he demanded that Walmart eat the cost of the new import taxes after the company said its prices would go up by the summer. To close out this week, he’s threatened Apple with a 25% duty on its products if it doesn’t move manufacturing to the US, a prospect that has been widely dismissed as a fantasy.

The basic truth of the situation is that tariffs are almost certainly going to cause prices to climb, and with this piece I’ve been tracking just that: the daily effect of Trump’s tariffs on the prices of 11 popular products you might want or need to buy, whether it be a new phone, laptop or your daily coffee. So far, we’ve seen notable price hikes for the flagship Xbox game console, while everything else has, as Amazon claimed, remained steady aside from occasional fluctuations that might not be tariff-related. That sort of consistency is far from certain, however, given the recent warnings from major retailers like Walmart and Target.

CNET Tariff Tracker Index

Above, you can check out a chart with the average price of the 11 included items over the course of 2025. This will help give you a sense of the overall price changes and fluctuations going on. Further down, you’ll be able to check out charts for each individual product being tracked.

A recent tariff agreement with China, much-hyped by the White House, did significantly cut tariff rates against the US’s biggest trading partner. The new 30% rate is only temporary, however, and still historically high. It just looks more reasonable next to the ludicrous 145% rate that was previously in place. As those negotiations move along, companies continue to warn of impending price hikes in order to deal with the new tariffs, including Sony, which could potentially mean a price hike for its ever-popular PlayStation 5 consoles.

We’ll be updating this article regularly as prices change. It’s all in the name of helping you make sense of things, so be sure to check back every so often. For more, check out CNET’s guide to whether you should wait to make big purchases or buy them now and get expert tips about how to prepare for a recession.

Methodology

We’re checking prices daily and will update the article and the relevant charts right away to reflect any changes. The following charts show a single bullet point for each month, with the most recent one labeled «Now» and showing the current price. For the past months, we’ve gone with what was the most common price for each item in the given month.

In most cases, the price stats used in these graphs were pulled from Amazon using the historical price tracker tool Keepa. For the iPhones, the prices come from Apple’s official materials and are based on the 128-gigabyte base model of the latest offering for each year: the iPhone 14, iPhone 15 and iPhone 16. For the Xbox Series X, the prices were sourced from Best Buy using the tool PriceTracker. If any of these products happen to be on sale at a given time, we’ll be sure to let you know and explain how those price drops differ from longer-term pricing trends that tariffs can cause.

The 11 products we’re tracking

Mostly what we’re tracking in this article are electronic devices and digital items that CNET covers in depth, like iPhones and affordable 4K TVs — along with a typical bag of coffee, a more humble product that isn’t produced in the US to any significant degree.

The products featured were chosen for a few reasons: Some of them are popular and/or affordable representatives for major consumer tech categories, like smartphones, TVs and game consoles. Others are meant to represent things that consumers might buy more frequently, like printer ink or coffee beans. Some products were chosen over others because they are likely more susceptible to tariffs. Some of these products have been reviewed by CNET or have been featured in some of our best lists.

iPhone 16, 128GB
Duracell AA batteries, 24-pack
Samsung DU7200 65-inch TV
Xbox Series X
Apple AirPods Pro 2 with USB-C case
HP 962 CMY Printer Ink
Anker 10,000-mAh, 30-watt power bank
Bose TV speaker
Oral-B Pro 1000 electric toothbrush
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook, 256GB
Starbucks 28-ounce ground dark roast coffee

Below, we’ll get into more about each individual product.

iPhone 16

The iPhone is the most popular smartphone brand in the US, so this was a clear priority for price tracking. The iPhone has also emerged as a major focal point for conversations about tariffs, given its popularity and its susceptibility to import taxes because of its overseas production, largely in China. Trump has reportedly been fixated on the idea that the iPhone can and should be manufactured in the US, an idea that experts have dismissed as a fantasy. Estimates have also suggested that a US-made iPhone would cost as much as $3,500.

Apple has made several moves this year to protect its prices in the US as much as possible, like flying in bulk shipments of product ahead of the tariffs taking effect and working to move production for the American market from China to India, where tariff rates are less severe. This latter move provoked a response from Trump, given his noted fixation on the iPhone, saying last week that he «had a little problem» with Tim Cook over the move, claiming without evidence that the Apple CEO pledged to bring more manufacturing to the US. Cook and others close to the company for years say that the supply chains for its products are too complex to move manufacturing entirely to the US.

This week, Trump further threatened a 25% penalty rate against Apple products if it did not move manufacturing to the US. How that will play out is still unclear, but notably, foreign-made iPhones with 25% tax would still probably be much cheaper than iPhones predominantly made in the US.

Duracell AA batteries

A lot of the tech products in your home might boast a rechargeable energy source but individual batteries are still an everyday essential and I can tell you from experience that as soon as you forget about them, you’ll be needing to restock. The Duracell AAs we’re tracking are some of the bestselling batteries on Amazon.

Samsung DU7200 TV

Alongside smartphones, televisions are some of the most popular tech products out there, even if they’re an infrequent purchase. This particular product is a popular entry-level 4K TV and was CNET’s pick for best overall budget TV for 2025. Unlike a lot of tech products that have key supply lines in China, Samsung is a South Korean company, so it might have some measure of tariff resistance.

Xbox Series X

Video game software and hardware are a market segment expected to be hit hard by the Trump tariffs. Microsoft’s Xbox is the first console brand to see price hikes — the company cited «market conditions» along with the rising cost of development. Most notably, this included an increase in the price of the flagship Xbox Series X, up from $500 to $600. Numerous Xbox accessories were also affected, and the company also said that «certain» games will eventually see a price hike from $70 to $80.

Initially, we were tracking the price of the much more popular Nintendo Switch as a representative of the gaming market. Nintendo has not yet hiked the price of its handheld-console hybrid and stressed that the $450 price tag of the upcoming Switch 2 has not yet been inflated because of tariffs. Sony, meanwhile, has so far only increased prices on its PlayStation hardware in markets outside the US.

AirPods Pro 2

The latest iteration of Apple’s wildly popular true-wireless earbuds are here to represent the headphone market. Much to the chagrin of the audiophiles out there, a quick look at sales charts on Amazon shows you just how much the brand dominates all headphone sales. Earlier in the year, they tended to be noticeably cheaper on Amazon, but as now, they have steadily creeped back up towards their $250 list price.

HP 962 CMY printer ink

This HP printer ink includes cyan, magenta and yellow all in one product and recently saw its price jump from around $72 — where it stayed for most of 2025 — to $80, which is around its highest price over the last five years. We will be keeping tabs to see if this is a long-term change or a brief uptick.

This product replaced Overture PLA Filament for 3D printers in this piece, but we’re still tracking that item.

Anker 10,000-mAh, 30-watt power bank

Anker’s accessories are perennially popular in the tech space and the company has already announced that some of its products will get more expensive as a direct result of tariffs. This specific product has also been featured in some of CNET’s lists of the best portable chargers. While the price has remained steady throughout the year, it is currently on sale for $16 on Amazon, but only for Prime members.

Bose TV speaker

Soundbars have become important purchases, given the often iffy quality of the speakers built into TVs. While not the biggest or the best offering in the space, the Bose TV Speaker is one of the more affordable soundbar options out there, especially hailing from a brand as popular as Bose. This product has been one of the steadiest on this list in terms of price throughout the year, but it’s currently on sale for $199, potentially as part of Amazon’s Memorial Day sale. So, if you’re looking for an affordable, tariff-free TV speaker, now might be the time.

Oral-B Pro 1000 electric toothbrush

They might be a lot more expensive than their traditional counterparts, but electric toothbrushes remain a popular choice for consumers because of how well they get the job done. I know my dentist won’t let up on how much I need one. This particular Oral-B offering was CNET’s overall choice for the best electric toothbrush for 2025.

Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook

Lenovo is notable among the big laptop manufacturers for being a Chinese company making its products especially susceptible to Trump’s tariffs.

Starbucks Ground Coffee (28-ounce bag)

Coffee is included in this tracker because of its ubiquity —I’m certainly drinking too much of it these days —and because it’s uniquely susceptible to Trump’s tariff agenda. Famously, coffee beans can only be grown within a certain distance from Earth’s equator, a tropical span largely outside the US and known as the «Coffee Belt.»

Hawaii is the only part of the US that can produce coffee beans, with data from USAFacts showing that 11.5 million pounds were harvested there in the 2022-23 season — little more than a drop in the mug, as the US consumed 282 times that amount of coffee during that period. Making matters worse, Hawaiian coffee production has declined in the past few years.

All that to say: Americans get almost all of their coffee from overseas, making it one of the most likely products to see price hikes from tariffs.

Technologies

What’s New in Anthropic’s Claude 4 Gen AI Models?

Anthropic said it’s using extra safety precautions with its heavy duty Claude 4 Opus model.

The latest versions of Anthropic’s Claude generative AI models made their debut Thursday, including a heavier-duty model built specifically for coding and complex tasks.

Anthropic launched the new Claude 4 Opus and Claude 4 Sonnet models during its Code with Claude developer conference and executives said the new tools mark a significant step forward in terms of reasoning and deep thinking skills.

The company launched the prior model, Claude 3.7 Sonnet, in February. Since then, competing AI developers have also upped their game. OpenAI released GPT-4.1 in April, with an emphasis on an expanded context window, along with the new o3 reasoning model family. Google followed in early May with an updated version of Gemini 2.5 Pro that it said is better at coding.

Claude 4 Opus is a larger, more resource-intensive model built to handle particularly difficult challenges. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said test users have seen it quickly handle tasks that might have taken a person several hours to complete.

«In many ways, as we’re often finding with large models, the benchmarks don’t fully do justice to it,» he said during the keynote event.

Claude 4 Sonnet is a leaner model, with improvements built on Anthropic’s Claude 3.7 Sonnet model. The 3.7 model often had problems with overeagerness and sometimes did more than the person asked it to do, Amodei said. While it’s a less resource-intensive model, it still performs well, he said.

«It actually does just as well as Opus on some of the coding benchmarks, but I think it’s leaner and more narrowly focused,» Amodei said.

Anthropic said the models have a new capability, still being beta tested, in which they can use tools like web searches while engaged in extended reasoning. The models can alternate between reasoning and using tools to get better responses to complex queries.

The models offer near-instant response modes and extended thinking modes.

All of the paid plans offer Opus and Sonnet models, while the free plan just has the Sonnet model.

The new models show Anthropic’s focus on building strong coding models, said Arun Chandrasekaran, a distinguished vice president, analyst at Gartner. «Anthropic’s Claude models have established strong leadership in the software engineering domain and the latest Claude 4 release extends that leadership.»

Anthropic triggers safety protocols with new Claude models

In launching the Claude Opus 4 model, Anthropic said it was taking increased safety precautions to reduce the risk of Claude being misused. In a blog post, the company said it hasn’t determined whether the model actually requires the protections of its ASL-3 standard but it is doing so as a precaution.

The safety precautions are specifically designed to prevent Claude from helping with developing chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear weapons. Anthropic said it limited attacks known as universal jailbreaks that let attackers get around existing protocols. «We will continue to evaluate Claude Opus 4’s CBRN capabilities,» Anthropic’s blog post said. «If we conclude that Claude Opus 4 has not surpassed the relevant Capability Threshold, then we may remove or adjust the ASL-3 protections.»

Chandrasekaran said the implementation of safety standards is worth noting. «This includes enhanced cybersecurity measures and prompt classifiers to mitigate risks associated with powerful AI systems,» he said. The new models show the company’s focus on balancing new technology with safety, he said.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for May 24, #1435

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle No. 1,435 for May 24.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle put a certain song about footwear in my head. If you like to guess vowels first, this is the word for you. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.