Amazon Lightning Deals explained: how they work and how to catch one

What a Lightning Deal is

A Lightning Deal is a short Amazon promotion on a single product, with a limited number of units at the deal price. It runs for a few hours or until the units are claimed, whichever comes first. The deal box shows a countdown timer and a bar with the percentage already claimed.

Sellers pay Amazon to run them, so they cluster around big events like Prime Big Deal Days, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but new ones start every day of the year.

Claimed, waitlisted, sold out

When you add a Lightning Deal item to your cart, one unit is held for you for a short time, typically about 15 minutes. If you do not check out in that window, the unit goes back to the pool.

That is why a deal at 100% claimed is not always over. Join the waitlist: when someone else's hold expires, the next person in line gets a chance at the price, and Amazon notifies you.

Some Lightning Deals are Prime-exclusive and only show the deal price to Prime members. Others are open to everyone. The deal badge tells you which one it is.

Is it actually a good price?

The crossed-out price on a Lightning Deal is usually the list price or a recent typical price, which can be higher than what the item really sells for most days. Before you rush to check out, compare with the product's recent price history.

A Lightning Deal is worth grabbing when the price is clearly below the item's usual selling price, the seller is Amazon or the brand's own store, and you were going to buy the product anyway. The ticking timer is designed to make you decide fast; a few seconds of checking is fine, because your hold lasts longer than that.

How Getfindsy finds them

When a Lightning Deal is a real price drop on a product people like, we post it with the price we saw and the time we checked it. Because these deals end in hours, a post older than a day may already be over, so always check the deal box on Amazon.