Amazon’s third annual Prime Day is coming up on July 10th and 11th. There are huge deals to be had but, in years past, the best ones sold out super fast. Of course they did — this is Amazon’s answer to Black Friday after all, where people get trampled to death trying to score a bargain. So, you don’t have to worry about death and mayhem with Prime Day, but you do have to know what you are doing — unless you want to be stuck holding the dregs.

If you think there won’t be crowds because there were grumblings about lame deals and TVs selling out immediately in past years, think again. DealNews surveyed shoppers and found that while consumers haven’t yet reached consensus on whether they think Prime Day is worth it (51%) or not (49% ), only 10% of respondents said they would skip shopping Prime Day altogether.

Shop Using Your Voice

If you want a jump on the deals, get an Amazon Echo — or something in the Alexa family — and and do it ASAP. Because from July 5 through Prime Day, Alexa will have more than 100 exclusive deals available only through the Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Show, Amazon Tap, Fire TV or compatible Fire tablets. (I think the best deal in the Alexa Family is the Echo Dot. It’s compact, cute, you can connect your own speaker for great sound, and it’s only $49.) If you shop by shouting at Alexa — just say, “Alexa, what are your deals?” — you’ll also get access to Prime Day deals two hours before the general public (July 10th from 4pm to 6pm PT.) Any jump on the crowds you can get, will make a difference. Last year, all the really good deals sold out almost instantly. You can browse Alexa’s deals quietly online, too.

Get a Deal on Prime

If you have an Alexa device but are not yet a Prime member, now is the time to use your voice to sign up. You will get your first year of Prime membership for only $79. That’s $20 less than the hoi polloi pay and you will have it in time for Prime Day. Just say, “Alexa, sign up for Prime.” She will take it from there.

Get that new Kindle now

If you are in the market for a Kindle, Echo, or Amazon Fire, this is your chance. Usually the best deals on Prime Day are on electronics, specifically Amazon’s own products. “Each year,” says Benjamin Glaser, Features Editor with DealNews. “We’ve seen huge discounts on items like the Fire TV Stick, Kindles, and Alexa-enabled devices like the Echo. Prime Day usually has the best prices of the year on these items, beating out even Black Friday.”

Shop early, be prepared

In order to snag that must-have item at the best possible price, do a little advance homework. If you wander the aisles after the sale has begun, you will watch helplessly as everything you want gets snapped up by shoppers who showed up prepared. This year, Amazon has built some great tools to help you do that pre-Prime Day homework. Check out the Prime Day Insider Guide for the best strategies for scoring the Spotlight Deals and Lightning Deals.

Only you know what your life needs and what you consider a bargain but you don’t have to hunt through a bargain bin to find it. Amazon has organized deals into themes.

Use your wish list

Before the sale starts, put items you would love to have — if the price dropped — into your wish list. That way, Amazon will notify you if they go on sale. This is always true. But it is especially important when there are so many bargains to sort through.

Put the Amazon app to work

Get the Amazon app for a little help staying on top of the fray. From the app, go to “Today’s Deals,” and click “Upcoming” to view all deals 24 hours before they are live. When you find the very thing, tap “Watch this deal.” The app will alert you when that deal is starting.

Unlike old-school bargain days (aka Black Friday), you don’t have to get up at 3 am and stand in a freezing Walmart parking lot for any of these deals. If you are a Prime members, use the Amazon App to preview, track, and shop deals from your pajamas while tucked into your comfy bed.

Categories to watch

Some stand-out categories to look for this year, according to sources inside Amazon, include health and beauty items, media (books, movies, music), collectibles and Amazon products (Fire HD tablets, Fire TV stick, Amazon Echo and Amazon Basics).

New this year – for Prime members – are daily videos that entertain and explain while you shop. Visit Amazon.com/primeday to watch videos that explain a different Amazon Prime benefit — from Prime Video to Prime Music to Alexa Voice Shopping. There will be appearances from Imagine Dragons, Shania Twain and more. And you can buy the featured products right from the videos. You’ll get deal updates from the videos, too.

I will see you there. I might be on the couch, lounging and wearing my fuzzy slippers, but I’ll be scoring some deals.