Black Friday shopping hack: Guide to creating an Amazon wishlist

Q: How much is an Amazon Prime membership?

A standard Amazon Prime membership will run you $14.99 per month , or $139 per year. Some folks can qualify for discounted memberships: If you're a student, you can sign up for Prime at $7.49 per month (or $69 per year). If you're a recipient of a qualifying government assistance program like SNAP EBT or Medicaid, you can get Prime for $6.99 per month , or just under $84 annually.

illustrated wishlist with colorful black friday graphic background

Credit: Ian Moore / Mashable

Black Friday is back, babes.

This year, Amazon is hosting a "Black Friday Week" savings event that kicks off on Thursday, Nov. 21, and runs through Friday, Nov. 29 — aka Black Friday proper. Later that day, the mega-retailer will shift into Cyber Monday mode, which will run through Monday, Dec. 2. Expect to see "millions of deals across more than 35 categories" throughout the event, including all-time low prices on brands like Yeti, Beats, and Ninja.

Of course, it's Amazon, so plenty of early deals are already live. And there's a chance that thing you've been eyeing is already on sale. If you want to ensure you score the best deals on your must-have items this Black Friday season, we've got a shopping hack for you: Create a wishlist.

Curating your personal list of must-have items and setting price alerts can help you stay on track and avoid adding things to your cart just because they were on sale.

Get your scroll on and find out how to create an Amazon wishlist for Black Friday.

Tip No. 1: Organize your Amazon wishlist

If it’s news to you that Amazon even offers such a feature, here’s how it works:

Every product page on the retail giant’s website has a little “Add to List” button right near “Add to Cart.” Click on the list button and you can add said product to your personal Amazon wishlist, or any other saved list that you’ve created on your profile.

Do this with all of those items that you've been eyeing, but can't seem to make a move on unless they're on sale. Then, you can view your definitive list at a glance, or even rank each item based on how badly you want it.

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Then — and here's the important part — be sure to check back on your wishlist when Black Friday 2024 kicks into high gear. You’ll be able to see which products have gone on sale and snatch them up before they’re gone.

WARNING: Only add the necessities to your wishlist or risk critical failure and end up with mass shipments of stuff you don’t need, never needed, and will never need.

Tip No. 2: Turn on wishlist alerts

That’s not where the perks of "wishlisting" cap out. If you download Amazon’s mobile companion app, you’ll be granted the added benefit of "wishlist alerts."

These alerts notify you when an item on your wishlist becomes a “lightning deal,” as well as when a sold-out item on your wishlist goes back in stock.

This isn’t a notification setting that's turned on by default, so you’ll have to go in and check it off yourself. All you have to do is open up the Amazon app, go into your settings, then to your notifications, and click on “your watched and waitlisted deals.”

Picture of Amazon "wishlist" alerts feature.

It's this one. Credit: Screenshot: Amazon

Tip No. 3: Turn on Alexa's advanced deal alerts

As it turns out, newer Echo smart speakers are good for more than just bumping out your playlists. They can also notify you of a sale on an item in your wishlist, shopping cart, or "saved for later" queue up to 24 hours before it even goes live.

Open up the Alexa mobile app to turn on the advanced deal alerts feature. You'll find it under More > Settings > Notifications > Amazon Shopping
Once you're there, click Shopping Recommendations and then Deal Recommendations. Since you already have your wishlist organized and ready to go, that's all there is to it.
You'll see a pop-up alert or a yellow ring light on your Echo device whenever Alexa finds out about an upcoming deal on products in your wishlist. Ask, "Alexa, what are my notifications?" to get the scoop.

You can either have Alexa let you know once the deal is live or even give her the go-ahead to order it for you ("Alexa, buy it for me"). Your default payment and delivery address on file will be used automatically.

Voilà — now you’ll never miss a deal for something you want. Your Amazon wishlist is one of the most useful tools that you have at your disposal to ensure a successful shopping experience.

When you're done curating your list, you can even share it with your friends. You can also view wishlists created by other Prime members. Just click the "Invite" button in your wishlist or click over to the "Your Friends" tab in your profile.

Bonus tip: Get ready for Black Friday 2024 with Mashable

We like to think we're just as on top of tracking deals on the stuff you care about as a wishlist is. Follow along with our Black Friday and Cyber Monday coverage (which has already started!), where we'll be highlighting all of the most important intel from the sale, from record-low price alerts to any invite-only deals for Prime members that may pop up to giant lists of the best deals in categories like TVs, Apple stuff, robot vacuums, headphones, and kitchen gear.

Topics Amazon Black Friday Cyber Monday

Frequently Asked Questions

Black Friday proper is on Nov. 29 in 2024, but Amazon's official Black Friday sale will run from Thursday, Nov. 21 through (Cyber) Monday, Dec. 2, with new deals dropping every day.

Yes! While there will certainly be deals exclusively available to Prime members, the majority of the deals on Black Friday are up for grabs whether or not you subscribe to the mega retailer. Many purchases on Amazon over a certain amount can still qualify for free (and fast!) shipping as well. So as long as you don't wait until the last minute, you can likely get away with not paying $14.99 per month for Prime this Black Friday season.

If there is a deal that's for Prime members only, you also have the option of signing up for a free trial. The 30-day trial is available to both new and returning customers. Just don't forget to cancel your trial after the sale to avoid the automatic charges.

Alternatively, there are opportunities to save at other retailers if you don't feel like messing around with Prime. Target, Walmart, and Best Buy are holding competing Black Friday sales that are open to everyone without a paywall.

A standard Amazon Prime membership will run you $14.99 per month, or $139 per year. Some folks can qualify for discounted memberships: If you're a student, you can sign up for Prime at $7.49 per month (or $69 per year). If you're a recipient of a qualifying government assistance program like SNAP EBT or Medicaid, you can get Prime for $6.99 per month, or just under $84 annually.

Leah Stodart

Senior Shopping Reporter

Leah Stodart is a Philadelphia-based Senior Shopping Reporter at Mashable where she covers essential home tech like vacuums and TVs as well as sustainable swaps and travel. Her ever-growing experience in these categories comes in clutch when making recommendations on how to spend your money during shopping holidays like Black Friday, which Leah has been covering for Mashable since 2017.

The robot vacuum beat in particular has cemented itself as Leah's main ~thing~ across the past few years. Since 2019, her expertise has been perpetually bolstered by the meticulous eye she keeps on robot vacuum deals and new releases, but more importantly, her hands-on experience with more than 25 robot vacuums tested in her own home. (This number has probably gone up by the time you're reading this.) That at-home testing is standardized through Mashable's robot testing guide — a granular scoring rubric for assessing all aspects of owning and using a robot vacuum on the daily — that Leah created herself.

Leah graduated from Penn State University in 2016 with dual degrees in Sociology and Media Studies. When she's not writing about shopping (or shopping online for herself), she's almost definitely watching a horror movie, "RuPaul's Drag Race," or "The Office." You can follow her on X at @notleah or email her at [email protected].

Dylan Haas

Lead Shopping Reporter

Dylan Haas is a Lead Shopping Reporter for Mashable, where he covers all things gaming, pets, fitness, sleep, and shopping events like Black Friday and Prime Day. Before joining the team at Mashable, Dylan received a B.A. in Communications from Pace University and contributed to publications like Paste Magazine, Bandsintown, and others following a brief stint as a marketing and management assistant in the music industry.

When he's not writing or testing products, you can find Dylan playing lots of video games, working out, spending time with loved ones (especially his dog, Stevie), or watching reality TV. Follow him on X at @iamdylanhaas, or send him an email at [email protected].

Christina Buff

Christina Buff is a Nashville-based freelance writer for who covers shopping with a splash of entertainment. If you’re ever wondering what streaming service you need to watch something (and the cheapest way to sign up for it), she’s your girl.

Christina received a B.S. in Business Communication (concentration in writing) from Stevenson University and began her professional journey writing and editing press releases. Since then, she’s written content for a marketing agency, blogged for celebrities, and covered local news, politics, women’s lifestyle, fashion, beauty, and just about everything in between for various publications.

When she’s not writing, she’s probably enjoying live music, studying human design, or embroidering and upcycling clothes. You can follow her on Instagram at @touchinfinity.