Posted by Dana Rock on Dec 7, 2011 in Amazon Apps, Android Apps, Art, Blogging, Browser, Camera, Family, Games, GetJar Gold, Homes & Launchers, HTC Wildfire S, Keyboard, Launchers, LG Optimus Slider, LG Optimus V, Motorola Triumph, Music, Navigation, Newbie Zone, News, Office, Podcasts, Reference, Ringtones & Wallpapers, Security, Social, Special Deals, Sports, Tools, Video, Widgets | 0 comments
Everybody Loves a Deal!
Deals are addicting, and everyone wants one.
Black Friday lines and driving across town to get slightly cheaper gas prices are just a few examples of what we will do to bag a bargain.
Thankfully, to get a deal on Android apps and games does not require the stamina of a professional endurance “line stander” (you know who you are). Android bargains are just a few clicks away if you know where to look.
Today, I will reveal to you the five strategies I use to hunt through the mountains of apps out there to find a sweet steal.
The Old Standbys Honorable Mention
Most of you probably already know about Amazon’s free paid app of the day and maybe even about GetJar’s Gold program – in fact, if you stop by this site much, I know that you know about these sites because I talk about them all the time.
Both of these places are excellent sources of android app deals.
Free is always the best deal.
Most of the time, however, you will not find many of the apps you want for free.
Many publishers are not going to just give their digital work away for nothing, but many are willing to offer limited time discounts — aka, the deals we are in search of.
Finding apps and games on sale can be a real challenge partially because the Android Market is so vast and includes ALOT of crap apps that have to be sifted through.
5 Deal Stalking Methods To Find The Perfect App At The Right Price
Hot Deals
The first strategy is to spend a little time over at AppBrain - which is an Android Market browser that allow many more sorting and filter options. In fact, AppBrain was pretty much the real Android Market browser for a long time until Google got their act together.
Some of the available filters at AppBrain will help us find fresh price drops and apps that have received a massive amount of recent activity — “Hot Today” and “Hot This Week“.
I usually start with the “hot” apps lists, which will usually reveal rather quickly if a publisher is doing a one day promotion that people are thrilled about because there is a sudden massive flurry of activity.
If you do not want to visit the site often, you can follow these categories on Twitter or get category based feeds in your favorite feed reader.
Love The Filters!
My second strategy also takes place on the AppBrain website.
Once you choose a category on AppBrain, you can choose a filter called “price reduced” located in the bottom left.
This is one of the best ways to see which apps have suddenly become less expensive.
You will find that there is some junk to wade through — look for the apps that have high download numbers overall.
Knowing the Right Words
The third strategy I use to find apps and games on sale is to go to the Android Market and search for “sale” and maybe throw in to the search box a few other few key phrases like “limited time only”, “promotion”, and “holiday [insert the name of an approaching holiday] deal”.
These searches will bring up two types of apps – 1) Apps that are ABOUT sales and 2) Apps that ARE ON sale. You’ll have to weed through them a bit.
Amazon Always Has a Deal On Something – Even Apps
The fourth strategy is to check the deals page at the Amazon Appstore. It changes weekly – I watch this like a hawk because the deals there are often exclusive to Amazon and do not exist in the Android Market.
I have picked up very expensive apps here like Quick Office, Easy Tether, Touchdown, and others for up to 75% off their usual price.
Let Others Do The Work For You
The final fifth strategy I use to bring home the app bargains relies on the community driven site “SlickDeals”.
After setting up a free account, you can set up alerts for keywords that relate to a specific deal you are looking for.
For example, I might set up a deal alert with the word “android app” or “Android Market”. If I am looking for a specific app, I set up a deal alert using that app’s name.
If someone posts a deal using any of the keyword deal alerts I’ve set up, I will be sent an email and a message on the SlickDeals site itself.
You have the choice of whether or not to have these alerts only emailed to you or only sent to you as a message on the SlickDeals website — or you can choose to have both done to cover all of your bases.
You can have an e-mail instantly sent to you any time someone posts a deal regarding the word that you set as your alert key. I have found this very effective especially when hunting for inexpensive games.
The Sum of It All!
To find stellar bargains on Android apps and games, try using these five strategies:
- Check AppBrain’s Hot Deals categories .
- Use the “Price Reduced” filter at AppBrain.
- Use the Android Market search box to find publishers offering sales and limited time deals.
- Stalk the Amazon Deals page religiously.
- Join the SlickDeals community and set up some instant deal alerts.
That’s the skinny ya’ll, but do not forget to add coming back here every once in a while to see our Special Deals category 
.
Keep on Rock’n!
