INDIANAPOLIS — Amazon Prime Day kicks off early Tuesday morning, offering 48 hours of deals from various brands and products.

On Monday, administrators with the same-day fulfillment center in Greenwood said this year’s Prime Day includes more than 35 million items, a 25% increase from last year.

Prime Day, which saw more than 250 million items purchased worldwide last year, marks the start of deal days from various retailers throughout the summer.

Before you decide to cash in, experts urge shoppers to be smart.

“One of the things that I always tell people is you should never buy anything you weren’t planning on buying, even if it’s on sale,” said Andy Mattingly with Forum Credit Union.

Mattingly said it’s important shoppers have a game plan, do their research on products, make a budget and stick to it.

“What happens too much is people take advantage of these deals, they put the money on their credit card, and then they don’t know how to pay it off,” Mattingly said. “They get it paid off just about in time for the holidays to come, and then they’re back in that situation.”

If staying within budget is hard to do, Mattingly recommended another method to stay on course and avoid impulse buying.

“Go buy a gift certificate and only use the gift certificate because there won’t be any way to go over. You have to stay at your limit,” he said.

Phil Schuman, executive director of financial wellness and education at Indiana University, said don’t be fooled by the “buy more, save more” model as it can lead you to spending more than you anticipated.

Another thing to keep in mind, experts said, is just because prices are low doesn’t always mean it’s a good deal.

“That’s the hard part with all of this is that you could be getting a good deal, in terms of it’s going to cost you less right now than it might cost you otherwise,” said Schuman, “but that still may not be a good deal because maybe the thing you’re buying isn’t going to last as long.”

“There are certain times that it’s a really good time to buy and this deal may be cheap, but maybe when you got to Black Friday it would be even cheaper,” Mattingly said. “You have to kind of look at that historical value too.”

If you do plan to take advantage of deal days, like Prime Day, experts suggest utilizing the deals for essentials for you and your family, like back-to-school items.

No matter how or if you choose to spend, experts recommend doing it within your means so you won’t have to pay for it later.

“We all are in different situations, and just to make sure that you can afford to do it, I think that’s really important,” said Mattingly.

“I think the big thing is just during all of this, if you have the capacity to do it, make sure you are setting aside a little bit of money for your family, for you, just to take care of yourself,” said Schuman.