This week at Ben’s Bargains, we saw some great deals on tool sets, Nike Store brought back its popular 20% off clearance deal and Haagen-Dazs gave away free ice cream for a few hours. Plus, coins were big at Amazon.

After months of criticism and armchair quarterbacking, Microsoft turned around and decided to sell the Xbox One sans Kinect for $399 starting in June. This alternately made prospective buyers happy and early adopters/current owners sad. Microsoft will also remove the head-scratching Xbox Live Gold requirement on apps like Netflix and Amazon Instant Video. Hey, ma, it’s just like the PS4!

Now let’s check out the rest of this week’s best deals!

Here are the current hottest deals of the week on Ben’s Bargains, organized by category (prices include shipping):

[table caption=”General Offers” width=”620″ colwidth=”5|20|65|10″ colalign=”center|center|center|center”]
,Store,Deal,Price

1,Amazon,9 Select Android Apps + $22 App Credit,Free

2,CoinBase,$10 Worth of Bitcoin for College Students,Free

3,Living Social,20% off Outback Steakhouse Coupon,Free

4,Amazon,Lego Minecraft The Nether (21106),$28

5,Groupon,15% off Select Hotel Deals,

6,Amazon,Kindle First Early eBook Program (Prime Members),Free

7,iTunes,ProCam 2 iPhone/iPad App,Free

8,iTunes,Nuts!: Infinite Forest Run (iOS Game),Free

9,Amazon,Artists to Watch MP3 Album,Free

10,Zulily,One-Year Sam’s Club Membership,$45 + $25 GC

[/table]

[table caption=”Tech” width=”620″ colwidth=”5|20|65|10″ colalign=”center|center|center|center”]
,Store,Deal, Price

1,Cowboom,Apple iPad Air (5th Gen) 16GB Wi-Fi Tablet (refurbished),$350

2,pcRUSH,Canon imageCLASS MF8280cw Wireless Color Laser Printer,$200

3,Fry’s,PlayStation 4 Console,$380

4,Rakuten.com Shopping,Definitive Technology ProCinema 60.6 5.1 Home Theater,$299

5,Dell Business,VIZIO E480i-B2 48″ 1080p 120Hz Smart LED HDTV,$550 + $200 GC

6,1Sale,Beats by Dre urBeats Earbud Headphones,$40

7,Tiger Direct,Acer Aspire V5 Quad-Core 11.6″ Touchscreen Laptop,$308

8,MEElectronics,Random Pair of MEElectronics Earphones,$15

9,Amazon,iClever Bluetooth Keyboard,$11

10,Sellout.woot!,Asus Zenbook UX302LA 4th Gen Core i5 13.3″ Touch Laptop,$665

[/table]

[table caption=”Apparel & Fashion” width=”620″ colwidth=”5|20|65|10″ colalign=”center|center|center|center”]
,Store,Deal, Price

1,Cole Haan,Extra 50% off Clearance + Free Shipping,

2,Nike Store,Extra 20% off Clearance,

3,Oakley Vault,Up to 60% off Sunglasses,

4,Original Penguin,Extra 40% off Sale + 20% off + Free Shipping,

5,6pm,Skechers Florio Men’s Leather Shoes,$23

6,eBay,12-Pack Gildan or Anvil Men’s Crewneck T-Shirts,$25

7,6pm,Inov-8 Bare-XF 210 Shoes,$40

8,Nike Store,Nike Free Trainer 5.0 NRG Men’s Shoes,$56

9,Aeropostale,Men’s Boardshorts,$12

10,Jomashop,Citizen Eco-Drive Men’s Stainless Steel Sport Watch*,$160

[/table]

[table caption=”Home & Outdoors” width=”620″ colwidth=”5|20|65|10″ colalign=”center|center|center|center”]
,Store,Deal, Price

1,Pep Boys,3M 39053 Automotive Paint Restoration Kit,$14

2,Home Depot,60% off Select Area Rugs,

3,Sears,85 pc. Craftsman Universal Max Axess Tool Set,$61

4,Bargain Outfitters,CastleCreek BBQ Firepit w/ Log Rack,$50

5,Sears,Craftsman 11-pc Heavy Duty Impact Screwdriving Set,$5.99

6,Sears,54-Piece Craftsman Driving Set,$11

7,Amazon,Emeril by All-Clad PRO-CLAD Stainless Steel 12″ Fry Pan,$30

8,Sears,Apex 60 ft. Super Saver Heavy Duty Garden Hose,$13

9,Lowe’s,Bosch 47-Piece Screwdriver Bit Set*,$10

10,Sears,Kenmore 25.4 cu. ft. Side-by-Side Refrigerator,$881

[/table]

* Holdover from previous week.

Top 10 Expired or Sold Out Deals

Don’t forget to set up deal alerts on Ben’s Bargains so you don’t miss out on any more of these great savings!

[table caption=”Run For Your Lives!” width=”620″ colwidth=”5|20|65|10″ colalign=”center|center|center|center”]
,Store,Deal, Price

1,Walmart,Apple iPad 2 Wi-Fi 16GB Tablet,$199

2,Oakley Vault,Oakley Bottle Rocket Men’s Sunglasses,$54

3,Best Buy,Viper Wireless Home Monitoring and Security System Kit,$80

4,Amazon,Universal Car Seat Hooks,$2.87

5,Groupon,$10 Shell Gas Credit,$4

6,eBay,FILA Men’s Motion Slip On Driving Shoes,$20

7,Best Buy,Acoustic Research Indoor/Outdoor Bluetooth Speaker,$33

8,Haagen-Dazs,Ice Cream Scoop,Free

9,Amazon,Up to 63% off Select Logitech PC Accessories,

10,Walmart,Backyard Grill 4-Burner 48000 BTU Grill,$99

[/table]

Deals of the Week (May 16): Giant Monster Deals!

If you aren’t familiar with the virtual currency, Amazon launched Amazon Coins approximately one year ago to encourage Kindle Fire users to purchase more applications, games and purchases within the apps.

Basically, you can purchase the coins at a discount on Amazon (usually between 4 to 10 percent), then purchase software on Amazon.com or through your Kindle device. These apps can be used on the Kindle tablets, the recently released Fire TV and likely the future Kindle smartphone that Amazon is rumored to release this year.

Up to this point, Amazon has induced small virtual bonuses on app purchases in the form of Amazon Coins. For instance, if you purchase Minecraft: Pocket Edition on Amazon for $6.99 (699 coins), you will earn a bonus of 350 coins (an additional $3.50 to spend). You will also receive the bonus if you purchase the application with coins, thus only costing you $3.50 in total. These 25 to 50 percent bonus offers are somewhat common on popular apps. If you hunt around, you can even find higher offers. For instance, Sonic 2 offers a 80% bonus at the moment (240 coins for a $2.99 purchase).

Can I earn Amazon Coins with spending money?

YES. Amazon appears to be opening up the floodgates on earning coins as of late. One such current offer is purchasing GTA: San Andreas for $6.99 and earning 2000 Amazon Coins ($20). However, since you can purchase that with Amazon Coins, you are better off racking up free coin bonuses first. Here’s how:

At the time of this article’s publication (5/16/14), you can purchase these nine photos apps for free and earn 900 Amazon Coins in the process. You don’t have to install them on any device, simply purchase them and each purchase will credit 100 coins to your account. With those 900 points, you can then purchase GTA: San Andreas for 699 coins (plus your state tax in coins) in order to earn 2000 more coins. Roughly, you will end up with about 2100 to 2200 coins, 9 free photos apps and a free copy of San Andreas just for clicking your mouse a few times.

If you missed out on the deal listed above, fret not. One of Amazon’s marketing managers recently posted on Reddit that these type of coin promotions will occur more frequently in the future. You can also keep an eye on the Ben’s deal feed to see Amazon Coin promotions that will help you earn more free money.

Amazon Coins Quick FAQ:

1. What’s the exchange rate of Coins to dollars? 100 coins for every $1, basically 1 penny each.
2. Can I use points on movies or television shows? NO. Apps, games and in-app purchases only.
3. Do Amazon Coins expire? YES. Amazon Coins will expire approximately one year from acquiring the points. For instance, If you receive points on May 10th, 2014, they will expire on May 31st, 2015.
4. How do I see my Amazon Coins Transaction History? Technically, you can’t see see how you are accumulating coins at this time. However, you can see a record of your digital orders using the My Account menu.

What are Amazon Coins? Ben’s Guide to Racking up the Coinage