Mark your calendars: Prime Day is Tuesday, July 8, through Friday, July 11, this year. That’s right — the sale will be four (!) days long instead of the usual two, and we’ll be covering it all with our trademark obsessiveness.
Ahead of the sale, I’m here to explain what Prime Day is and how to find the best Strat-scouted Prime Day deals (they’re not all created equal). I’ll also be rounding up the best early Prime Day deals as they pop up — they usually start a few weeks out from Prime Day — so stay tuned. And to make sure you don’t miss a single good deal, sign up the Strategist Sales Alert newsletter as well as our regular email newsletter for exclusives.
What is Prime Day anyway?
Launched in 2015, Prime Day is a sitewide sales event on Amazon for Prime members only. During the sale, Amazon offers discounts on thousands of products, many of which we’ve recommended, usually for their best price all year. Again, only Prime members can shop the deals, so if you’re not a member yet, the sale a good incentive to sign up. But if you don’t want to commit, you can sign up for a free seven-day trial ahead of Prime Day. (Prime, of course, gives you free two-day shipping on a slew of things, no matter the time of year, plus access to Amazon-only shows and movies and select sporting events.)
When is Prime Day?
This year’s Prime Day will take place from Tuesday, July 8, at 3 a.m. ET to Saturday, July 12, at 2:59 a.m. ET. That’s four days of deals instead of the usual two.
How will this year be different, given the longer duration?
In its press release, Amazon said this year’s sale will include “Today’s Big Deals” drops — “themed daily deal drops featuring some of the most exciting deals of the event.” Those deals launch at 3 a.m. ET each day of the event and only last as long as supplies last, so depending on how good the deals are, you might want to check in on the sale each morning. (I’d recommend just checking the Strategist, though, as we’ll be sifting through all the deals early each morning and alerting you to any truly worth-it items.)
The release also notes there will be regular new drops during “select periods” throughout the event. We’ll have to wait to see what that means, but it likely means if you miss something good in the morning, you’ll have another chance at a great deal midday.
As for how good the sales will be this year, that remains to be seen. Double the length could mean double the number of deals — or it could just mean the same deals but more time to procrastinate checking out. We won’t really know until the sale starts. However, we anticipate that the early-morning deal drops will be pretty good, but that plenty of very good deals will go live on the first day and last until it sells out.
Are the deals worth it?
Like a lot of things “on sale” on Amazon, it depends. There will certainly be heavy discounts on useful things, many of which we’ve even written about on the Strategist before. As you can imagine, Amazon items are where you can really score — it’s a good time to get an Echo, Fire TV Stick, or Kindle — but otherwise, finding actual bargains will require some wading through a lot of, well, muck. That’s where we come in. We’ve been covering the sale since 2018, making us certified Prime Day experts at this point. Our writers are on deal-watch throughout the entire sales event, helping you sniff out the best steals. Because there’s a lot of ground to cover, we like to put together in-depth roundups for every product category — including beauty, fashion, home décor, and tech — where you’ll find every deal our knowledgable and tasteful writers have deemed worth it.
When can I start shopping?
Amazon always drops loads of early deals prior to the actual sale, and it’s no different this year. Already, there are lots of “early” deals live. I’ll be rounding up the best early Prime Day deals I see in the weeks leading up to Prime Day, so check back often. I’ll be including only the deals that are truly good, whether it’s because it’s the lowest price we’ve seen on an item in a while or a deal I don’t expect will get any better when Prime Day officially starts. We also regularly round up all the best things on sale at Amazon that we’ve written about before, so take a look and bookmark the page so you don’t miss any of the best deals — Prime Day or not.
How can I find out about the deals during the sale?
During the sale itself, our entire team of writers will be online every day to round up the best deals in every category. And I myself will be rounding up all of the writers’ picks — plus my own favorites — in the Strategist Prime Day hub o’ deals. (Here’s what last year’s looked like.)
To make sure you don’t miss any of that, sign up for the Strategist Sales Alert newsletter as well as our regular email newsletter, where we’ll keep you in the loop on all the best sales, including Prime Day, of course. You’ll also want to follow us on Instagram and X, where we’ll be blasting out the discounts on things you’ll actually want to buy shortly after they happen.
The Strategist is designed to surface the most useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Some of our latest conquests include the best women’s jeans, rolling luggage, pillows for side sleepers, ultra-flattering pants, and bath towels. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.
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