Amazon’s flagship Prime Day sale may not be as singular as it once was, but the members-only savings event remains a huge draw for inflation-weary shoppers hunting for summer deals.
Here’s what you need to know about Amazon Prime Day 2023.
When is Prime Day 2023?
Prime Day will run from Tuesday, July 11 at 3 a.m. ET through Wednesday, July 12 in 2023, with new offers dropping every 30 minutes during certain periods. That being said, you might be able to start ticking things off your shopping list already: Select Prime Day deals(opens in a new tab) (and competing sales at three other retailers) are already live.
What is Prime Day?
Prime Day is an annual sitewide sale that Amazon puts on for members of its Prime subscription service. First held in 2015 in honor of Amazon’s 20th anniversary(opens in a new tab) (with mixed success), it was originally plugged(opens in a new tab) as a “one-day-only event filled with more deals than Black Friday.” In the years since, it’s morphed into a 48-hour affair that’s preceded by a few weeks of preview offers. “Prime Day” is a misnomer at this point.
What’s new or different about Prime Day this year?
Amazon is back to bragging(opens in a new tab) that it will offer “millions of deals across categories” during this year’s Prime Day sale — “more deals than any Prime Day event before,” in fact. This is a return to form of sorts and a shift from its reined-in 2022 advertising, which emphasized “Amazon’s lowest prices ever on select products” and a wider selection of items from third-party sellers instead of a massive deal dump. (TL;DR: We are so back.(opens in a new tab))
Amazon has also introduced a brand-new “invite-only” deals(opens in a new tab) program for ten products it expects to sell out on Prime Day (see: a $100 43-inch 4K smart TV(opens in a new tab)), which should alleviate some of the frenzied chaos that typically surrounds its doorbusters. Prime members can visit these products’ listings to request an invitation ahead of the event. If chosen, you’ll receive an email with a unique link to buy the item during Prime Day.
Amazon’s invite-only deals for Prime Day are seriously impressive: Here’s how to shop them
Amazon hasn’t explained how it’ll be picking these lucky eligible shoppers; all we know is that they’re exclusive to Prime members (paid and trial).
What are the best early Prime Day deals?
Prime Day has always been Amazon’s favorite excuse to discount its own devices and services, and this year is no different. Its early deals include steep savings on gadgets like the new Echo Pop(opens in a new tab) (55% off), the new Fire Max 11(opens in a new tab) (35% off), the new Echo Buds(opens in a new tab) (30% off), the Amazon Smart Thermostat(opens in a new tab) (35% off), Kindle bundles(opens in a new tab) (up to 41% off), Echo Show bundles(opens in a new tab) (up to 50% off), eero WiFi router bundles(opens in a new tab) (up to 69% off), and a slew of Fire TVs from several different brands. This includes the bestselling 75-inch Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED Series 4K smart TV(opens in a new tab), the new 32-inch Amazon Fire TV 2-Series smart TV(opens in a new tab), and a countertop-friendly 24-inch Insignia smart Fire TV(opens in a new tab) that comes in at only $65.
Need something new to watch on your new TV? Select titles in the Prime Video(opens in a new tab) library are currently on sale for up to 50% off — rentals included — and a handful of channels are only 99 cents/month for two months. (That includes Starz(opens in a new tab), Cinemax(opens in a new tab), and Hallmark Movies Now(opens in a new tab).) Two-month Paramount+(opens in a new tab) and AMC+(opens in a new tab) subscriptions are also half off through July 12.
For those trying to catch up on summer reading lists, a Prime membership now unlocks three months of Kindle Unlimited(opens in a new tab) (normally $11.99/month) if you haven’t tried it before. If you’re more of a podcast or audiobook person, you can take advantage of a free three-month Audible Premium Plus(opens in a new tab) trial (valued at $14.95/month) until July 31.
Prime members can also claim bonus classic games like Prey and Baldur’s Gate II in the leadup to Prime Day (via Prime Gaming(opens in a new tab)), as well as bonus content for newer titles like Diablo IV, Overwatch 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and Pokémon GO.
Prime Day 2023 isn’t for a few weeks, but these deals aren’t waiting
If you need to restock your pantry, your Prime membership will save you 20% on a $50-plus order of Amazon-brand everyday essentials(opens in a new tab) like snacks, school supplies, groceries, toiletries, and pet products for a limited time. The same discount applies to any Amazon Fresh(opens in a new tab) order of $50 or more from your local store through July 10.
Once Prime Day officially starts, our usual suspects for doorbusters include robot vacuums, headphones, video games, fitness equipment, pet supplies, cookware, and basically every Apple product under the sun. (Amazon has been holding the second-gen AirPods Pro(opens in a new tab) at $200 and wasted no time in putting the new 15-inch MacBook(opens in a new tab) on sale, so the pressure’s on for some extra-good Prime Day offers.) The sale will also be a good opportunity to invest in some new outdoor gear— end-of-season clearance offers are plentiful this time of year — as well as luggage for any fall trips you’re planning. Check out our giant running list of the best early Prime Day deals to see what’s up for grabs.
What not to buy on Prime Day
Not all of those “millions of deals across categories” will be worth adding to your cart. After covering Prime Day for years, here’s what we’d recommend skipping:
Anything from Ring. The home security company’s popular video doorbells always get really cheap during Prime events since Ring is an Amazon brand, but they’re ultimately a privacy nightmare.
Toys. Amazon is offering some good early Prime Day discounts on Barbie toys and apparel(opens in a new tab) as a tie-in to the iconic doll’s big-screen debut later this month, but otherwise, it’s best to save your toy shopping for Black Friday — the holiday season brings new releases and a boatload of deals.
Video game consoles. Hold off to upgrade until holiday sales and bundles start trickling out in November unless you’re interested in a PlayStation 5: Sony’s God of War Ragnarök bundle(opens in a new tab) was $60 off on Amazon in the weeks leading up to Prime Day, and while it’s since sold out, we could get a restock within the next couple days.
Almost anything sold and shipped by a third-party seller. Third-party merchants on Amazon aren’t scammers across the board, but buying something from a seller you don’t recognize can be risky. (Fake reviews and counterfeit listings are way more common — and convincing — than you’d think.) Stick with products that have “Ships from Amazon.com” and “Sold by Amazon.com” under their “Buy Now” buttons just to be safe.
Any deal that seems too good to be true. Amazon has a bad habit of inflating MSRPs to make discounts appear better than they really are. You can verify whether a deal is legit or not by comparing prices across other major retailers and running the product through camelcamelcamel(opens in a new tab), a free Amazon price-tracking site.
Anything you get the urge to impulse-buy. Are you buying a new TV because you actually need a new TV, or just because it’s $100 off right now?
Wait, didn’t Amazon just host a Prime shopping event?
The last Prime-exclusive sale isn’t all that far in our rearview mirror. The inaugural Prime Early Access Sale (an unofficial “Prime Day 2”) ushered in exclusive discounts across the site last Oct. 11 through 12, kicking off the holidays extra-early and marking the first time Amazon has hosted two such events in the same calendar year.
No word yet on whether we’ll get another Prime Early Access Sale in 2023, but the first iteration’s relative success(opens in a new tab) points to a likely “yes.”
Can you shop on Prime Day without being a Prime member?
You can score Prime Day deals without committing to a paid Prime membership by scheduling a 30-day free trial(opens in a new tab) around the event. Just remember to cancel it as soon as the sale is over to avoid getting charged.
Who’s competing with Prime Day?
Walmart, Target, and Best Buy are all throwing their hats into the anti-Prime Day ring.
The former is hosting a new summer savings event called Walmart+ Week, a seeming expansion of last June’s Walmart+ Weekend that more directly competes with Prime Day. It’s live on the Walmart website from Monday, July 10 at 12 p.m. ET to Thursday, July 13 at 7 p.m. ET. (More like Walmart+ Three Days And Some Change, but I digress.)
Members of the big box store’s Walmart+(opens in a new tab) subscription service get early access to the sale for the first 24 hours before it opens to the public on Tuesday, July 11 at 12 p.m. ET. That only includes paid Walmart+ members, so you’ll have to upgrade from its free trial tier if you want to participate. (Good news: Annual memberships are 50% off(opens in a new tab) until July 13.) Here’s a quick look at the best Walmart+ Week deals we’ve come across so far:
Meanwhile, Target is running one of its semi-annual Circle Week sales from Sunday, July 9 to Saturday, June 15. (A whole actual week!) Billed(opens in a new tab) as its “biggest sale of the season,” the event is open to members of the retailer’s totally free Target Circle(opens in a new tab) loyalty program and runs online, in stores, and on the Target app. Highlights include:
Finally, Best Buy has revived its Black Friday in July event from Monday, July 10 to Wednesday, July 12 in stores, online, and on its mobile app. The sale is open to everyone, but members of the retailer’s new paid My Best Buy Plus and My Best Buy Total plans get access to special promotions and better discounts on certain items. (Subscriptions(opens in a new tab) cost $49.99/year and $179.99/year, respectively.) Here’s an overview of its top deals:
Prime Day shopping tips and tricks
Aside from aggressively lurking on Amazon’s dedicated Prime Day page(opens in a new tab) (and reading our coverage of the sale), there are several ways to ensure you don’t miss out on a great deal:
Sign up for those invite-only deals. We’ve flagged the best ones if you need some guidance.
Preview upcoming Prime Day deals. The top of Amazon’s event page(opens in a new tab) features a scrollable banner of select deals that’ll go live during Prime Day. Each one has a corresponding button that says “Watch this deal”; click it for a notification when it’s officially up for grabs.
Organize your Amazon Wish List. Amazon’s virtual shopping list feature puts all of your must-haves in one convenient spot so you’re not constantly flipping between links and tabs. You can even rank items based on how much you want them. Once Prime Day rolls around, you’ll be able to see which ones are on sale at a glance. (Check out Mashable’s guide to “wishlisting” for more intel.)
Download the Amazon Shopping(opens in a new tab) mobile app. The app features a Prime Day event page where you can set deal alerts for your recent Amazon searches and views; you’ll get pinged with a push notification as soon as an offer goes live during the event.
Take advantage of Alexa’s advanced deal alerts feature. Amazon’s virtual assistant can notify you of a sale on an item in your Wish List, Shopping Cart, or “Saved for Later” queue up to 24 hours before it goes live. Enable the feature on a newer-gen Echo smart speaker, and you’ll see its light ring turn yellow (or you’ll get a pop-up alert) whenever an item you’ve saved has a discount in the pipeline. You can then ask for more information about the deal, set a reminder for when it’s available, and even give Alexa permission to order it for you using your default payment info when the time comes.
