UPDATE: Sep. 9, 2022, 5:00 a.m. EDT This story has been updated with the latest information about Amazon's Fall Prime Day 2022.
Amazon's exclusive Prime Day sale came back for its seventh year in June 2022, and we're anticipating a sequel to the company's annual deals holiday this fall. As record-high inflation rates have made it harder than ever to figure out which deals are actually worth adding to your cart, we've rounded up some must-know Prime Day info that you can use to make smart shopping decisions and stretch your dollar against soaring prices.
What is Prime Day? And do you have to be a Prime member for Prime Day deals?
Prime Day is an annual site-wide sale that Amazon puts on for its Prime members (so: yes). First held in 2015 in honor of Amazon's 20th anniversary (with mixed success), it was originally plugged as a "one-day-only event filled with more deals than Black Friday, exclusively for Prime members around the globe." In the years since, it's morphed into a 48-hour affair that's preceded by a couple weeks of preview deals. "Prime Day" is a misnomer at this point.
When does Prime Day start?
The first Prime Day of the year officially began on Tuesday, July 12 at 3 a.m. ET and ran through Wednesday, July 13 in 2022. This was a return to its usual mid-July slot after two years of adjustments: Amazon bumped it back to October in 2020 because of the pandemic, then moved it up to June because of the Olympics in 2021.
As of this year, Prime Day may no longer be a once-a-year event. According to a report from CNBC in June, Amazon rolled out notifications about a second "Prime Fall" event for certain third-party vendors through the company's internal seller portal.
After some rumors circulated earlier this year about a second fall Prime Day, we're seeing predictions that the fourth quarter deals extravaganza could be held in September or October. Our prediction is that it will be sometime in October, consistent with the super retailer's Prime Day dates from 2020. Amazon loves to hold the event on at least one date with a prime number (the summer event's prime number was 13), so we're keeping an eye out on every prime number date in October.
What's new or different for Prime Day this year?
Aside from adding a second deals event in 2022, there was a noticeable change in the way that Prime Day was being marketed earlier this year. We're anticipating that the event will be pared back a bit yet again, due to the current state of inflation and consumer spending habits.
Amazon's language surrounding Prime Day 1.0 in 2022 was noticeably more restrained compared to previous years (which tracks given the current state of the economy). For example, it bragged about offering "over 2 million deals across every category" in 2021 and "more than one million deals on everything they [shoppers] need and love" in 2020; this year, there's no emphasis on a huge amount of deals — just that we're getting "Amazon’s lowest prices ever on select products" and a wider selection of items from third-party sellers. TL;DR: There's still a ton of stuff on sale, but it may not pan out to be the big blowout bonanza we're all used to.
On a more positive note, Amazon has rolled out several new ways shoppers can earn free money for Prime Day 2022. During Prime Day in June, shoppers could score over $60 in credits by participating in Prime Stampcard, its new virtual punchcard program; financing Prime Day orders with Affirm; buying at least $50 in gift cards (or reloading an existing balance); and even just grabbing a movie ticket to Lightyear or Elvis.
Also new for 2022, Amazon added a free year's worth of Grubhub+ to its roster of Prime benefits. Members could unlock unlimited free food deliveries and exclusive discounts on eligible orders from their go-to restaurants. (This isn't a Prime Day-specific offer, FYI, but it is a new and particularly compelling reason to sign up for Prime amid this year's sale.)
For Prime Day part two, we're anticipating some similar credit deals and financing perks through Affirm, as more shoppers look for ways to buy now, and pay later.
Who else is competing with Prime Day?
Target was the first to enter the anti-Prime Day foray earlier this year, announcing dates for its biggest-ever Target Deal Days event mere hours after Amazon's reveal went live. Walmart also hosted a Walmart+ Weekend deals event, which ran online in early June. The mega-retailer didn't host a formal savings event to rival Prime Day, but we still saw plenty of deals across its site as it focused on expanding rollbacks.
Best Buy also stepped up to the anti-Prime Day plate this summer with its Black Friday in July sale. That one didn't require a subscription, though Best Buy Totaltech members got extended access to select deals through and an exclusive chance to purchase "a hard-to-find product during the sale." (Spoiler alert: It was a PS5.)
We wouldn't be surprised if Walmart, Target, and Best Buy all offered deals to rival Prime Day pricing, but we don't expect any additional, formal deals events. Last year, Black Friday deals at the major retailers started as early as mid-October, so we expect to see some slashed pricing around that time anyway, whether Prime Day related or not.
Prime Day versus Black Friday: When's the best time to shop?
Black Friday has been (and likely always will be) the biggest shopping event of the year for several reasons: One, because you've got lots of different retailers participating both in stores and online. Two, because nobody's sales are paywalled behind a membership fee. And three, because it always falls right before everyone's holiday gift exchanges. It's basically open season for deal-hunting.
Many retailers have also taken it upon themselves to expand Black Friday into a monthlong event in recent years, releasing teaser deals weeks ahead of time and extending them through Cyber Monday in an ongoing quest to one-up each other. ("Black Friday" is probably a misnomer, too.) Walmart set the stage for an especially competitive Black Friday last year when it released the first of its deals in mid-October, and we wouldn't be surprised if it made a habit of it going forward.
That being said, it's worth checking out Amazon's Prime Day deals if you have a lot to buy for summer or the back-to-school season, or if you just need to stock up on some essentials.
We'd also make a strong case for anyone who feels overwhelmed by the chaos of Black Friday: Prime Day tends to feel more laid-back since Amazon is the self-appointed star of the show. Yes, competing sales exist, but you can safely assume that Mr. Bezos will match or beat most other retailers' offers and strictly adhere to the two-day time slot. (Also very nice: There's no need to get off the couch for in-person shopping.)
The only truly annoying thing about shopping on Prime Day is trying to stay on top of its time-sensitive Lightning Deals, or flash sales, but Amazon gives you a couple different ways of figuring out when they'll drop.
Prime Day shopping tips and tricks
Aside from aggressively lurking on Amazon's dedicated Prime Day page (and reading our coverage of standout discounts), there are several ways to ensure you don't miss out on a worthwhile deal:
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Organize your 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 see which items are on sale at a glance and even rank them based on how much you want them. (Read Mashable's guide to "wishlisting" for additional intel.)
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Download the Amazon mobile app. You can activate push notifications to get alerted whenever there's a deal on an item on your Wish List or a product related to your recent searches/views.
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Sort Amazon's Prime Day Deals page by "Upcoming" (found in the middle of the left-hand column). That'll pull up a grid of deals that are happening in the near future, with exact start times listed for each. Set an alarm accordingly.
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Take advantage of Alexa's new advanced deal alerts feature. This one's really cool: Amazon's virtual assistant can now 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 generation Echo smart speaker, and you'll see its light ring turn yellow (or a pop-up alert) whenever an item you've saved has a discount in the pipeline. You can then ask Alexa for more information about the deal, have her set a reminder for when it's available, and even give her permission to order it for you using your default payment info when the time comes.
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Cross-check prices on camelcamelcamel. You can plug any Amazon URL into this free price-tracking site to see how much it's gone for over the weeks/months/years, which will give you a good idea of whether a discount you see is actually worth it. (Note that this may not work on every Lightning Deal.) It also gives lets you create a price watch for individual items — say, if you're hoping the new Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones dip under the $398 mark.
How to sign up for Amazon Prime
Anyone who hasn't been an Amazon Prime member within the past 12 months can sign up for a free 30-day trial by following these steps:
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Visit amazon.com/prime.
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Click on the orange button that says "Start your free 30-day trial."
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Sign in or create an Amazon account.
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Add a payment method and a billing address. (Don't worry — you won't be charged.)
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Click the yellow button that says "Activate your free trial."
After your trial period ends, you'll automatically be upgraded to a paid membership plan for $14.99 per month or $139 per year. Pro tip: The latter saves you just over $40 annually.
Getting your degree? Anyone with a .edu email address can take advantage of a free six-month trial that converts to a $7.49-a-month paid tier under the Prime Student program. (You can ride out that rate for four years or until graduation, whichever comes first.) As a member, you're entitled to several bonus offers on top of the standard Prime perks:
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A free Grubhub+ Student membership (typically $9.99/month)
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A free six-month trial of LinkedIn Premium
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A free three-month trial of Calm Premium, which renews at a discounted rate of $8.99/year (normally $69.99/year)
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A month's worth of free 24/7 homework help from Course Hero
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Up to 10% off flights and hotels via StudentUniverse
EBT and Medicaid cardholders also quality for a discounted monthly rate of $6.99 — you just have to verify your eligibility every 12 months.
Is Amazon Prime worth it?
Prime's current annual rate is the result of a 17% price bump earlier this spring (from $119 to $139), which wasn't totally unexpected: Amazon has increased it by $20 every four years since 2014. But that higher cost is undoubtedly harder to swallow after two years of a pandemic that made us ultra-reliant on deliveries — especially when Walmart's rival service hovers at just $98 a year.
That being said, $139 is still a decent value for all of the perks a Prime membership includes if you're someone who does most of their shopping online. Subscribers get free two-day (or faster) shipping on millions of items, plus exclusive access to the Prime Video, Prime Music, Prime Gaming, and Prime Reading libraries and unlimited photo storage with Amazon Photos. Amazon also offers special discounts on items to its members beyond Prime Day. (Check out Mashable's guide to maximizing all the perks of a Prime membership while you're at it.) And don't forget about that new free Grubhub+ offer.
But there is a way to shop this year's Prime Day deals without committing to a Prime membership, and that's by scheduling your 30-day free trial around the sale. Just remember to cancel it as soon as the sale is over to avoid getting charged.
via Tech News Flow
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