If you missed Amazon’s July Prime Day sale, here’s some good news. The company will hold similar events on October 11 and 12. This is the first time Amazon has ever held a second Prime Day in the same year. The big announcement comes just months after Prime Day 2022 when Amazon will launch Prime Early Access Sale this fall, kicking off the holiday shopping season and letting shoppers see thousands of deals on Amazon.com.
Avid shoppers can save money on top-of-the-line gear, accessories, and technology, as well as get incredible deals on comfortable shoes and clothing, outdoor equipment, and more.
According to Amazon, the holiday shopping events will take place in 15 countries: Austria, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
As with Prime Day earlier this year, the Prime Early Access Sale will be open to Amazon customers, and only members will be able to get access to these amazing deals. The service costs $139 a year, or $14.99 a month. Students can receive a 50% membership discount if they verify their identity. If you’ve never subscribed to Amazon Prime, you can still get the advantage of a free trial during Prime early access sales discounts and offers if you sign up for a trial now.
Top deals on Prime Early Access Sales
Amazon said in its announcement that the promotion will apply to products in all popular categories on its website, from home goods to fashion brands and even Amazon devices themselves. Brands specifically mentioned include New Balance, Peleton and Philips Sonicare, among others. They also announced a new holiday gift guide for toy and homeware brands, which will most likely include products sold during the event.
Discounts of up to 70% have been applied to Kindles, Fire tablets, Fire TV sticks, Blink security cameras, and Echo smart speakers and displays, including some that come with free GE smart bulbs.
Amazon will also provide discounts on its streaming services. Prime members who haven’t tried Amazon Music Unlimited before can get four months free through Oct. 12; Non-members can experience the service freely for 3 months. And if you need something new to watch, a Prime membership unlocks deals on select new and popular titles from the Prime Video library through Oct. 7.
On the non-Amazon side, the Prime Early Access promotion also resulted in some particularly good deals. That includes Sony 4K TVs, Tile Bluetooth trackers, JBL earbuds, Cricuts, Breville espresso machines, SodaStream sparkling water makers, and Instant Brand appliances.
Here are some tips for Prime Early Access sales.
Download Amazon’s smartphone app
It lets you get early “sneak peek” deals and sign up for alerts. The app also lets you see lightning offers before they kick in. You can use the app to create a “View this deal” list so you can be notified when a deal is about to go live. You can also add items directly to your shopping cart and then select “Save for Later” to easily and quickly view the prices of the products you want.
Click the “Join the Waitlist” button on Amazon’s website or app to buy a lightning sale item that has already sold out. If the customer does not complete the purchase, the item will be removed from the cart after 15 minutes and you will be alerted.
Budget and plan ahead
Remember that these kinds of promotions are ideal opportunities just to save money on things you want to buy – don’t get carried away and spend money on hardware you can’t fully utilize. If you know what specific items you’re looking for ahead of time, you can add them to your basket before the sale starts. Then, during the sale, you can immediately check to see if they have been saved. If not, it can be quickly removed from the basket and the rest is waiting to be checked out.
Use coupon extensions
During the shopping festival, it takes a lot of time to pick out the products you want to buy from the many products. In addition to searching for discounts manually, you can also save money with the help of some coupon extensions like PayPal Honey, RetailMeNot and CouponBirds which can help you automatically find and test coupons and get the biggest savings during shopping on the Prime Early Access sales.
Pay with your Amazon credit card
The Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature credit card offers unmatched cash back Rewards for hard-core Amazon Prime shoppers, and even Prime Early Access Sale discounted products are eligible for Rewards. You can get at least 5% Amazon credit on all purchases from the site and Whole Foods Market, plus 10% to 20% back on select products. If you’re not a Prime customer, Amazon Rewards Visa is still offering 3% back. Neither has an annual fee.
Compare prices with other retailers
While Amazon is the originator of the Prime Early Access Sale, it’s not the only company offering deals around this time. You may find the item you want on sale at Walmart, Target and other major retailers, all of which used to hold their own sales on or near Amazon sale days. Unfortunately, Best Buy’s price-matching policy, one of the best in retail stores, doesn’t apply to the Prime Early Access Sale offer.
If you’re desperate to clear your shopping list and can’t wait until Black Friday to do some shopping, Amazon’s second Prime Day in October is your best bet. Remember to plan ahead, make sure your Amazon membership is active, and take advantage of extensions and tech to sift through your favorite and most appropriate products and enjoy the shopping event.
