UPDATE: Oct. 10, 2022, 10:33 a.m. EDT This story has been updated with new information on competing Prime Day sales events.
Prime Day 2: Electric Boogaloo. Prime Day 2 Fast 2 Furious. Prime Day: Episode II – Jeff Bezos Strikes Back.
Amazon went with « Prime Early Access Sale, » but whatever you want to call it, there’s officially another Prime Day-style deals event happening on Oct. 11 and 12. Here’s what you need to know about it as we kick off the holiday shopping season earlier than ever before.
What is the Prime Early Access Sale?
Amazon’s Prime Early Access Sale is an inaugural fall savings event featuring « hundreds of thousands of deals » that are exclusive to members of its Prime subscription service. It’s also introducing the retail behemoth’s first-ever Top 100 list of « some of the season’s most popular and giftable items, » according to a press release, which noted that shoppers will encounter discounts on these items throughout its 48-hour block.
The Prime Early Access Sale marks the first time Amazon has hosted two Prime Day-esque events in the same calendar year, the first of which fell on July 12 and 13 in 2022, and it could help the company bounce back in revenue after an especially sluggish Q2. But Amazon will face a massive challenge in convincing consumers that they shouldn’t postpone their holiday shopping until Black Friday, when products are usually at their year-round lows. Unlike Target, which is offering competing deals that don’t require a membership fee, Amazon doesn’t have a price guarantee to soothe skittish shoppers who are (rightfully) worried things will get cheaper in November or December.
What will be on sale during the Prime Early Access Sale?
Deals will pop up « across all top categories » while the event is live, Amazon said, « including electronics, fashion, home, kitchen, pets, toys, and Amazon devices. » Keep a close eye out for the following highlights (listed in descending order of percentage discount):
-
80% off the 55-inch Amazon Fire TV Omni Series 4K Smart TV and 70% off the 50-inch Hisense U6 Series 4K Quantum Dot QLED Fire TV
-
Up to 55% off select Echo devices and Fire tablet bundles
-
Up to 50% off select headphones, earbuds, and speakers from brands like Bose, Sony, and JBL
-
Up to 50% off select electric toothbrushes from Oral-B and Philips Sonicare
-
Up to 50% off select Hasbro toys
-
Up to 40% off select power tools from brands like BLACK+DECKER, BOSCH, DEWALT, and GEARWRENCH
-
40% off select Keurig coffee makers and K-Cups
-
Up to 40% off select Ninja products
-
Up to 40% off select Vitamix blenders
-
Up to 40% off select Barbie dolls
-
Up to 35% off select laptops and accessories from brands like Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and LG
-
30% off select LEGO sets
-
Up to 30% off select Solo Stove fire pits and accessories
-
30% off Casper pillows and mattress toppers
-
15% off the Peloton Bike (with delivery available to select locations) and up to 25% off select Peloton accessories and apparel
True to form, Amazon is also using the Prime Early Access Sale as an opportunity to plug its streaming services. Prime members who haven’t tried Amazon Music Unlimited before can get four months free through Oct. 12; nonmembers get three months free (normally $9.99/month). And if you need something new to watch, a Prime membership unlocks deals on select new and popular titles from the Prime Video library. (Half off Morbius, anyone?)
Other event-specific perks for Prime members include a free $10 promotional credit with the purchase of any $50 gift card from select brands and 20% off any GrubHub order over $15 with the code « Prime20. » (That’s only valid during the sale’s 48-hour span and can be used just once; make sure you’ve activated the free GrubHub+ trial that comes with your Prime membership beforehand.)
Who’s competing with the Prime Early Access Sale?
Target got a jump on Amazon with the revival of « Deal Days » from Oct. 6 to 8, which marked the start of its holiday season and the beginning of its extra-long Holiday Price Match Guarantee (good through Dec. 24). It hasn’t wasted a moment since: Target’s Black Friday sale is now live through Thanksgiving weekend in stores, online, and via the Target app, delivering weekly and daily deals with its « best planned prices for the holiday season. » Top offers so far include 50% off the Beats Solo3 headphones, Keurig K-mini, and Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl for the Nintendo Switch, plus a free gift card promotion with household essentials purchases.
Walmart is also vying for a slice of Amazon’s pie this week with a four-day « Rollbacks and More » sale from Oct. 10 through 13. (Don’t miss a $301 discount on the ECOVACS DEEBOT N8+ robot vacuum/mop, a $198 55-inch 4K smart TV, or our first-ever Apple Watch Series 8 markdown.) The big box store won’t price-match items purchased on Walmart.com that get cheaper later, but it has extended its holiday return policy for 2022: Eligible purchases made there can be returned through Jan. 31, 2023.
Amazon will get even more competition on Oct. 11, when Bed Bath & Beyond rolls out a bunch of deals on home goods and kitchen appliances as part of its Beyond Big Sale (live through Oct. 16, or four whole days after the Prime Early Access Sale ends). That one’s got a couple of extra promotions in play on top of individual item discounts:
-
Shoppers can take 25% off everything in their entire cart (including sale items) on Oct. 11 and 12.
-
Shoppers can take 25% off a single product of their choice (including sale items, though some exclusions apply) on Oct. 13, 14, 15, and 16.
If something you buy at Bed Bath & Beyond during that event winds up being cheaper elsewhere within 14 days, feel free to take advantage of its Price Match Promise (good all year round).
Shopping tips and tricks
Aside from aggressively lurking on Amazon’s dedicated Prime Early Access deals page (and reading our coverage of standout discounts), there are several ways to ensure you don’t miss out on a worthwhile deal or overpay ahead of Black Friday.
-
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.)
-
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.
-
Sort Amazon’s Prime Early Access 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.
-
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 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.
-
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 lets you create a price watch for individual items — say, if you’re hoping the new AirPods Pro dip under the $250 mark.
-
Cross-check prices with other stores. Most major retailers will likely try to match or beat Amazon’s Prime Early Access Sale prices even if they’re not officially holding competing events of their own.
-
Stay skeptical. Deals aren’t always what they seem.
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:
-
Visit amazon.com/prime.
-
Click on the orange button that says « Start your free 30-day trial. »
-
Sign in or create an Amazon account.
-
Add a payment method and a billing address. (Don’t worry — you won’t be charged.)
-
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:
-
A free six-month trial of LinkedIn Premium
-
A free three-month trial of Calm Premium, which renews at a discounted rate of $8.99/year (normally $69.99/year)
-
A month’s worth of free 24/7 homework help from Course Hero
-
Up to 10% off flights and hotels via StudentUniverse
EBT and Medicaid cardholders also qualify 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 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-plus 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 Prime Video, Prime Music, Prime Gaming, and Prime Reading libraries, unlimited photo storage with Amazon Photos, and a free year’s worth of Grubhub+. Amazon also offers special discounts on items to its members beyond special Prime events like these. Check out Mashable’s guide to maximizing all the perks of a Prime membership while you’re at it.
But there is a way to shop the Prime Early Access Sale 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.
