Amazon Prime Day 2023 is getting close, and we're as excited as ever to see what amazing prices we'll see this year. Don't worry, we'll be covering some of the most amazing deals this year as well, helping you sift through the tens of thousands of items with ease.
Amazon's 2022 event was the biggest Prime Day ever, with over $3 billion spent by customers. Even better, Prime members managed to save over $1.7 billion, which is impressive, no matter how you put it.
1. When Is Amazon Prime Day 2023?
This year, Amazon Prime Day will run between on July 11th and 12th. You won't have to wait until then, however, because Amazon Prime members already have access to some amazing deals. Make sure to head out to our Deals hub and check out the best deals we could find.
2. What Is Amazon Prime Day?
Amazon Prime Day was launched in 2015 as part of the company's 20th birthday celebration. The first edition was beset with issues. Demand outstripped supply, the website slowed to a crawl, and the discounts were often on non-alluring items.
For Amazon, however, Prime Day 2015 was a resounding success. It sold 398 products per second and saw the company make higher revenues than on Black Friday.
By the 2017 event, Amazon had smoothed out the customer issues and the day went off without a hitch. The company saw a 60 percent rise in sales compared to the previous year, and revenues eclipsed 2016's Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined.
In 2018, Prime Day was extended to local Whole Foods Market stores for the first time, allowing customers to save on their groceries and earn cashback rewards for the site.
3. Who Can Take Advantage of Amazon Prime Day?
Only Amazon Prime members can take advantage of the massive discounts on offer. Participating countries include the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, India, France, and Italy. In total, sales are available in 18 countries.
However, if you've never been a Prime member before, you can cheat the system and sign up for a free 30-day Amazon Prime trial. Of course, you'd need to remember to cancel your trial before Amazon sends you a bill.
A new membership to Amazon Prime costs $14.99/month or $139/year. In addition to Prime Day deals, you receive access to Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Music, free 2-day shipping, and many more Amazon Prime benefits.
4. What Deals Can You Expect on Amazon Prime Day?
In past years, Amazon's own products have often enjoyed the most significant discounts. We're expecting to see prices drop this year too. In 2022, we saw two Prime events, in July and October, and the discounts were just as impressive as we expected. Kindle e-reader prices went down by $90, Echo Studio prices went down by 25%, and loads more.
This year, Amazon is kicking off with a 75% discount for the Amazon Fire TV 43-inch Omni series, and you'll even be able to get the fantastic JBL Live 660NC headphones for less than half the price. Of course, more deals are to come, and we're on the lookout for them all.
How to Stay on Top of Prime Day's Best Deals
Head to Amazon's How to Shop Prime Day guide for tips like how to access deals up to one week in advance, how to get notified when deals strike, and how to save money on Prime Day orders with special promos and codes.
5. Watch for Lightning Deals
Lightning Deals are a standard part of the Amazon shopping experience for Prime members. Every day, Amazon offers a limited number of products at a massive discount. The quantity of any item is limited, and deals are only available for a short amount of time.
On Amazon Prime Day, Lightning Deals are more common, with often hundreds of deals running at any moment. If you keep your eyes open, you might find a saving above and beyond the standard Prime Day discount.
And if the Lightning Deal you want sells out before you get a chance to buy it, you can join a waiting list. If the people with the item in their cart fail to complete the purchase, it will automatically be offered to you.
6. Use Amazon Alexa for a Head Start on Deals
To beat the crowds to the best deals on Prime Day, you need to shop using your voice with Amazon Alexa. In 2017 and 2018, Amazon gave voice shoppers a two-hour head start on new deals. During the last Black Friday, that increased to seven hours.
We'd expect Amazon to offer the same benefits during this year's Prime Day. You just need to say, "Alexa, what are your deals?" to enjoy the advanced notice. If you hear something you want, say "Alexa, add [item] to my cart." You can do this on Alexa-enabled devices like the Dot, or, for a better shopping experience, an Echo Show, so you can see a list of the best deals.
7. Use Amazon Assistant for Deal Notifications
Unbeknownst to many, Amazon offers a browser extension. It's available on Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Microsoft Edge. The extension—called Amazon Assistant—offers lots of benefits, including order tracking, product comparisons, and access to your various lists.
However, from an Amazon Prime Day perspective, its best feature is the watch lists. You can receive desktop notifications when any deals you're watching go live, meaning you'll never miss out on a purchase you want.
Download: Amazon Assistant (Free)
8. Check CamelCamelCamel or Keepa for Price Histories
How do you know if the price you see on Amazon represents a good deal? We all know high street shops artificially bump up prices ahead of a big sale, and some Amazon vendors are no different.
To make sure you're not being conned, check the item's price history on CamelCamelCamel.com or on Keepa.com. You can enter the Amazon item's URL or search for keywords and see how the price has changed over time.
If you see a steady rise in the weeks building up to Prime Day, you should probably give it a wide berth.
9. Check Forums for Even More Prime Day Deals
For more top offers, it's worth hanging out in some dedicated Amazon Prime Day forums. The best Subreddit is usually /r/PrimeDay, but don't expect to see much activity until the day itself. There's also the dedicated /r/Amazon Subreddit, which is worth keeping an eye on.
You should also check threads on the SlickDeals forums. It's consistently one of the best sites for finding bargains on the web, and on Prime Day it goes into overdrive.
10. Singles' Day Is Bigger Than Amazon Prime Day
Despite its impressive performances when compared to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Amazon Prime Day is not the web's biggest day of online shopping.
That award goes to Alibaba's Singles' Day sales. In 2021, it saw sales of $84.54 billion, a growth of nearly 8 percent compared to 2020. Unfortunately, the 2022 sales numbers were kept a secret for the first time, but estimates indicate that the retail giant saw similar numbers as in 2021.
Alibaba is yet to become a true giant in Europe and the United States. But if you're looking for cheap, unbranded electronics, it might be better to wait until Singles' Day 2022 on November 11. Alibaba even offers free shipping on some of its cheap electronics.
11. You Could Shop Elsewhere
Other stores have been looking enviously at Amazon piling up sales records and have started running their own concurrent sales to cash in on the buzz. Recently, we've seen Google, Macy's, Newegg, Kohl's, Office Depot, Best Buy, Nordstrom, and Dell provide discounts–many of which also offered free shipping.
The list of stores is expected to grow in 2023, so before committing to a purchase on Amazon, make sure you can't find it cheaper on a competitor's site.
Start Planning Your Amazon Prime Day Budget
While we know these deals are pretty great, you should always ask yourself if this product is something you "need" or "want." It's easy to fall into the temptation to buy something you won't actually use when you see amazing deals, as we all know, so displaying some restraint will be ideal for our budgets. So set a number, stick to it, and let's start shopping!