Advertisement
Latest updates:

Iran threatens Israel with ‘severe and painful’ response

Amazon Prime Day Kicks Off This Week — Here’s Everything You Need to Know

Alex Warner
·7-min read

Getty

Hold on to your laptops: Amazon Prime Day is happening this week!

Anyone who’s a Prime member knows the two-day sale is one of the best times of the year to score incredible deals on everything from big-ticket items to everyday necessities from the retail giant. The annual event is known for offering steep discounts across items in every department. It’s packed with so many savings, it’s almost too hard not to shop.

Like many other annual sales, Prime Day was delayed due to the impacts of COVID-19. While the sale typically falls in mid-July, it was pushed back to October to ensure its workers’ safety and better prepare for shipping.

Prime Day began in 2015 as a way to celebrate Amazon’s 20th anniversary as a company. It was such a hit, the retailer has continued to bring the sale back every year and find new ways to make it bigger and better. Last year, Amazon sold a record-breaking 175 million products on Prime Day, which was more than it sold on Black Friday and Cyber Monday in 2019 combined.

If that’s not reason enough to shop this year, we don’t know what is. Read on to learn everything you need to know about Amazon Prime Day 2020.

Getty

When Is Prime Day?

Amazon Prime Day 2020 officially kicks off on Tuesday, October 13 at 12 a.m. PT and ends on Wednesday, October 14 at 11:59 p.m. PT. This is almost three months later than its usual run time in July.

How Long Will Prime Day Last?

Despite its name, Prime Day actually runs for two full days. That’s 48 hours for Prime members to take advantage of its incredible savings. The first-ever Prime Day was actually just one day, but the retail giant has given us more time to shop over the years since its sale event is so popular. In 2018, Prime Day lasted for 36 hours, so it’s a pretty big deal that members now have 48 hours to shop.

How Does Prime Day Work?

Amazon’s global shopping event is exclusive to its Prime members. If you’re not already a Prime member, you’ll definitely want to sign up. You can also start a free 30-day trial to participate in Prime Day.

Membership comes with many perks, like fast and free shipping on millions of products, streaming benefits, access to thousands of ebooks, and so much more. And even when it’s not Prime Day, Amazon is always offering its members exclusive discounts on products in its Just for Prime section.

What Will Be on Sale During Prime Day?

The real question is: What won’t be on sale during Prime Day? During the 48-hour window, members can expect to find over 1 million exclusive deals on big-ticket items — like TVs, kitchen appliances, and vacuums — to daily essentials from brands like Panasonic, Keurig, Under Armour, Coleman, Simple Joys by Carter's, Adidas, Lacoste, and Marvel. There will be savings on fashion, beauty, home, electronics, toys, pets, and many more categories. Prices tend to drop to their all-time lowest, making them comparable to discounts you might find on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Almost everything included in Prime Day will be labeled, and there will also be thousands of lightning deals that only last for a certain amount of time. New deals are always dropping throughout this sale, so it’s best to stay close to your phone or computer and keep refreshing.

Some of the most popular products last year included the Nintendo Switch, Apple Airpods, Fire TV Stick, Amazon Smart Plug, Instant Pot, and Ring Doorbell (which was the cheapest it’s ever been!). We also saw tons of products from celeb-loved brands on sale, like Chrissy Teigen’s favorite Foreo skincare tool, Kim Kardashian’s Olaplex hair treatment, and Kate Middleton’s beloved Superga sneakers. All of those items are likely to be discounted again this year, and we predict there will be more deals on reusable and disposable face masks — this year’s most important necessity of all.

Tips and Tricks for Shopping Prime Day

There will be millions of deals happening all at once, plus more dropping every hour — so needless to say, Prime Day can feel a little overwhelming. To make it a little easier, here are three tips for shopping Prime Day:

  1. Get Deal Alerts — This allows you to keep tabs on the items you want to shop. You’ll get a notification when that deal is about to start so you can quickly get it in your cart. To find upcoming deals, go to the menu bar and click on “Today’s Deals,” then “Upcoming Deals.” When you find one you want to shop, click “Watch This Deal.”

  2. Shop Three Different Ways — Wherever you may be shopping Prime Day, you can access the deals via the Prime app, Amazon’s website, or via any of your Amazon devices with Alexa. Just ask Alexa, “What are my Prime Day deals?”

  3. Install Amazon Assistant — The free Google Chrome extension allows you to compare products and prices while shopping online. You can also customize your experience to receive notifications on deals, your Amazon purchases, special offers, and more.

When we say now’s the time to get a head start on your holiday shopping, we really mean it. There will be so many amazing deals during Prime Day 2020, it may just be better than Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

What’s more is that Amazon is offering members exclusive access to early Prime Day deals right now! Scroll down for 21 deals you can shop immediately while you wait for one of the biggest global shopping events of the year to begin.

Best Amazon Device Deals

Best Apple Deals

BestBuy

Best Tech Deals

Best TV Deals

Amazon

Best Fashion Deals

Best Beauty Deals

Do you love a good deal? Sign up for PEOPLE's Shopping newsletter to stay up-to-date on the latest sales, plus celebrity fashion, home decor and more.