UPDATE: September 15, 2023, 12:30 PM EDT Prime Big Deal Days, the second Prime Day of 2023, is almost here. The 48-hour mega sale starts on October 10.
If you assumed Amazon would host yet another Prime Day sale in 2023, like they’ve been doing for the past two years, you’d be right. “Prime Big Deal Days” takes place in October and is expected to be as big as the Prime Day event in July (if not bigger).
We’ve known since August that Prime Big Deal Days were coming, and now we finally have an official date. Let’s take a look at what’s new, which other retailers we expect to launch competitive sales, and more.
When are Prime Big Deal Days?
Prime Big Deal Days start on Tuesday October 10 and will continue Wednesday October 11, with new offers and discounts appearing regularly throughout the 48-hour event. Last year’s Prime event in October essentially kicked off the holiday shopping season; the Black Friday before Black Friday, if you like (except on Tuesdays).
What’s new about Prime Big Deal Days this year?
To be honest, not much (aside from the name). Prime Big Deal Days will basically be the norm in terms of what all major Prime events have turned into: two days, one big event and lots of deals.
Although not yet confirmed, Amazon may also choose to bring back their new ‘invite-only deals’ for Prime Big Deal Days. The sale-only offer program, introduced during the recent Prime Day event in July, included ten products that Amazon expected to sell out during the sale (such as a 43-inch 4K smart TV for $100), and served to to alleviate some of the frenzied chaos that typically includes the retailer’s biggest doorbuster discounts. Prime members could visit these product listings to request an invite; the chosen members received an email at some point during the event with a unique link to purchase the item. Amazon did not explain how it chose these lucky eligible buyers; all we know is that these special offers were exclusive to Prime members (paid and trial).
What not to buy during Prime Big Deal Days
Not all of these “millions of deals in different categories” are worth adding to your cart. After years of covering Prime Day events, we recommend you skip the following:
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Everything from Ring. The popular home security company video doorbells always get really cheap during Prime events, since Ring is an Amazon brand, but they’re ultimately a privacy nightmare.
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Toys. While Amazon usually offers some decent toy deals during Prime events, we think it’s best to save your toy purchases for Black Friday – the holidays bring new releases and a whole host of deals.
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Video game consoles. Wait to upgrade until the November holiday sales and bundles start trickling out. Then we will see the results Real offers.
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Almost anything sold and shipped by a third party seller. Third-party sellers on Amazon generally aren’t scammers, but buying something from a seller you don’t recognize can be risky. (Fake reviews and fake listings are much more common – and more convincing – than you might think.) For products with “Ships from Amazon.com” and “Sold by Amazon.com” under the “Buy Now” buttons, just to be safe.
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Any deal that seems too good to be true. Amazon has a bad habit of inflating suggested retail prices to make discounts seem better than they actually are. You can verify whether a deal is legit or not by comparing prices from other major retailers and using the product through camelcamelcamel, a free Amazon price tracking site.
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Everything that gives you the urge to impulse buy. Are you buying a new TV because you actually need a new TV, or just because it has a $100 discount right now?
Who competes with Prime Big Deal Days?
Nothing has been confirmed yet, but if Prime Day in July is anything to go by, we expect Walmart, Target, and Best Buy to all throw their hats into the anti-Prime Day ring once again.
In July, Walmart hosted Walmart+ Week, an apparent extension of last June’s Walmart+ Weekend that competed more directly with Prime Day.
Meanwhile, Target hosted one of its semi-annual Circle Week sales from Sunday, July 9 to Saturday, June 15. (A very real week!) Billed as the “biggest sale of the season,” the event was opened to members of the retailer’s completely free Target Circle loyalty program.
Finally, Best Buy has revived its Black Friday in July event from Monday, July 10 through Wednesday, July 12 in stores, online and on its mobile app. The sale was open to everyone, but members of the retailer’s My Best Buy Plus and My Best Buy Total plans got access to special promotions and better discounts on select items. (Subscriptions cost $49.99/year and $179.99/year, respectively.)
Tips and Tricks for Prime Big Deal Days
Aside from aggressively lurking on Amazon’s dedicated Prime Big Deal Days page (and reading our coverage of the sale), there are several ways to make sure you don’t miss out on a great deal:
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Sign up for invitation-only offers. (If applicable.)
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Organize your Amazon wishlist. Amazon’s virtual shopping list feature puts all your must-haves in one convenient place, so you can see at a glance which ones are on sale for Prime Day (instead of scrolling between links and tabs). Check out Mashable’s guide to “wish lists” for more information.
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Download Amazon Shopping application for mobile phone. The app features a Prime Day event page where you can set deal alerts for your recent Amazon searches and views; you will be pinged with a push notification as soon as an offer goes live.
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Take advantage of Alexa’s advanced deal alerts. Amazon’s virtual assistant can notify you of a sale on an item in your wishlist, shopping cart, or Saved for Later queue up to 24 hours before it goes live. Enable the feature on a newer Echo smart speaker and you’ll see the light ring turn yellow (or get a pop-up alert) when an item you’ve saved has a discount in the pipeline. You can then ask for more information about the deal, set a reminder for when it’s available, and even allow Alexa to order the deal for you with your standard payment details when the time comes.