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UPDATE: Jul. 15, 2024, 10:45 a.m. EDT This story has been updated with more information about Amazon Prime Day and a look at some of the best early deals from the sale.
Amazon Prime Day is turning 10 this year, and the members-only sale is poised to be a huge draw for sticker shock-weary shoppers on the hunt for summer deals. (Granted, not every deal is worth it.)
Here's what you need to know about Prime Day 2024 before you shop.
What is Prime Day?
Prime Day is an annual sitewide sale open to paid and trial members of Amazon's Prime subscription service. First held in 2015 in honor of Amazon's 20th anniversary (with mixed success), it was originally plugged as a "one-day-only event filled with more deals than Black Friday." In the years since, it's morphed into a 48-hour affair that's preceded by weeks of preview offers. "Prime Day" is a misnomer at this point.
For the past two years, Amazon has hosted another major two-day sale for Prime members in October, teeing up its Black Friday festivities. (The 2022 version was called "Prime Early Access Sale," and it was renamed to "Prime Big Deal Days" in 2023.) However, the summer iteration of Prime Day has remained Amazon's flagship sale.
When is Prime Day 2024?
Prime Day will be live from Tuesday, July 16 at 3:01 a.m ET through Wednesday, July 17 in 2024. This lines up with Amazon's historical preference for early-week slots in mid-July. (For reference, Prime Day 2022 was live from Tuesday, July 12 through Wednesday, July 13, and Prime Day 2023 ran from Tuesday, June 11 through Wednesday, July 12.)
What are the best early Prime Day deals?
Amazon started rolling out official "Early Prime Day Deals" the day it announced the sale's dates in 2024, and there are thousands of them up for grabs as things currently stand.
In doling out many of its steepest price drops ahead of Prime Day, Amazon is keeping things in the family. A slew of Echo devices from Amazon's in-house brand of smart home gadgets are sitting at all-time low prices for Team Prime, including the all-new Echo Spot (44% off), the Echo Show 8 (43% off), the Echo Buds with Active Noise Cancellation (71% off), and the Echo Frames (37% off, plus a free Echo Pop). Prime members can also snag five free months of Amazon Music Unlimited, three free months of Audible Premium Plus, and three free months of Kindle Unlimited if they haven't subscribed before. Meanwhile, Prime Video rentals and purchases are up to 50% off.
Outside of the Amazon ecosystem, we're seeing some new all-time lows on big-ticket tech, including Apple devices, robot vacuums, and kitchen appliances. Highlights include an $800 M2 MacBook Air (20% off), a $300 Apple Watch Series 9 (25% off), a $450 Eufy X90 Pro (50% off with code X9PROEUFY), and a six-quart Chefman dual-basket air fryer for $70 (42% off). None of them have been labeled by Amazon as official early Prime Day deals, so anyone can take advantage of them — even non-members.
The Mashable shopping team is keeping a close watch on the sale, so if you don't want to comb through every listing yourself, bookmark our guide to the very best early Prime Day deals.
What to expect once Prime Day starts
Once the sale formally begins, we're expecting Amazon to add more worthwhile deals on headphones, 4K TVs, laptops, tablets, unlocked phones, outdoor gear, and its own Fire devices (including TVs, tablets, and media players). Many items will hit their cheapest prices of the year outside of Black Friday.
Amazon will also start granting access to a selection of invite-only deals when Prime Day starts. (Its exact timing is between Andy Jassy and God.) If you're interested in a cheap pair of Sony headphones, a $150 SodaStream bundle, a $103 Foreo Luna mini 3 bundle, or an original Peloton Bike for just over a grand, be sure to request your invitation ahead of time.
Can you shop on Prime Day without being a Prime member?
You have to be a Prime member in order to shop Amazon's Prime Day deals. But if you don't want to commit to a monthly or annual paid subscription, you can still participate by scheduling a free 30-day trial of Prime around the sale. Just remember to cancel it as soon as Prime Day is over to avoid getting charged.
Who's competing with Prime Day?
Other retailers traditionally hold competing sales during Prime Day, but this year, only Best Buy is going head to head with Amazon.
The electronics store's Black Friday in July sale runs from Monday, July 15 to Wednesday, July 17 (or a full 24 hours longer than Prime Day). It's not a subscribers-only affair, but paid (Plus and Total) members of its My Best Buy program will receive a $50 bonus reward when they spend $500 or more during the event.
Target and Walmart both ran their (unofficial) Prime Day counter-programming last week. However, it's still worth cross-checking Amazon's sale prices with their listings just in case they randomly decide to match or one-up its prices.
