Amazon Big Smile Sale 2026 in Australia: save up to AU$900 on vacuums, action cameras and more

Absolutely yes! Amazon arrived Down Under in 2017 and we had our first Prime Day sale in 2018 – we haven't missed any (even during Covid) and I've covered every single one of them for TechRadar too.

Prime Day sales in Australia are the best time to grab premium tech for a lot less than what you normally would, with the prices usually matched (and sometimes bettered) during Amazon's Black Friday sale in Australia later in the year.

It's too early in the year to know for sure when Prime Day 2026 will kick off in Australia, but if I extrapolate from all the previous ones, I'd say it will be in mid-July.

Prime Day has typically started on a Tuesday, although it was a Monday in 2025. If, however, Amazon sticks to its usual schedule, my prediction would be a start date of July 14, 2026 or if it's another Monday, then expect it to begin July 13, 2026.

How long it will last is anyone's guess, but I'm expecting a full seven days of shopping this year as well.

Amazon Australia has, for many years, hosted a 2-day Prime Day sale, although it would extend to 65 hours as we can shop select items shipping in from the US. Recently, however, it's been a lot longer, with 2024 being a six-day sale and 2025 lasting a full week!

Will 2026 be another 7-day shopping marathon? I think so, but who knows what Amazon has up its sleeve this year.

There definitely will be a second Prime Day sale in October. It's called Prime Big Deal Days and it's a prelude to Amazon's Black Friday sale – you know, like a teaser sale. The discounts aren't usually as good as the July sale or Black Friday, but it's a good opportunity to start your Christmas shopping early and we have occasionally seen significant price drops to warrant picking up top tech ahead of Black Friday sales in Australia.

Amazon Prime Day began in the US in 2015 as a celebration of the company’s 20th anniversary, with more deals on offer than Black Friday back then. Today, Prime Day is Amazon’s popular mid-year sales event where members of Amazon Prime get exclusive discounts on a wide range of items.

While it began as a one-day sale, 2018 saw the offers last for 36 hours, which then became a 65-hour event in 2019. We've had the 65-hour sale since and thought that was 'recording breaking' – oh boy, were we wrong. Last year (2024), for the first time ever, the Prime Day sale was a marathon 6 days, or 144 hours if you want an hourly comparison.

Amazon then broke that record this year by hosting its longest ever Prime Day sale – a full week. Yes, seven days! Which begs the question: can we just start calling it Prime Week from now on?

To give you an insight into the time frame of when Prime Day takes place, the 2024 sale kicked off at 00:01am AEST on July 16 and went on until 11:59pm AEST on July 21. Last year, Prime Day began at 00:01am AEST on July 8 and ended at 11:59pm AEST on July 14.

There was a week difference between the two years, but that's neither here nor there. What's significant is the duration of these two sales – 2024 was a 6-day sale while the latest Prime Day was 7 days long.

The second Prime Day sale in Australia in 2024 (aka Prime Big Deal Days) also lasted 6 days, starting on October 8 and ending on October 13, 2024, while 2025 followed the 7-day duration we saw in July, with another week-long sale.

Only Australia and Singapore were treated to these extra-long sales both years, as Prime Day lasted only four days in July 2025 in the US and UK (July 8-11), while Prime Big Deal Days was just two days (Oct 7-8) in those bigger markets.

Prime Day is presented as a neat ‘thank you’ to Amazon's paying members, but one that involves giving Amazon more money and shifting a lot of stock at the same time.

Prime Day isn’t just about selling Amazon-branded products – several other brands and third-party sellers also save their best deals for Prime Day, completely aware that thousands of extra shoppers will be hitting the online store.

To make the most of Prime Day you’ll need to get yourself an Amazon Prime membership which, in Australia, will set you back AU$9.99 a month or AU$79 a year. While you’re paying for the privilege of free, swift delivery on domestic and international goods, signing up for Prime means you’ll also have free access to Amazon’s streaming services, including Prime Video, Prime Music and Prime Reading. Members also get free access to Prime Gaming and Prime Photos for all their ebook and storage needs. To learn more about this service, head to our guide to what is Amazon Prime in Australia.

Amazon Prime Day is typically held only once a year, usually in July. However, Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days seems to now be an annual event that matches the July offers, so we could sorta, kinda say that Prime Day is 'unofficially' held twice a year.

An Amazon Prime subscription in Australia costs AU$9.99 per month or AU$79 annually. These prices have been in place since 2023 and includes some useful perks that make the subscription worthwhile, especially if you are a regular Amazon shopper and are keen on the Prime Video library.

With free deliveries on eligible products available as part of the service, even a single item that costs less than AU$20, for example, will arrive at your doorstep either the same day or within a day or two with no additional shipping expenses.

Check out our dedicated page on what is Amazon Prime to find out if it's really worth the money. And click on the buttons below if you'd like to sign up and get a 30-day free trial if you're a new customer.

To be eligible for the Prime-exclusive offers, you need to sign up for a Prime membership for AU$9.99 per month or AU$79 for the whole year.

1. Grab an Amazon Prime free trial
If you're not a Prime member yet, you can sign up for a 30-day free trial just ahead of the big sale and cancel before it ends if you don't want to continue with the service. This way, you get all the benefits of Amazon Prime without paying for it, albeit for a short period of time.

2. Know what you want to buy – but stay flexible
Having a good understanding of exactly what you want to get out of Amazon Prime Day 2025 will be key to winning this year. That way you'll be able to quickly recognise how good that discount really is, but stay flexible enough to know whether you should opt for another model. For example, if you need a new laptop or camera, take a look at what features each brand offers, perhaps take a look at a few in person by visiting a store. Find a few options you would be happy to pick up, get to know their prices and how cheap they can be so that you can identify a good deal quickly on the day.

However, it's also worth identifying the features that you could sacrifice in order to boost the specs that you really care about – you don't want to miss out on the best Prime Day deals just because the specific model you had in mind isn't discounted.

3. Keep some of that flexibility in your budget
Obviously it's never a good idea to get caught up in the heat of the moment and spend crazy money for the sake of a good deal. However, a little room above your maximum spend will be helpful in securing the best-value deals available. Sometimes the best Prime Day deals aren't on the cheapest items, but on the next level up that offers so much more without boosting the price too much. For example, if you're looking for a laptop you might be tempted by a super low price on a 256GB storage option. However, if the 512GB model is just AU$100 to AU$150 more expensive it's a far better investment.

4. Get in early, but stick around for the full event
When the sale itself comes, we'd recommend heading to Amazon as early as possible. This will give you first eyes on the biggest discounts Amazon is offering on the first day, and because many of the hottest Prime Day deals tend to run out of stock particularly quickly, you may need to move fast.

However, just because you've managed to secure an incredible discount straightaway shouldn't mean your work is done. Amazon releases plenty more high-profile savings throughout the course of the multi-day sale, so it's worth checking back in throughout as well.

5. You're not limited to Amazon – price check and price match
Amazon Prime Day isn't strictly limited to Amazon. We see more and more retailers offering competing discounts these days, and that extra competition often drives prices even lower. It's worth checking other retailers aren't beating your Prime Day deals, but even if they aren't, some like JB Hi-Fi, The Good Guys and others will be offering price-matching guarantees and you may snag additional extras as well.

Amazon doesn't always do a great job of promoting the best Prime Day deals. Sure, it will shout about many of its own devices and other well-known products that are on sale, but it's often worth looking beyond these highlighted deals for some even better savings. We do a lot of that searching for you and share our favourite offers right here, but here's some more advice on how to find the best Prime Day deals.

Before the sale begins is a good place to start. In the run-up to Prime Day, Amazon usually has a few offers live that are a tease for the big event. These aren't usually some of the biggest products, but can still be tempting bargains. We sometimes see reductions on its own subscription services such as Audible, Music Unlimited and Kindle Unlimited during this window, making it a good time to sign up.

We also strongly encourage you to keep an eye on Amazon Warehouse deals. We often see store-wide discounts of up to 20% across this selection of second-hand, used and open-box products. All items are checked, tested and Amazon-approved before they go back on sale, plus they are covered by the standard returns policy, so you don't have to worry if you run into any issues. Generally, it's an excellent option to bag an even bigger bargain.