Amazon Prime Day 2024 in Australia: everything you need to know to prep for the massive two-day sale

A selection of tech products around the Amazon Prime Day and techRadar logos

Amazon's Prime Day sale usually has the TechRadar team getting exciting way ahead of the actual event – it's the time of year when we see record-low prices on several items, particularly Amazon's own hardware like its smart home devices and ereaders. Other big brands follow suit sometimes and we've seen the likes of Bose dropping prices on headphones like flies.

These low prices are typically reserved for paying Prime members – the sale is, after all, called Prime Day – but there are some excellent bargains for any shopper.

• Here's everything you need to know about Amazon Prime in Australia

While Prime Day is typically held in July each year, last year saw a second sale take place in October. It was officially a Prime Day sale – it was called Prime Big Deal Days – but it mimicked the actual event quite well and was an indication of what we could expect when Black Friday came calling in November. 

It's too early in the year for any official confirmation for Amazon's major sales for the year, but we're almost positive that Amazon won't veer too far from its historical norm of hosting the main Prime Day sale in July, followed by another later in the year.

In fact, we're quite sure Amazon's Big Smile Sale might make a return this year – it was held in March 2023, so there could be something to look forward to this month. And, when Australia's EOFY sales come calling, Amazon will likely host its annual Mid-Year Sale too. So there'll be plenty of opportunities to save ahead of Prime Day this year.

No matter the name of the sale, leading the deals charge is usually Amazon's own hardware – think Kindles, Echo smart devices, Ring security cameras and Fire TV Sticks – but we've seen other brands offer significant discounts. We usually see the same low prices during the Amazon Black Friday sale later in the year, so you know you're getting great discounts during Prime Day.

So, what can you look forward to in 2024? We don't have specifics, but we've put this handy guide together to help you prepare. This is also where we will be curating our handpicked deals when Prime Day 2024 kicks off, so you can bookmark this page for quick access when the time comes.

Amazon Prime Day 2024: everything you need to know

Prime Day key art featuring Amazon packaging and tech items next to Techradar big savings badge

(Image credit: Future)

What is Prime Day 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, while 2019 saw a recording-breaking 65-hour event for shoppers in Australia.

When is Amazon Prime Day 2024?

It's a little too early for us to know for sure when Amazon Prime Day 2024 will take place, as Amazon usually reveals the dates each year about two weeks ahead of the event. We can, however, make some educated guesses based on past Prime Day sales.

They've all typically been in July, with the only exception being in 2020 when it was held in October due to the constraints of the Covid-19 pandemic. It's also typically held mid-July and starts on a Monday at midnight. The means, this year's possible dates for the Prime Day sale could be July 15-16.

That said, this isn't a confirmed date and only conjecture on our part, so take it with a pinch of salt. We will, of course, update this information as soon as we have an official confirmation from Amazon.

When was Amazon Prime Day 2023?

Amazon Prime Day 2023 kicked off at 00:01am AEST on July 11 and local Aussie deals were available until 11:59pm AEST on July 12. Unlike the US or the UK, we get an extended Prime Day sale in Australia as we get to shop international offers on the local site that ship from Japan, Germany, the UK and the US. So until the sale ends on the US West Coast, our sale continues – a full 65 hours! So the Australian Prime Day in 2023 ended at 5pm AEST on July 13.

Why does Amazon have Prime Day?

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.

Will there be a second Prime Day in October 2024?

If last year is anything to go by, there's a very high likelihood of there being a second Prime Day sale in October 2024. It was called Prime Big Deal Days in 2023, which replaced the Big Smile Sale in Australia, but it was identical to an actual Prime Day sale in every way but in the name. It was the same duration, had similar offers like Prime Day 2023 in July and there were plenty of member-only offers.

We'll update this page as soon as we know more about the possible second Prime Day sale in October this year.

How often is Prime Day in a year?

Amazon Prime Day is typically held only once a year, usually in July. However, if Amazon's new Prime Big Deal Days becomes an annual event that matches the July offers, then we could sorta, kinda say that Prime Day is 'unofficially' held twice a year. There is just the one precedent for this from last year, which isn't a big enough sample size to become the norm, so we'll just have to wait and see how this pans out over the coming years.

How much will Amazon Prime cost in 2024?

Amazon Australia announced a price hike for its Prime subscription in 2023, and now costs AU$9.99 per month (up from AU$6.99) or AU$79 annually (from AU$59).

While that might seem like a steep price hike, it could still be well worth it if you shop quite regularly on Amazon – even a single item costing less than AU$20, for example, can be delivered to you in a day or two for free if it's Prime eligible. Plus you get access to more of Amazon's services, including Prime Video.

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.

How do I become an Amazon Prime member?

How to sign up for a free 30-day Amazon Prime trial

Prime logo

(Image credit: Amazon)

1. Go to Amazon Prime
2. Select: start your free trial
3. Follow the instructions
4. Start browsing deals

You can start a 30-day Amazon Prime free trial and use that to get access to the sale. This option is only available to brand-new members who haven't used the free trial in the past, though.

As well as access to the deals, you also get to try out all the other Amazon Prime benefits while on the free trial, such as free delivery, Prime Video, Prime Gaming and more.

You can get more information from our dedicated 'what is Amazon Prime' page for a full breakdown of the service. You can also use that to decide whether you want to keep your membership going after the sale or cancel Amazon Prime within the one-month trial period to avoid being charged.

Amazon Prime Day 2024: our predictions

While we can't say for sure what exactly will be discounted on Amazon during Prime Day, there are some guaranteed offers that you will see, while we can extrapolate for the others from previous sales on Amazon.

Of course, each major Amazon sale – whether Prime Day or Black Friday – is spearheaded by the company's own devices. So we can say for sure you're going to see some pretty steep price drops on the likes of the Fire TV Stick 4K, Echo Dot and Kindle. In fact, the Echo Pop was remarkably cheap last year, going for just AU$29 a pop (ahem).

As for other products, this entirely depends on how it fits into each brand's plans for Prime Day 2024. We've previously seen deals go live on Amazon 24 hours ahead of the official sale start, so there's a reasonable chance that a few big brands could get involved ahead of time with Amazon's exclusive Prime-member event. Based on that, expect laptops, headphones, smartphones and more popular electronics to feature alongside Amazon's own hardware.

If you've got a new Apple device in mind, though, it could be a good time to save big on last-generation hardware and some of the latest models released that year. We'll have a close eye on the iPad 10.2 as well as the popular MacBook Air and the Apple Watch 9. This could be the time when the cheapest-ever prices appear and previous record-lows are broken.

If we hear any more news over the coming months, we'll be sure to share it right here and update our predictions with the latest information.

Amazon Prime Day 2024: shopping tips

How to find the best Prime Day deals

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 2024 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 day 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 two-day event, 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.

How to find other Amazon deals

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.

Prime Day vs Black Friday – should you wait?

Both Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday generally offer discounts on the same kinds of devices, but there are a few differences between the sales events.

Prime Day deals are largely focused on Amazon itself. Competition among shoppers is also significantly reduced on Prime Day, which means that deals are generally easier to find, easier to price check and won't run out of stock so quickly. 

Black Friday, on the other hand, is set across a much larger range of retailers, with prices that tend to be a little cheaper across a wider variety of brands. That does mean putting in a lot more work to make sure you get the best offer possible and keeping a close eye out for limited-time flash sales that make up for most of those lowest recorded prices. With more competition between retailers, though, we do tend to see slightly heavier discounts in November.

Of course, you may also simply want your tech sooner. If so, we wouldn't recommend waiting another month for the chance of a better discount, which may or may not come your way. There's no guarantee that prices will be any different come Black Friday, especially on Amazon products. You may find some older tech for even less, but then you also run the risk of missing out on the best deals due to the increase in competition.

Moreover, keep in mind we've never had a Prime Big Deal Days sale before, so we're as yet uncertain how well the prices will compare to Black Friday. So if you can hold on for a month or so, you could wait to see what happens during November's bumper sale.

Sharmishta Sarkar
Managing Editor (APAC)

Sharmishta is TechRadar's APAC Managing Editor and loves all things photography, something she discovered while chasing monkeys in the wilds of India (she studied to be a primatologist but has since left monkey business behind). While she's happiest with a camera in her hand, she's also an avid reader and has become a passionate proponent of ereaders, having appeared on Singaporean radio to talk about the convenience of these underrated devices. When she's not testing camera kits or the latest in e-paper tablets, she's discovering the joys and foibles of smart home gizmos. She's also the Australian Managing Editor of Digital Camera World and, if that wasn't enough, she contributes to T3 and Tom's Guide, while also working on two of Future's photography print magazines Down Under.