Afterpay Day 2026 is on the horizon — here's all you need to know to prepare yourself

Afterpay Day is a bi-annual shopping event that sees thousands of Australian retailers dropping prices and offering stellar deals. Retailers that support the Afterpay buy now, pay later service get in on the action, but you don’t need to use Afterpay as a payment method to take advantage of the deals.

Afterpay Day deals aren’t limited to just one department, so you’ll be able to search for savings across tech, appliances, homewares, fashion, beauty, travel and more.

Afterpay Day is usually held twice a year, with the first sale being this one taking place in March. It will run from Thursday, March 19 to Sunday, March 22.

The second Afterpay Day tends to land in mid-August, although we've yet to hear of official dates. If we had to speculate based on previous year's of experience, we'd suggest it will land on Thursday, August 13 and run until Sunday, August 16.

Afterpay Day sales happen twice a year – one in March and one in August, and they typically run over four days. The first Afterpay Day of 2026 is being held from Thursday March 19 and running until Sunday, March 22.

As mentioned, Afterpay Day sale events are now held over four days, typically starting on a Thursday and ending on a Sunday.

Afterpay is a buy now, pay later service that lets you split payments into four, interest-free instalments. Afterpay is an accepted form of payment both online and in many stores, though for in-store payments you will need to add a dedicated Afterpay card to your digital wallet.

There is an Afterpay Plus service that costs AU$9.99p/m. If you subscribe to this, then you can use a digital Afterpay card wherever contactless payments are accepted in stores. Payments are still split into four interest-free instalments.

Afterpay will give you a set amount of credit to spend. If you spend it all, you can't spend anything more on your Afterpay account until you've paid it back. You can setup automatic payments to withdraw from your main bank account to ensure you don't miss any payments.

When using Afterpay, keep in mind that you will need to pay a AU$10 late fee if your repayments aren’t made in time, but you will receive reminders beforehand.

Yes! Afterpay has a relatively low spending limit of around AU$600 for new users. However, Afterpay takes time to get to know its users and their spending habits – assessing your ability to make repayments.

However, the more you responsibly use Afterpay, and make payments on time, it's likely your spending limit will increase.

If you are unable to make a payment, you can reschedule and delay your payment as many as three times in one year. You can also contact Afterpay to talk about your options.

If you do miss a payment, you will be charged a late fee. This will most often be AU$10, but Afterpay actually states it will never exceed 25% of the purchase price or $68; whichever is less.

If you still do not pay, Afterpay will limit your ability to use Afterpay until your payments are up to date.

Afterpay will not, or cannot, manually increase your estimated spending limit, as it is determined automatically based on a number of factors. Factors such as payment history, how long you've been an Afterpay customer and whether you've declined orders or payments before.

So, how can you increase your spending limit to as much as AU$3000? Be an Afterpay member for a long time, making payments on time and proving you'll have no issue paying back such a large sum.

The short answer is yes, it does. While you can quickly and easily start using Afterpay without a credit check, using it consistently and responsibly will see you become eligible for an increased spending limit.

When this happens, Afterpay may notify customers that are eligible to apply for a limit increase. If this were to happen, a credit check may be conducted to make sure an increased limit is right for you. And credit scores are impacted by credit checks.

No! Much like the Afterpay service itself, which can be used both online and in physical stores depending on the retailer or service, the Afterpay Day sale will be live online and in-store at supporting retailers.