Amazon Prime Day is drawing closer. The sale usually takes place in July so there are just a matter of weeks to go now – and we expect the retailer will confirm the date in the weeks ahead. Until we get the next big update, you can stick with us right here for all the latest news and rumours as the two-day sale approaches. We've also shared our expert predictions and expectations for this year's Prime Day deals.
We've got a small idea of what to expect in the UK as Amazon ran a brief Spring Sale in March that featured many products that are likely to be on sale for Prime Day. It wasn't on the same scale as Prime Day it was a similar two-day deals event. Offers were available on Amazon devices, tech, toys, fashion and more - even though not all the prices were as low as we'd seen in the past.
Since then, Amazon has kept quiet about sales events. It usually waits until a little nearing the time to make an official announcement and we'll be on hand to bring it to you as soon as we hear anything. It has just announced the new Echo Pop and Echo Show 5, though, so there's a possibility they could get their first discounts during Prime Day.
From now and throughout the actual sale, though, this will be your destination for all things related to Amazon Prime Day 2023. We've got some expert buying advice and top tips so you can make the most of the upcoming sale. Plus, we've got all the crucial details from last year's event - including the best deals that were available and how you could find the biggest savings.
Amazon Prime Day 2023: everything you need to know
When is Amazon Prime Day 2023?
Unfortunately, we don't have a concrete answer for that right now. Amazon doesn't tend to confirm when its Prime Day sale will take place until a couple of weeks before the event. However, we can make some solid predictions based on the sale dates from previous years.
One thing we can almost say for certain is that Prime Day 2023 will take place in July. Outside of the two times it was rescheduled due to the pandemic, Amazon has always held the sale in July - and it returned to that month for the most recent event, too.
We expect it to take place in the first half of the month, too, so our current prediction is that Amazon Prime Day 2023 will run on July 11 -12.
This is, of course, just an educated guess. We'll update you as soon as Amazon makes an announcement regarding Prime Day 2023.
When did the last Amazon Prime Day take place?
Ninth: July 11-12, 2023 (predicted)
Eighth: July 12-13, 2022
Seventh: June, 21-22, 2021
Sixth: Oct 13-14, 2020
Fifth: July 15-16, 2019
Fourth: July 16-17, 2018
Third: July 11-12, 2017
Second: July 12, 2016
First: July 15, 2015
Amazon Prime Day ran across July 12 -13 from 0:00AM BST on Tuesday to 23:59 BST on Wednesday night. It was a huge two-day shopping bonanza that didn't just run in the UK - it also ran concurrently in the US, many European countries, and even over in Australia.
The return to July after two years of rescheduling following supply issues and delivery delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic shows Amazon was ready to return things to normal once more. This is the same month it took place when Amazon originally started the 24-hour shopping event back in 2015, before evolving it to 30 hours in July 2017 and later expanding it to a full two days.
As always, we saw quite a few Prime Day deals dropping ahead of the event this year, mainly on Amazon's own brand devices. If you're already looking forward to the next Prime Day event, definitely remember that you can find really great sales upwards of a week in advance.
A few of these 'warm up' Prime Day deals from the previous event also included strong promotions on popular subscription services such as Audible, Music Unlimited, and Kindle Unlimited. Prime Day isn't just a great time to pick up cheap tech, it's also a good time to think about trying out new streaming platforms or services with a range of extended free trials on offer.
Occasionally, Amazon also offers tie-in promotions that include free credit to spend on Prime Day. Last time, there was no free credit up for grabs but you could enter a sweepstake to potentially win £5,000 if you bought from small businesses.
There was also the opt-in charity donation service called Amazon Smile that funnelled some of your spending on Prime Day deals to charitable causes. Unfortunately, Amazon has now shut down that program so it's not possible to set it up in 2023.
What is Amazon Prime Day?
Prime Day is Amazon's biggest sale of the year. Usually held during the summer months, the annual two-day deals event is for Prime members only. And while there are non-Prime offers on the site throughout the sale, all the best discounts are exclusive Prime Day deals.
To be eligible for the offers, you'll either need to sign up for a Prime membership for £8.99 per month, or £95 per year. You can also start a free 30-day Prime trial and use that throughout the sale.
Just make sure you remember to cancel Amazon Prime within the one-month trial period if you don't want to keep your membership going after the sale. Do have a read of our Amazon Prime review if you're not sure whether it's worth keeping after Prime Day.
1. Go to Amazon Prime
2. Select: Start your free trial
3. Follow the instructions
4. Start browsing deals
Now for some history. Prime Day originally started in 2015 as a celebration of Amazon's 20th anniversary. Designed to encourage people to spend outside of the October-December holiday season, the online retailer says its only goal was to "offer a volume of deals greater than Black Friday".
Since then, it's ballooned into one of the biggest sales in the global retail calendar, with many other large retailers launching promotions of their own to take advantage of the huge online audiences around Prime Day - although the UK is smaller on this front than the US.
Just to give you an idea of how big it is, US figures show that total online spending across Prime Day - so that's all retailers and not just Amazon - has exceeded $11 billion in previous years, according to the Adobe Index. That's more than the $10.9 billion spent online during Cyber Monday two years ago and also more than the more recent Cyber Monday where spending was $10.7 billion. Of course, Prime Day is spread over two days rather than one, but these figures are still significant for an event that's generally focused on a single retailer.
And even though Amazon doesn't release specific sales data for Prime Day, it did report that the last event was its biggest one yet with over 300 million items sold worldwide. And that was even during tough economic times when disposable income was limited for many. Based on that, we expect another bumper Amazon Prime Day in 2023.
What was the Prime Early Access Sale?
The Prime Early Access Sale was a two-day sales event ran by Amazon on October 11 - 12 that gave Prime members the opportunity to pick up some Black Friday deals ahead of time.
While the retailer didn't officially use the Prime Day term for it, the format of the sale was practically identical to what we've come to expect from the retailer's regular summer sale marathon. There were similar bargains on smart home devices, tablets, Kindles and more, including many products for the lowest prices of the year.
If you missed it, we expect many offers will be available again before the end of the year. It's too early to say whether Amazon will run a similar sale in 2023, but we'll pass on any information as soon as we hear anything.
How to prepare for Prime Day 2023: pro tips
How do you find the best Prime Day deals?
1. Grab an Amazon Prime free trial
If you're not a Prime member yet you're not out of the running for this year's Prime Day deals. Closer to the event Amazon will likely offer a free trial of its Prime service, which means you'll be able to take part in the savings event and enjoy some extra time with Prime Video as well.
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 will be key to winning. 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 4K TV take a look at what features each brand offers, perhaps take a look at a few in person (Currys is great for displaying side by side comparisons in-store), and 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 taking part.
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 available, 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 32GB Chromebook. However, if the 64GB model is just £20 or £30 more expensive it's a far better investment.
4. Get in there 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 sell out particularly quickly you may need to move fast.
However, just because you've managed to secure an incredible discount straight away 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
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 further down. It's worth checking other shops aren't running their own version of Prime Day deals. Even if they aren't, some like Currys will offer price match guarantees and you may snag additional extras for shopping elsewhere.
Last year's best Amazon Prime Day deals
