Guide to Prime Day: Here's What You Should Know

Last year, Amazon had nearly $233 billion in net sales, representing about 50 percent of the total U.S. e-commerce market. Earlier this year, Amazon Prime hit a remarkable milestone, crossing 100 million subscribers for the first time. Now, everyone who is an Amazon Prime member has a major event to look forward to: Amazon Prime Day. Before the event kicks off in 2019, here’s a guide to Prime Day and what you should know.

Guide to Prime Day: How the Sale Works

Amazon uses a variety of approaches with its Prime Day event. In some cases, an item will have a discount for the duration of the sale, allowing you to buy them for less at any point during the two days.

However, Amazon also has other special deal categories. Lightning deals offer major discounts but are only available for a short period, such as a few hours or less. Additionally, these items can sell out. If you don’t get one when it goes on sale, you might have a chance to join the waiting list and hope another shopper backs out. But, if that doesn’t happen, you can’t get a raincheck.

With the Lightning deals, Amazon does try to help you score a great price on items you want. Head to the “Today’s Deals” section of the website and open the “Upcoming” tab. There, you can scroll through items that are going to go on sale and select “Watch this deal.” Then, once that sale launches, you’ll get a notification.

When Amazon Prime Day Kicks Off

Amazon Prime Day is back for the fifth year in a row. Many liken the event to Black Friday, as the retail giant typically offers dramatic markdowns and great deals, enticing Prime members to spend.

While it’s called Amazon Prime Day, it is actually a two-day event. In 2019, the sale starts at midnight Pacific Time on Monday, July 15 and comes to a close at 11:59 pm Pacific Time on Tuesday, July 16.

It Is a Prime Member-Only Event

If you aren’t an Amazon Prime member, you can’t access any of the deals the retailer will offer during the event. Those who already subscribe – either on an annual or month-by-month basis – will be able to shop the sale without having to do anything extra.

However, if you aren’t a member yet, that doesn’t mean you have to miss out. You can sign up for the free 30-day trial if you’re account has never been Prime before. Just make sure to get signed up before the event kicks off on July 15.

Where You Can Find Amazon Prime Day Deals

Once Amazon Prime Day begins, you can find all of the information on the website page dedicated to the event. It will show some of the most enticing deals and give you the ability to shop by category, allowing you to narrow down the results based on what you want to buy.

What Items Will be on Sale?

Amazon is usually somewhat tightlipped about its Prime Day deals before the event launches. However, it does preview parts of its sale as Prime Day draws near.

One of the first confirmed deals is a Toshiba HD 43-inch television. It’s the Fire TV Edition of the Smart TV. Instead of costing $299.99, it’s available for $179.99. That’s a 40 percent discount.

Amazon also commonly discounts its own devices, like Echoes, Kindles, and Fire tablets, during the event. Alexa-enabled devices are expected to have some massive discounts. Additionally, services like Amazon Music Unlimited, Kindle Unlimited, Audible, will likely also be involved in the deals event.

Otherwise, expect discounts in nearly every product type Amazon sells. Sales items will likely span a wide range of categories, including gaming, health and fitness, home and kitchen, and more.

Are you going to take advantage of the Amazon Prime Day Deals? Tell us what’s on your Amazon shopping list in the comments below.

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Tamila McDonald

Tamila McDonald is a U.S. Army veteran with 20 years of service, including five years as a military financial advisor. After retiring from the Army, she spent eight years as an AFCPE-certified personal financial advisor for wounded warriors and their families. Now she writes about personal finance and benefits programs for numerous financial websites.