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Amazon Prime Day is a couple of weeks away, but the retail giant has fired up sales early. With increased competition from several other big retailers, this year’s Prime Day sales will not be contained within the official June 21-22 dates.
Twitch, the game-streaming platform Amazon acquired in 2014, will play a more significant role in Prime Day this year. Amazon has already started releasing Prime Day deals in its Twitch merch store, as well as continuing an existing offer for 50% off Prime members’ first channel subscription for the first month.
Amazon Prime Day offers multiple ways to grab a sale. Lightning Deals fill the homepage with offers you can only take advantage of for a limited window of time. Small business promotions make it so you gain a $10 Amazon credit when you spend $10 with a small business through Amazon. And if you have a gadget with Alexa on board, you’ll be able to take advantage of some exclusive deals by using your voice to place the order. Our quick guide on how to win at Prime Day breaks down the best ways to get ready.
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Amazon Prime Day: Watch before you shop
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Speaking of Alexa: Amazon’s own devices — Echo speakers and displays, Fire TV streamers, Eero mesh routers and so on — will see major discounts, many of them rivaling (maybe even beating?) Black Friday. We rounded up some predictions for Amazon device Prime Day pricing; be sure to take a look, especially if you were planning to buy one of those items fairly soon. Obviously it would pay to wait.
On the other hand, we’ve seen a few early deals emerge already. The Fitbit Sense was recently marked down to $240, the lowest price on record, while the Roku Ultra 2020 4K UHD streamer was on sale for $69, which ties the lowest price we’ve seen — and that was during Black Friday 2020.
We also expect best-of-the-year pricing (or close to it) on things like Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones, Apple iPads and AirPods, Fitbit fitness bands, Instant Pot cookers, TVs, exercise gear and more.
A little advance planning can help you save even more. See below for some key Prime Day money-saving tips. And check Amazon’s Prime Day page for updates right from the horse’s mouth.
When is Amazon Prime Day 2021?
Isn’t it time to start calling it “Prime Days”? Because it hasn’t been just a single day for years. Once again, it’s a 48-hour event that runs as follows.
- Prime Day starts on Monday, June 21 at 12:01 a.m PT (3:01 a.m. ET).
- Prime Day ends on Tuesday, June 22 at 11:59 p.m. PT (Wednesday, June 23 at 2:59 a.m. ET) — but some deals often extend a few hours into the following morning, if not longer.
A batch of early discounts leading up to the main event are already live.
What will be on sale during Amazon Prime Day 2021?
As always, anything and everything. But this is definitely the time of year to look for deep discounts on Amazon gear, including:
Granted, that stuff goes on sale all the time — a recent Mother’s Day sale revealed close-to-Prime-Day savings on a lot of these devices — but the absolute lowest prices are usually reserved for Prime Day and Black Friday.
We also typically see better-than-usual deals on things like Instant Pots, Apple AirPods, Bose headphones and Roku streamers. Make no mistake: This might be Amazon’s party, but plenty of other stores and sellers will be getting in on the action.
What other stores will participate in Prime Day 2021?
This may be an Amazon event, but that won’t stop other stores from getting in on the action. Walmart has already announced a Deals for Days event running from June 21 to 23. Similarly, Target’s recently announced Deal Days event will run from June 20 to 22. Expect Best Buy, Kohl’s, and other stores to roll out big sales of their own. Best Buy, for example, is likely to compete heavily on TV deals. We’ll be updating this further when more events are announced.
What are the best deals so far?
As we get closer to the main event, there will be loads of Prime Day deals to prepare for. For now, these are the best things we’ve been able to find.
Keep an eye out here for more. Amazon and its partners will be making a ton of announcements over the next two weeks.
What Amazon Prime Day deals can I get right now?
At a certain point, an “early Prime Day deal” becomes a matter of semantics. For instance, Amazon is pitching its discounted Fire TV models as early Prime Day deals, but trust me when I say there are deals to be had all day every day. You can check my Cheapskate page for the latest and greatest, sign up for the Cheapskate newsletter (see that “Sign Me Up” box just below), get deal texts sent right to your phone and so on.
You can also follow me on Facebook and Twitter. And check out Amazon’s Daily Deals page, where the retailer markets its limited-time and semipermanent offers. Spoiler alert: deal quality varies widely from day to day.
What is the Amazon Prime Day concert?
This year Amazon is busting out some new tricks to promote the massive event. The retail giant has announced a three-part concert series called The Prime Day Show, featuring performances from Kid Cudi, H.E.R. and Billie Eilish. Each concert is expected to have its own unique theme, and will start live streaming on June 17 before Prime Day officially kicks off. If you aren’t able to tune in on launch day, the shows will be available for 30 days.
Stay tuned for more!
Read more: The Cheapskate’s 6 ways to win Prime Day
Watch this:
Amazon Prime Day 2021: Everything you need to know
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CNET’s Cheapskate scours the web for great deals on tech products and much more. For the latest deals and updates, follow him on Facebook and Twitter. You can also sign up for deal texts delivered right to your phone. Find more great buys on the CNET Deals page and check out our CNET Coupons page for the latest Walmart discount codes, eBay coupons, Samsung promo codes and even more from hundreds of other online stores. Questions about the Cheapskate blog? Answers live on our FAQ page.