Online retailing behemoth Amazon has announced the dates for 2023’s Prime Day: July 11 and July 12. Beginning at 3 a.m. on the 11th, Amazon plans to drop a new deal every half hour for 48 hours on merchandise from brands like Lancôme, Peloton, Victoria’s Secret, YETI, Bose, and many more.
“Prime Day is all about making our Prime members feel like a big deal, with deep savings and access to some of the best offers from brands they love,” Jamil Ghani, Vice President of Amazon Prime, said in a statement.
If you’d like to feel like a big deal and take advantage of discounts on the brands you love, step one is signing up for a Prime account.
How to sign up for an Amazon Prime account for Prime Day
To become a Prime member, visit Amazon’s Prime’s sign-up page. The basic cost of Prime membership is $14.99 a month, with a 30-day free trial for new members. Students with valid school IDs can sign up for Amazon Prime for half that with a 6-month free trial, and eligible people receiving SNAP, Medicaid, or other government assistance can enjoy Prime for even less.
What do you get with an Amazon Prime membership?
The main benefit of Amazon Prime membership is free delivery, usually in one or two days, on most products bought on Amazon, but you also get Amazon Prime video, Amazon music, gaming, photo storage, plus free membership to Grubhub’s “Plus” delivery service and discounts on prescription drugs.
Whether this is worth the price depends on how much you order, watch, or listen, but there’s nothing wrong with signing up, taking advantage for a month, then dropping the membership. Just don’t forget to unsubscribe.
Amazon’s new invite-only discounts and “buy with Prime” program
This year, Amazon Prime Day rolled out a couple new features: “invite only” deals and “buy with Prime.” Invite-only give members early dibs on merchandise that may sell out. For instance, the company is offering a chance to get 75% off its Amazon Fire TV 43” Omni Series. Less than 100 bucks for a 43” 4K TV is pretty sweet, and I don’t hate this Star Wars-themed 5th Gen Echo Dot for $29.99 either. If you’re selected, you’ll be notified during Prime Day with instructions on how to take advantage of the price.
“Buy with Prime” will allow members to purchase Prime Day products on websites other than Amazon’s while still using Amazon’s check-out and getting free delivery. You should see the logo when checking out at participating sites.
Amazon Prime Day discounts available now
If you absolutely can’t wait for July 11, Amazon already has some items discounted. Here are some “seems pretty cheap to me” choices from Amazon’s early Prime Day sale.
Before you buy anything from Amazon, check the price history
Amazon changes prices on merchandise frequently, sometimes before a sale so it can advertise greater discounts. Check the history of the site’s prices to see if “60% off” really means “15% off.” There are various apps and extensions that have this function, like Keepa’s Chrome extension.
Lifehacker is your guide to Amazon Prime Day
When the bargain days arrives, make sure you check out Lifehacker’s Amazon Prime Day coverage. We’ll be highlighting the good deals, trying to ignore the bad ones, and providing buying guides, no-nonsense retail advice, and way more.
