Inside Story

Very few sales events get our blood pumping quite like Amazon Prime Day. The largest online retailer in the world’s yearly member-centric sales event brings us the best prices on thousands of top products, and it’s never too early to prepare.

As PCMag reports, the official announcement for 2025’s Prime Day was just released, including the dates: July 8-12. Here’s everything to know before you shop.

What Is Amazon Prime Day?

Prime Day is Amazon’s yearly multi-day sale for members of Amazon’s Prime service. It’s kind of like Black Friday in July in terms of how deep the discounts are. The company launched the event in 2015 as a celebration of Amazon’s 20th anniversary, and it’s grown into one of the retailer’s biggest sales. This is the tenth year of Prime Day, and Amazon will celebrate with special offers, time-limited discounts, and more. Last year’s event saw the company sell over 200 million items!

New to Prime Day in 2025, aside from the epic 96-hour time span, is the introduction of “Today’s Big Deals,” curated daily drops that are exclusive to Prime members and feature some of the deepest discounts of the whole event. They’ll launch at midnight PDT each day and go until supplies last. Also this year, for the first time, shoppers in Ireland and Colombia will be able to participate. Amazon will also be launching an ad campaign with LeBron James to promote the event.

When Is Amazon Prime Day 2025? 

2025’s Amazon Prime Day is actually four days: July 8-12. It starts at midnight the morning of the 8th and ends 96 hours later, with us all exhausted from saving so much cash. This is the longest they’ve ever stretched Prime Day out, so we’d bet on seeing special events and deals all through that time span. Early deals are also starting to drop already.

What’s On Sale During Prime Day?

Thousands and thousands of things across the massive universe of stuff Amazon has in their warehouses. Certain categories always see nice discounts on Prime Day. Most notably, Amazon products like Kindle tablets, Echo smart speakers, Fire TV devices and smart TVs, eero routers, Ring and Blink security cameras, and more typically see price drops as deep as 50%. There are usually some of the year’s best TV prices during Prime Day, as well as speakers, headphones, laptops, and other much-coveted tech. You can also expect to see some pre-sales leading up to Prime Day, in addition to discounts on the actual sale days.

Is Prime Day for Prime Members Only?

As PCMag aptly puts it, “sort of, but not exclusively.” To get the best deals, you’ll need to be a Prime member. If you’re not, it’s free to join the service for 30 days, after which it’ll cost you $139 per year (or $14.99 per month). Once you’re signed up for Prime and logged in, the Amazon website and apps will display exclusive Prime prices, and you can add items to your cart and check out like you usually would. If your budget is tight, you can certainly sign up for the free trial and cancel later.

Can I Get Amazon Prime for Free?

After that 30-day free trial wraps up, you’ll be required to pay to enjoy the myriad benefits of Amazon Prime. There are ways to save on Prime, though, including student accounts for $7.49 a month and a discount program for EBT, SNAP, and Medicaid recipients at $6.99 a month.

How Do I Find the Best Deals on Prime Day?

Why don’t you let PCMag do that for you? They carefully monitor pricing across multiple retailers to find the best offers both during sales events and outside of them, and they’ll always let you know when it’s the lowest price we’ve seen. You can also check out their expert advice on Amazon Prime Day Shopping Tips for Bargain Hunters.

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