How to Get the Most Out of Amazon Prime Big Deal Days

Amazon Prime Day has become one of the most bewildering shopping events of the year. What was once a single day has now expanded into a multi-day affair. Amazon touts “millions of deals,” yet many of the advertised discounts are inflated or misleading. Although marketed as a members-only event, certain deals are accessible to non-subscribers as well. Throw in the chaos of limited-time Lightning Deals, and you have the perfect setup for overspending on items you never really wanted.

There’s no need to panic. We’ve been tracking deals for years and are here to guide you. WIRED’s Reviews team knows the common shopping pitfalls and closely monitors the best Prime Big Deal Days prices. When do sales open and close? How can you tell if a deal is genuinely a deal? We’ve compiled our expertise to help you prepare for this year’s event, officially called “Amazon Prime Big Deal Days,” taking place on October 6 and October 7.

When Is Amazon Prime Day?

Amazon runs two major sales events each year: the primary Prime Day sale in the summer and a secondary event known as Prime Big Deal Days in the fall. This year, Prime Big Deal Days is scheduled for Tuesday, October 6, and Wednesday, October 7.

When Do Prime Day Deals Start?

The event begins at 3:01 am Eastern Time (midnight Pacific) and lasts for 48 hours. New deals are released three times each day—at 3 am, 11 am, and 4 pm ET—while Lightning Deals go live at unpredictable intervals throughout the event. WIRED will be covering the best deals from Amazon and competing retailers alike.

Are Prime Day Deals Only for Prime Members?

Officially, yes—you need an Amazon Prime membership to access Prime Day deals. A free 30-day trial is available for eligible new accounts. (Prime comes with a host of perks, which we’ve outlined here.) The trial grants you access to the sale, but be sure to cancel before the $15 monthly renewal kicks in.

That said, many discounts are available even without a subscription. Major retailers such as Best Buy, Target, and Walmart frequently run competing sales during Prime Day. Their prices often closely match Amazon’s, and sometimes they are identical. This makes it easy to save even if you prefer not to shop on Amazon.

Is Prime Day Worth It?

It depends on what you’re looking for. Prime-exclusive event pricing can rank among the lowest of the year for certain products, particularly Amazon hardware like Kindles, Fire tablets, Fire TV sticks, and Echo devices. The catch is that prices on most items fluctuate constantly, and many products go on sale with some regularity. A discounted price on something that is always cheap loses much of its appeal.

The enormous volume of deals promoted during Prime Day is both a blessing and a curse. The truly standout discounts can be hard to identify amid the overwhelming amount of reduced merchandise—just browsing the site can feel paralyzing. However, if you have a specific item in mind, there’s a strong chance it will be discounted. Over the years, we’ve seen remarkable Prime-exclusive price drops on everything from budget-friendly Kindles and video doorbells to hard-to-find discounts on gaming consoles and office furniture. The challenge is sifting through the noise to find the genuine bargains.

WIRED covers legitimate deals year-round, including during Prime Day. Our policy is straightforward: we only feature deals on products that our team members have personally used, would buy, or have already purchased. This ensures we aren’t promoting low-quality items. We also cover only authentic price reductions—if a product isn’t cheaper than its normal price, it doesn’t make the cut. We aim to provide pricing context as well. The tips below will help you identify those standout discounts on your own, using the same methods we do.

How Do I Know Whether a Deal Is Good?

The golden rule: always check prices. Researching an item’s price history is the most critical step in evaluating a discount. Don’t be fooled by deceptive marketing language or inflated MSRP figures. The simplest approach is to Google the products you’re considering and compare prices across multiple stores. Amazon product pages now include a Price History link showing up to 365 days of pricing data, though accuracy can vary.

One tool we rely on is CamelCamelCamel, which tracks Amazon prices over time. Paste the Amazon link or ASIN (found in the Product Information section on the product page) into CamelCamelCamel’s search bar to view the item’s lowest recorded price, average price, and historical fluctuations. Some deals, such as Lightning Deals, are excluded from the pricing history, but it works well for most items. Knowing what a product has sold for in the past is invaluable. Amazon’s Alexa for Shopping chatbot also offers price history information, though it isn’t always reliable and often lacks context based on our testing. We also recommend Keepa, which offers a browser extension that displays recent price history directly on the Amazon page, eliminating the need to open a separate tab. When in doubt, cross-reference multiple sources.

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