Amazon announced it will hold Prime Day over 13-14 October, placing the event just six weeks ahead of Black Friday, which falls on 27 November this year.
The proximity between the two dates leaves many wondering: Is Black Friday worth the wait? Or, will Prime Day deals outdo Black Friday deals?
The two-day event will offer a deluge of discounts – but exclusive to Prime members only. Membership costs £79/US$119 annually or £7.99/US$12.99 per month, though new members can pick up a free 30-day trial.
If you previously haven’t shopped Prime Day, here are a few major reasons why this year might be the best year to start – even if you do cancel after your trial ends.
Don’t forget to check out our full guide to Amazon Prime Day for everything there is to know about the event.
Amazon’s prices won’t go lower
Prime Day is Amazon’s largest sales event, and chances are Amazon won’t reduce prices further once Black Friday rolls around – as that would damage Prime Day’s reputation. You can assume the prices you’ll see on Prime Day will be Black Friday-level prices.
With Prime Day so close to Black Friday, it will likely be the event to kick off the entire holiday shopping sales season.
This also means you might see other retailers, such as Currys PC World and Argos, mirroring Amazon’s Prime Day prices.
Retailers might also try to entice you with further incentives, such as an extra 5% off, or bundles – or even just free next-day delivery without the caveat of a premium membership.
Delivery – Don’t wait for the crunch
The last thing you want to experience while holiday shopping is the prospect of delayed or lost deliveries. Don’t get caught in the Black Friday and Christmas rush – especially now that global lockdowns have made more people comfortable with shopping online.
And while a July Prime Day is great for summer deal hunting, it does make it harder to determine how much prices will drop further a few months down the line, specifically on tech where prices depreciate quickly anyway and after new product launches.
The unique benefit of having Amazon’s biggest sale in the final months of the year is that it leaves you plenty of time to order your holiday and Christmas gifts, and also deal with potential the headaches of returns or exchanges.
Brexit and Amazon delivery
This year will also be unlike past years due to Brexit. The UK leaves the EU on 31 January 2021. As a result, Amazon has announced from 1 January 2021, its European Fulfilment Networks (EFN) will no longer operate across UK and Europe borders, which complicates how products will move to and from the UK to the continent.
This may affect those who buy Prime-eligible products from European sellers or European shoppers buying products from UK sellers.
The EFN allows sellers to stock inventory in other countries so those goods can be available in those markets quickly and easily. For example, if you, a UK customer, buy a leather phone case from a French seller, it’s likely that French seller stocks its cases in a local UK warehouse. Such products operate on Amazon’s “Fulfilment by Amazon” (FBA) service, which means Amazon manages storage, delivery, customer service and returns on behalf of its sellers.
Following the 1 January 2021 change, Amazon sellers will have to manage and pay for the cost of shipping to and from Europe themselves, which might translate to higher prices for customers, especially when it comes to returns and exchanges in the New Year.
This makes it all the more convenient to finish your Prime-eligible shopping now if you primarily shop on Amazon anyway.
Best discounts on Amazon devices: Echo, Fire, Kindle, and Amazon security hardware
While this may seem fairly obvious, if you’re after a new Alexa smart home speaker, Fire HD tablet or Kindle e-reader, you won’t find cheaper prices elsewhere.
Amazon has already launched early Prime Day deals on its new Blink Mini smart security camera and the new Amazon eero mesh Wi-Fi system. We’ve covered all early Prime Day deals separately here.
Last year, we saw the Echo Dot, Amazon’s smallest and most affordable smart speaker go out of stock with inventory returning after Christmas. Now that Amazon has released a new radically redesigned Echo (£89.99/US$99.99) and Echo Dot 4 (£49.99/US$49.99), we suspect these speakers will be in demand now more than ever.
See the full list of new Amazon products launched on 24 September, along with pricing and availability
Final thoughts…
The only benefit of waiting until Black Friday is that you can compare prices and deals from other retailers. But the date itself doesn’t matter as much now as it might have in the past, as competition between retailers won’t wait.
Save yourself the stress of browsing deals at midnight or odd hours of the night to beat the masses. Instead, if you find a great discount now, simply pick it up.
We’re keeping track of all the top deals right across smartphones, SIM deals, iPads, electric bikes, Fitbit, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and everything in between. For the best Apple deals only see our sister site Macworld UK.
Author: Somrata Sarkar, Senior Staff Writer
Somrata researches and writes about the best tech deals to help readers make smart, informed buying decisions. She's an expert on accessories and also reviews laptops, phones, audio and other devices.