There are rumors that Amazon Prime Day will be in late June this year, rather than the usual mid-July or last year’s October date. We’ve covered Prime Day deals for the past five years and we can help you shop the sale with confidence, no matter which month it falls in. You’ll know you’re getting a real deal and not just an artificially lowered price.

In 2020, many retailers have had to completely rearrange their sales plans and Amazon was no exception. They had a tentative date that kept getting pushed back, until the actual sale went live in October, forcing a lot of other retailers to change their Black Friday plans. Read on to see what we know about the sale so far and our tips for shopping this sale like a true deal expert.

Amazon Prime Day first premiered on July 15, 2015, marking the 20th anniversary of Amazon.com. To be honest, this sale was a complete disappointment. Since then, we’ve learned how to best shop the sale and sort through the deals to find some real values.

Estimated Read Time: 5 Minutes

Table of Contents

  1. What to Expect From Amazon Prime Day
    1. Amazon Devices
    2. Gift Cards
    3. Apparel and More
  2. How to Shop the Amazon Prime Day Sale
    1. Use Amazon’s Search Feature
    2. Set Up Deal Alerts on Brad’s Deals
  3. Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday Sales
  4. Our Biggest Prime Day Shopping Tip

What to Expect From Amazon Prime Day

Amazon Devices

Shoppers can expect deals on hundreds of thousands of items during this two-day sale. We’ve seen deals each year from big-name brands, as well as Amazon’s own brand, and from their marketplace sellers. We don’t expect that to change this year. We also think there will be price drops on Amazon devices like Echo speakers, Kindle Fire tablets, and Ring doorbells and that these prices might beat some Black Friday pricing we’ll see later this year. So if you’re in the market for one of these devices, snatch one up on Prime Day.

Gift Cards

Speaking of sales we see year after year, we’ve seen gift card deals in Prime Day’s past and think those could be a very popular item again this year. You could buy them as a gift to someone else or for personal use to get a discount on rarely-discounted items and services. Last year, we saw a 20% discount on iTunes gift cards, which can be used to pay for your HBO or Hulu streaming services, essentially getting you 20% off!

We’ve also seen them offer $10 Amazon credits when you purchase or reload a gift card with at least $40. Per our Amazon Prime Day expert and managing editor, Casey, this is essentially free money and you should absolutely take advantage of this gift card bonus.

Apparel and More

Amazon usually pushes apparel pretty hard during Prime Day sales and we think you can expect lots of deals on summer closeouts and name-brand athletic wear. Also, keep an eye out for deals on DNA testing kits, an Oral-B electronic toothbrush, a Shark vacuum, a Roomba, and toys. We’ve seen pretty significant price drops on those in the past.

How to Shop the Amazon Prime Day Sale

Use Amazon’s Search Feature

We expect that Amazon will be giving Prime Day deals a visibility boost in search results this year. When you search for a deal using their search bar at the top of the page, the results for Prime Day sales will be listed at the top of the search results page. This should make it easier for you to find the real bargains. You will also have the option to filter the results by Prime Day sales, so you’ll only see the items that are on sale specifically for the Prime Day event.

Set Up Deal Alerts on Brad’s Deals

We suggest setting up deal alerts on Brad’s Deals. We’re truly the safest place to shop on Earth. Not only do we have an in-house staff of shopping experts to vet every Amazon seller, but we also partner with Fakespot to verify and grade all Amazon product reviews to make sure they are trustworthy and legitimate reviews.

Another advantage to creating a deal alert on our site is that we have historical sale price data. So we know if the Prime Day price is a true value or not. If we saw the same item lower in price a month ago, we aren’t going to tell you to buy it because we don’t consider that a Prime Day-worthy deal.

Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday Sales

We’ve been hearing rumors within the retail space that Amazon may have a second Prime Day this year, again slated for October. Another October Prime Day puts Amazon in direct competition with Black Friday sales and, if this is true, we expect to see a lot of retailers start some of their holiday sales as early as mid-October to compete for some of your holiday dollars. Look for sales at other major retailers, like Macy’s and Kohl’s, as they’ve consistently had sales at the same time as Prime Day to contend with Amazon.

If we get the news confirming another October Prime Day, you’ll also want to buckle up for a long stretch of holiday shopping like we saw last year. In 2020, Home Depot was one of the first retailers to announce that instead of a one-day Black Friday sale, they’d be hosting a 2-month holiday shopping event that started in November and carried on through December.

We saw many, many retailers follow suit. As we’re still in uncharted territory this far into the pandemic, we think retailers may still avoid one-day sales the day after Thanksgiving. With the success seen online in 2020, it’s far more likely you’ll see online sales that last weeks to months. So budget wisely, shop smart, and don’t jump on the very first sales you see unless you’re positive that you’re getting the best price possible.

Our Biggest Prime Day Shopping Tip

The most important tip we can give you for Amazon Prime Day is to not get sucked into any hype. It can sometimes feel like you have to participate and make a purchase during these big sales, but unless you find something you need at a fair discount, don’t shop just to shop.

Create a list, utilize deal alerts, and shop smart! You can count on us to sort through the clutter for you and recommend the best products at the lowest prices from the most trusted Amazon sellers. We have been doing this for years, after all!

Will you be shopping Prime Day in June? Do you think they’ll have another in October? Sound off in the comments!