Amazon’s second megasale of the year has returned, and the deals are geared directly at those shoppers who want early holiday pricing without the need to wait for the Thanksgiving holiday rush. In many ways, Prime Big Deal Days is being positioned as a two-day, members-first event filled with doorbuster-style discounts, fresh Lightning Deals and a long tail of category-wide markdowns that go toe-to-toe with midsummer’s Prime Day.
If you’ve been thinking about a new TV or enhancing your work-from-home setup, or just know that it’s time to stock up on household essentials, this is one of the easiest ways to get a jump on savings before the big shopping season. Here’s what to know so you can plan with confidence.
What is Prime Big Deal Days?
Prime Big Deal Days is Amazon’s autumn version of Prime Day: a limited-time sales event filled to the brim with deep discounts on tech, home, fashion, beauty, toys and Amazon’s devices. Think of it as a pre-holiday pressure valve — big enough to push prices around the web, and early enough to help prevent the sort of stock crunches that might happen later in the season.
They weigh hundreds of millions of items over which Amazon sells and sells hard during its big Prime events, which eMarketer and Adobe Digital Insights have repeatedly noted saw category-leading spikes in electronics, small appliances and home goods by their windows. The fall sale has historically spotlighted giftable tech and everyday essentials, with particularly aggressive discounts on Amazon devices and brands.
Timing and format: what will be different
Amazon may release more details as we get closer to the date, but the format fits a pattern: It’s a two-day event with new deals released throughout that time.
Lightning Deals are limited-time offers that refresh daily and can run out quickly, while “Deal of the Day” and “Best Deal” deals last all day long but may sell out even before the day is over if stock becomes low.
Invite-only deals have increasingly become a signature for ultra-hot items. You ask for an invite in advance, and then if you win a spot, you will receive access to a lower price during the event — a useful option for hot-ticket gadgets or premium appliances that would otherwise disappear at once.
Do I need Prime to shop?
Many of the headline deals are restricted to Prime members. If you’re new to the program, a free trial can unlock access, and membership also nets fast shipping, bundled streaming and — it’s Amazon, so of course — rotating coupon and credit promos during the sale.
Discounted memberships are available: Prime Student, though after a free trial; and Prime Access which provides a lower price point to people who qualify for need-based government assistance. More than half of U.S. households subscribe to Prime, estimates Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, helping Amazon use its scale to push for deep, vendor-funded discounts in return for the increased traffic to their products on these events.
Where the heffalump discounts typically land
In general, the biggest percentage-off deals happen in these buckets:
- – Amazon devices and services: Echo, Fire TV, Kindles, eero, Ring, and trade‑in bonuses. Bundles often go on sale in 40-60% off.
- – TVs and home theater: Great value on popular sizes; premium OLED and QLED models see meaningful — but not necessarily all-time-low — price drops.
- — Laptops, monitors, storage: Expect mainstream models, our fave previous‑gen GPUs and CPUs, and snappy external SSDs with 20–40% off.
- — Small appliances and smart home: Rotobots, air fryers, air purifiers, mesh Wi‑Fi and security cams are perennial winners.
- – Everyday essentials: Clip coupons, then stack Subscribe & Save discounts.
Numerator’s repeated panels over major retail events display that electronics, and household goods account for an outsized share of carts and push up average order values as shoppers tack on items from multiple categories in a single checkout.
Pro tips for how to save the most
- – Make a focused list now. Search, brand and model alerts in the Amazon app generate price-drop notifications the moment they become available.
- – Track historical pricing. Tools like Keepa and CamelCamelCamel can help confirm whether a “deal” is actually a low. A lot of items come around to deals around this same level — past bases are your guide.
- – Stack the stackable. Clip on‑page coupons, use digital credits you’ve earned on no‑rush shipping or trade‑ins, and be on the lookout for Subscribe & Save products that enable one‑time purchases at the same price.
- – Act quickly on Lightning Deals. Stay organized, monitor the deal queue, and sign up for waitlists — cancellations happen, and slots open up.
- – Shop Amazon Warehouse and Renewed. Open‑box or professionally re‑furbished items can drop even lower during the event and come with the standard return protections.
How it stacks up against other fall sales
Big-box rivals typically counterprogram with their own offers, causing a larger pricing war across electronics, small appliances and toys. Adobe’s retail number crunching tends to show that category-wide price compression tends to happen during these windows, so you’re smart to cross‑check retailers for identical SKUs, especially for TVs, laptops, and storage.
The details: shipping, returns and seller tips
Fast shipping is a big selling point but delivery windows can slide when demand is high. If an item is time‑sensitive, filter by “ships from and sold by Amazon” or by sellers who offer locally guaranteed delivery dates.
Return policies typically get more surly at this time of year for many items, with extended windows. Even so, double‑check each product page — third‑party sellers may have their own terms, and in some cases, oversized items may come with restocking or freight fees.
Price matching is rare. If a rival retailer beats a cart you’ve already placed, think about Amazon’s free returns to reorder at the lower price — or ask your credit card issuer if it offers purchase protection that pays the difference.
Bottom line
Prime Big Deal Days is one of the year’s most optimal chances to score early holiday pricing on tech, gadgets and everyday essentials. Have a list ready, verify historical lows and be prepared to make a quick move on limited‑quantity sales. With some advance planning, the fall event has the potential to offer Prime Day‑level savings without the last‑minute rush at year’s end.