You’re probably familiar with Amazon’s Prime Day sale event in July, but what about the one in October? It’s almost the holiday season and if you’re looking to get a head start on some holiday shopping or maybe want to score some bargains before Black Friday, Amazon is here.
Amazon announced that its Prime Big Deal Days event is set to take place Oct. 8 and 9, starting at 12:01 a.m. PT, only a few days away. Amazon Prime members can score exclusive offers and steep discounts on countless items. If you aren’t a Prime member, there are still some deals you can take advantage of some, but a subscription might be worth considering, as it will grant you a few perks besides exclusive shopping events and free shipping.
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Our CNET experts are keeping this page updated with the latest news and offers as they come in, including early savings opportunities, so that you can cash in on worthwhile bargains, so check back often as we get closer to the main event. Below the top deals listed here, you’ll find answers to some of your burning questions about Prime Big Deal Days 2024.
Best early October Prime Day deals
Amazon is slashing the prices of many of its own smart devices. You can score all things home security for over 60% off. You can also pick up a Fire tablet for over 50% off the sticker price. Check out more discounts on Amazon TVs, tablets, smart displays and more.
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Some of our favorite budget wireless earbuds can be yours with a big discount right now, but make sure to enter the discount code EAP3CNET and clip the on-page coupon when checking out to get the best price. This deal is exclusive to Prime members. Non-Prime members can snag this for $10 more.
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You never know when you’ll need a backup power source. The EcoFlow Delta 2 can power 90% of appliances and with fast charging that will take it to 80% charge in less than an hour. It comes with a car charging cable and solar panel too, so you have multiple ways to recharge. This power station can support up to 15 devices at once with USB-A, USB-C and AC outlets and ports.
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Although Apple recently released the new M3 MacBook Air, the 2022 M2 MacBook Air is still a high performing machine. It was our top overall best laptop pick until the M3 took its place. The M2 still has a super-fast chip and a thin and light design that makes it perfect for getting things done quickly and taking it on the go.
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If you’re a Prime member, you can get a year of Grubhub Plus completely free. This membership usually costs around $10 per month, so this will save you $120 for the whole year. As an added perk, on your first Grubhub Plus order of $15 or more, you can get $10 off. Just use code PRIME10 at checkout.
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Ahead of the big sale event, Amazon Prime members can score four free months of Amazon Music. You can stream all of your favorite music and podcasts, without being bothered by ads. You can also skip as many songs as you’d like so you can find the perfect tunes. Non-Prime members can score three months for free.
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More early deals:
You can also take a look at our roundup of best Amazon deals happening now if these deals don’t catch your eye.
What are Prime Big Deal Days?
Amazon’s October Prime Day event is officially called Prime Big Deal Days, but the shopping extravaganza essentially functions as a second Amazon Prime Day event ahead of the holiday season. If you’ve never shopped during a Prime Day sale before, you might be wondering exactly what it entails, so here’s a brief explainer. It’s a two-day Amazon sale that will offer exclusive savings to Amazon Prime subscribers with limited-time offers, flash deals and rock-bottom prices. It’s a rare chance to score Black Friday-level pricing outside of November, so it’s usually well worth shopping. The Prime Big Deal Days event is taking place this year on Oct. 8 and 9.
When is Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days 2024 event?
Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days are Oct. 8 to Oct. 9 this year. Even though the sale event is still a few weeks away, you can take advantage of all these early deals right now. Generally speaking, the deals will end at midnight on Oct. 9 this time around. Some deals may linger beyond the set times of the sale event.
As you can see from the history of Prime Day dates below, Amazon has held its Prime Day sales each July, with just a couple of deviations from that regular schedule. Notably, in 2020, Amazon pushed its Prime Day sale to October due to the COVID-19 pandemic, before returning the sale to the summer in 2021 in a slightly earlier June spot. Prime Day returned to its July slot for 2022, although Amazon did use October once again for an additional Prime Early Access Sale event that acted as a kickoff to the holiday shopping season. Last year, it was the same July-October pattern, but Amazon also added a new (not Prime-exclusive) sale for 2024 with the inaugural Amazon Big Spring Sale.
As a reference, here are the Prime Day dates from previous years and including this year’s events:
- Prime Day 2015: July 15
- Prime Day 2016: July 12.
- Prime Day 2017: July 11 to 12 (first to last longer than one day)
- Prime Day 2018: July 16 to 17
- Prime Day 2019: July 15 to 16.
- Prime Day 2020: Oct. 13 to 14 (delayed by COVID-19 pandemic)
- Prime Day 2021: June 21 to 22 (the earliest to date)
- Prime Day 2022: July 12 to 13
- Prime Early Access Sale 2022: Oct. 11 to 12
- Prime Day 2023: July 11 to 12
- Prime Big Deal Days 2023: Oct. 10 to 11
- Amazon Big Spring Sale: March 20 to 25
- Prime Day 2024: July 16 to 17
- Prime Big Deal Days 2024: Oct. 8 to Oct 9
Will other retailers launch anti-Prime Deal Days sales?
Each Prime Day event brings with it other retailers announcing sales that directly compete with Amazon’s event, and it will be no different this October, either. We’re already seeing other retailers announce these sale, like Walmart’s Holiday Deals sale event, which conveniently starts the same day as Prime Big Deal Days.
Are Amazon Prime Deal Days deals worth buying?
In short, yes. Thousands of items will see price reductions, with some of the deals returning to or reaching all-time low prices. Because there is no telling how much inventory is available or how long the price cuts will last, you’ll want to act quickly under those circumstances.
Does Prime Day happen twice a year?
Looking at past years, there has been a second Prime Day-style sale in October for the past two years now. It started in 2022 as the Prime Day Early Access sale. In 2023, the trend continued with the Prime Big Deal Days sale, and now we have confirmation that Amazon will once again utilize this spot on the calendar for a sale on Oct. 8 and 9.
How does Prime Big Deal Days compare to July Prime Day?
There are lots of similarities between the two sales. Many of the same deals return during the October sale, especially on Amazon’s own devices, such as Blink and Ring home security devices, Fire TVs and tablets, Echo devices and more.
The main difference is related to the timing of the sale. Since July Prime Day is in the summer, there’s more focus on back-to-school and outdoor deals. This includes school supplies, grills, lawnmowers and more. During October Prime Day, we see more deals geared toward the upcoming holiday season, such as kitchenware for a Thanksgiving meal or kids’ toys and games for Christmas.
How does Prime Big Deal Days work?
The idea behind the sale is pretty simple: Subscribers to Amazon’s Prime service can get exclusive discounts on thousands of products and services across the site during a limited period. The products, while still available to non-Prime members, will have extra savings for members, with many prices dropping down to new all-time lows.
When you’re logged in to your Prime account and looking at a product landing page, you’ll see the discounted price if it’s on sale. You don’t need any special coupon codes, nor is there a need to use a specific payment method to get the discounts. If you spend your money wisely each year, you can easily make back your Prime membership cost in savings during the event.
What products go on sale for Prime Big Deal Days?
Since Amazon sells pretty much everything, its Prime Big Deal Days bonanza features deals on pretty much everything too. Whether you’re shopping for tech, kitchen gear, outdoor furniture or everyday essentials, October Prime Day will offer something in the way of savings for you.
In past sale events, some of the best savings have been on Amazon devices. This includes Kindle readers, Echo speakers, Fire TVs and more. It’s not just Amazon’s own brands that see steep discounts. You will be able to grab great deals across a variety of big-name brands, including significant savings on items like laptops, TVs and fitness gear, to name a few.
Do Prime deals change throughout the day?
Unfortunately, yes. All the deals we listed here, and the rest of the deals on Amazon, are subject to change at any given time before, after and even during the sale event. Here at CNET, we’re constantly going through our pages to make sure that they are updated with the latest prices. However, since prices can change at any time if you see something you like, we recommend buying it as soon as possible before the price changes, the deal expires or the item becomes unavailable.
Do you need to be an Amazon Prime member to shop Prime Big Deal Days deals?
Yes, Amazon’s Prime Deal Days sale requires a Prime subscription if you want to nab any of the Prime-exclusive deals. You don’t have to be a paying subscriber, as long as the event falls within your Prime trial period. That means you can start your monthlong trial just before the event and get in on the savings for free. For more info on that, check out our guide to getting Amazon Prime perks without paying for a subscription.
Will other retailers launch anti-Prime Big Deal Days sales?
Each Prime Day event brings with it other retailers announcing sales that directly compete with Amazon’s event, and it will be no different this October, either. We’ll let you know when other retailers announce their anti-Prime Big Deal Days sales.
Do Prime Big Deal Days deals last both days?
Some will, others won’t. New deals get added regularly, and old ones sell out or get changed. Our CNET experts are monitoring the sale and will keep this page updated throughout the event as deals expire or any new finds crop up, so keep checking back.
Where can you find deals right now?
The CNET Deals team covers all of the best price drops, discounts and deals daily from all the top retailers. Whether it’s a one-day promo at Woot, a weekend sale at Best Buy or a coupon code for a product at Amazon, if it’s a great deal, we’ll be covering it.
Be sure to check out all of the great deals each day at CNET.com/deals and sign up for our CNET Cheapskate newsletter for a daily digest of deals delivered to your inbox. You can also sign up for CNET Deals text alerts for curated deals during the event, and install our CNET Shopping browser extension to help ensure that purchases you make all year round will be at the lowest price available.
