Prime Day is back for its seventh year in 2022, and even though you’re probably pretty familiar with Amazon’s exclusive event by now, we’re sure you have a few questions. We’re not promising to have all the answers, but if you’re looking to save in this year’s sale, this is a good place to start.
What is Prime Day?
Prime Day is an annual site-wide sale that Amazon puts on for its Prime members.
Prime Day began life way back in 2015 to celebrate Amazon’s 20th anniversary, and was marketed as a “one-day only event filled with more deals than Black Friday, exclusively for Prime members around the globe.” This inaugural Prime Day resulted in stock shortages and long waitlists for sought-after items, so the appetite for deals was clearly there. Prime Day has since expanded into an annual two-day event, with plenty of early deals available in the days leading up to the main event.
When is Prime Day in 2022?
Prime Day is taking place on July 12 and 13 this year, and there’s even a press release from Amazon to prove it. Amazon has confirmed that Prime Day 2022 will begin on Tuesday, July 12 at a minute after midnight, and will offer over 2 million tantalising deals until midnight on Wednesday, July 13.
There are also rumours that Amazon is considering the idea of hosting a second Prime Day-style event in the autumn, which would be a first, but the company has yet to confirm any details.
How does Prime Day work?
We know you’ll want to get stuck into Prime Day, but there is a catch. If you want to make the most of Prime Day, you’ll need to be a Prime member to bag the best bargains.
If you’re not already a member, you can join for free for 30 days with a trial. If you choose to continue with your membership, you can pay for the whole package at a cost of £79 each year, or pay monthly for £7.99 a month (which comes to £95.88 each year). Your subscription will automatically renew at the end of the free trial period, but you can cancel this at anytime. So you can get all the benefits of Amazon Prime membership over Prime Day without spending a penny.
It’s worth noting that the official Prime Day landing page is already live, and we recommend keeping this page bookmarked — Amazon is already highlighting some of the best early Prime Day deals, so you could beat the rush by taking your pick from this page.
What should you buy this Prime Day?
There’s a lot that we still don’t know, so we’re not going to make any bold predictions about deals. That’s not to say we can’t point you in the right direction, because Prime Day does tend to follow a pattern.
The best Prime Day deals are often in line with Black Friday, meaning headphones, speakers, robot vacuums, and Apple products will probably make the most impact. This could be your chance to find AirPods Pro for well below £150, and you could even find discounts on AirPods Max beyond a small discount.
Whilst you can expect to see millions of deals on just about everything, it’s important to remember that Amazon holds Prime Day for itself. Deals on Amazon’s own devices will feature heavily. You’re guaranteed find deals on Echos, Fire tablets, Kindles, and Fire TV streamers, and Amazon will often discount these devices heavily. Prime Video, Prime Gaming, and Amazon’s other subscription services will also see exclusive deals.
Can you support small businesses this Prime Day?
The biggest brands will always feature heavily in Prime Day, but thoughtful shoppers may appreciate the opportunity to support small businesses. During the build-up to Prime Day and throughout the popular shopping event, Amazon is offering shoppers the chance to win Amazon Gift Cards worth up to £5,000 by shopping with a small business.
There are hundreds of thousands of eligible small vendors in 2022, which is a lot. Everything you need to know about this special promotion can be found on the “Support Small” storefront page, which can be organised by women-owned shops, Black-owned shops, and more.
How can you shop on Prime Day?
When it comes to shopping on Prime Day, you have plenty of options. We’ve highlighted how you can make the most of this massive shopping event:
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Amazon Smile: Have you heard about Amazon Smile? It seems like a secret, but it really shouldn’t be. When you shop via smile.amazon.co.uk, Amazon donates 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible products to a charitable organisation of your choice. Sounds good, right? The interface is the same, so it’s an easy way to give back as you stock up.
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Amazon app: If you are likely to be out and about on Prime Day, we recommend downloading Amazon’s mobile apps. Then you can log in and you’ll be ready to shop wherever you are.
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Ask Alexa: Alexa is more than willing to help you add things to your cart. To start, say “Alexa, shop small business” to hear about products eligible for the Spend £10, Get £10 promotion. If you don’t have Prime yet, say, “Alexa, sign me up for Prime,” and get a £5 credit.
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Amazon Live: Throughout Prime Day, Amazon Live will spotlight deals curated from small businesses across Amazon.
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Amazon: We know this is shocking, but you can still use Amazon.co.uk to shop the best deals on Prime Day. Yep, you could forgo the app and everything else if you’re likely to be sat with your desktop or laptop all day, and keep things simple.
We don’t really have a recommendation on which shopping method you should use, because it really depends on what works for you. Think about where you are going to be on July 12 and 13, and pick the option that is going to be easiest and most effective.
What are the benefits of Amazon Prime?
The list of Prime benefits is long, so we’ve gone ahead and highlighted the things that you should care about:
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Prime memberships like Prime Video, Prime Music, and Prime Gaming
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Discounts on popular memberships like Amazon Music Unlimited, Amazon Kids+, Kindle Unlimited, and much more
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Access to Prime Wardrobe, where you can try on select clothes and send back the ones that don’t work within seven days (free of charge)
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Special deals and voucher codes that are only available to Prime members, plus early access to some deals (including 30-minute early access to Lightning Deals)
A membership is clearly stacked with benefits, including, of course, access to Prime Day deals on July 12 and 13. If you don’t think Amazon Prime is for you long-term, but you still want access to Prime Day deals, we recommend going for the free trial and cancelling your membership once Prime Day is over. Just don’t forget to cancel.
Once you are signed up, whether with a free trial or a full membership, you can maximise your chances to save on Prime Day 2022. With plenty of big discounts on laptops, tablets, TVs, games consoles, fitness equipment, and more expected in this shopping event, there has never been a better time to sign up.
