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    What to Expect for Amazon Prime Big Deal Days 2025

    Amazon's early holiday sale is back again this October. Here's what we know so far.

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    Amazon packages on front door step Photo: Lacey Browne/Consumer Reports

    Amazon Prime Big Deal Days will be Oct. 7-8 this year. The retail giant is kicking off its fourth annual October event a bit earlier this year, giving you a chance to get a jump on your holiday shopping.

    With concerns about inflation and tariffs affecting prices and budgets, many people think it’s more important than ever to spread out their spending. So Prime Big Deal Days can be a great way to start your holiday shopping list or even pick up items for yourself at a great discount. In previous years, many of the October Prime prices rivaled those we saw on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. And it’s becoming pretty expected that other retailers will have similarly expansive sales around this time as well, which means competitive pricing at more stores.

    The shopping experts at Consumer Reports will monitor shopping trends and product prices ahead of and during Prime Big Deal Days so that we can give you as much context as possible about the prices you’re seeing. We want to help you make informed buying decisions so that you know exactly how much you’re really saving, whether you’re getting the best deal ever or just saving a little more than usual.

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    What Are Amazon Prime Big Deal Days?

    Amazon Prime Day started in 2015 and has become an annual summer sale. Prime Day usually takes place in mid-July and lasts for two days, but this year, likely in response to consumer concerns about inflation and tariffs causing price hikes, the sale was four days long. In 2022, Amazon added a second sale in October to kick off the holiday shopping season, now known as Prime Big Deal Days.

    More Ways to Shop and Save

    These Amazon sales feature deals on products of all kinds. They’re usually exclusive to Amazon Prime members, aside from the one-off Big Spring Sale in 2024. That said, Prime membership may offer some perks that will sweeten the deals in this sale, like free shipping. If you’re not already a Prime member, you can sign up for a free 30-day trial for free shipping and other benefits. (You can always cancel before the trial period ends.)

    Prime membership offers a variety of perks, including expedited shipping on select products as well as access to Prime Video, exclusive deals, and more, all of which you can sample during the trial. To be a member, you have to shell out $15 per month or $139 per year. Read about the pros and cons of Amazon Prime to learn more.

    Are There Any Early Deals?

    Amazon often has early deals, discounts, and other promotions in the days leading up to its big events, and and this year is no different. There are already offers on Amazon’s own lineup of devices, like Fire tablets, JBL headphones, Hisense TVs, Arlso security cameras and video doorbells, and Instant air fryers. These discounts tend to remain steady through the sale itself as well, and more will likely crop up as the sale draws nearer.

    Amazon also offers exclusive promotions to Prime members, which change with every sale. For Prime Big Deal Days, they can get a $150 gift card if they sign up (and are approved for) a Prime credit card. There’s also access to early screenings for the new movie “Wicked: For Good,” which premieres in November. And Amazon is partnering with McDonald’s, through its GrubHub+ service, available free for Prime members, so customers can get a free 10-piece Chicken McNugget order once per day between now and Oct. 5.

    Consumer Reports will monitor all of Amazon’s sale offerings to bring you the latest deals, so bookmark our Deals Hub and check back often.

    What Other Deals Can You Expect?

    Prime Big Deal Days typically bring price drops on popular items like headphones, robotic vacuums, smartwatches, and mattresses, as well as apparel, household goods, back-to-school supplies, electronics, toys, and more. For these big sales, Amazon touts hundreds of thousands of deals, including discounts on popular seasonal and gift items.

    With all Amazon sale events, not all discounts are guaranteed to be available for the duration of the sale. This year, during July’s Prime Day sale, Amazon introduced a new feature called “Today’s Big Deals.” Each day, it served up new deals that were available only for 24 hours in limited quantities. It’s possible Amazon will do something similar during Prime Big Deal Days, but the retailer hasn’t publicly announced any promotions like that yet.

    There may also be Lightning Deals throughout the sale, which have countdown clocks, encouraging shoppers to buy quickly rather than miss them. Other sales may end without warning if items go out of stock. For more on how to get the best deals, check out our tips.

    Consumer Reports’ experts will be tracking all the deals and sharing the best offers on top-tested products.

    Will Other Retailers Have Sales, Too?

    Since Amazon’s first sitewide event, there have been big sales at other major stores coinciding with Prime Day. The same is now true for Prime Big Deal Days, with other major retailers holding events under varying names. Some simply offer competitive pricing, while others promote their own special events that run around the same time frame as Amazon’s sale.

    Consumer Reports will be keeping an eye on all of these retailers and more to help you find the best prices on quality products.

    How Should You Prepare?

    If you’re not already a Prime member, you’ll need to sign up to access this sale. (Check the Amazon policy on free trial memberships.) You can add items to a shopping list or even to your cart (you can always move them to “saved for later”) so that you can quickly access them during the sale to see whether they’re available at a discount.

    Consumer Reports will track all the deals available before, during, and after Prime Big Deal Days, all the way through Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the rest of the holiday season. We’ll compare prices on CR-tested products with each one’s typical cost and watch the prices at other retailers to help you avoid overspending or buying something that doesn’t work well. You can also take a look at CR’s Deals hub for the latest and best deals from Amazon and other major retailers leading up to and during the big sale event.

    Get discounts, product recommendations, and buying advice from the shopping experts at CR. Sign up for our ShopSmart newsletter.


    Consumer Reports

    Consumer Reports

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