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Amazon Prime Day 2023: The Best Early Deals and Everything Else You Need to Know

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We’re less than a week away from Amazon Prime Day, which is one of the biggest sales of the year. The main event is set to kick off next Tuesday, July 11, and is likely to bring some of the best deals and lowest prices of the year on everything from tech and home products to health, beauty, kids toys and more. And CNET is here to help you make the most of the 48-hour shopping frenzy.

Though we don’t know all of the deals just yet, Amazon referenced a few big-name brands in its announcement, including the likes of Sony, Bose, Peloton, Yeti, Victoria’s Secret and Anker. That’s in addition to the customary sales on Amazon’s own products, including Echo smart speakers and Fire TVs. Prime Day is the biggest sales event of the year outside of Black Friday season, so it’s usually worth picking up anything you need during the 48-hour event.

It’s also worth noting that several other retailers, including Target, Walmart and Best Buy, are having their own competing “anti-Prime Day” sales with even more bargains on tech, appliances, everyday essentials and much more.

Best early Prime Day 2023 deals

We’ll be here to gather up all of the best Amazon Prime Day 2023 deals as soon as the event kicks off, but you don’t have to wait until then to start saving. Several early Prime Day deals are already available and we’ve gathered a few of our top early picks below.

There are plenty more early Prime Day deals already live, so continue reading for our top picks across various product categories.

More early Prime Day deals on tech:

More early Prime Day deals on home:

More early Prime Day deals on Amazon services:

When is Amazon Prime Day 2023?

Now that the Amazon Prime Day date has been officially announced, we know that the event will take place on July 11 and 12. With almost identical placement to last year’s event, Prime Day 2023 will be taking place just after Fourth of July sales are likely to be wrapping up.

Read more: Fourth of July Sales vs. Amazon Prime Day Deals: Which Event Should You Shop?

Though Prime Day 2023 officially takes place on the Tuesday and Wednesday, expect a steady stream of deals to be flowing on the Monday proceeding the event. Many Prime-exclusive deals went live with the announcement, which we’ve rounded up above, so you don’t have to limit your spending to the 48-hour period of the event.

Historically, 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 it to the summer in 2021 in a slightly earlier June spot. Prime Day returned to its July spot for 2022, though Amazon did utilize that October slot once again for an additional Prime Early Access Sale event that acted as a kickoff to the holiday shopping season.

As a reference, here are the Prime Day dates from previous years:

  • 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

How long will the Prime Day sale last?

Prime Day 2023 will run for 48 hours from midnight PT on July 11. Many early deals will kick off ahead of time and some will hang around after the event officially closes.

Amazon’s Prime Day hasn’t been a single-day affair since 2016, spanning two days for the first time in 2017 and continuing to be a 48-hour bonanza since then. Many deals launched at the sale’s opening time are set to last throughout the event, supplies permitting, with other, more limited-time Lightning deals launching and expiring during the two-day period.

Will there be a second Amazon Prime Day event this year?

We’ve only just officially heard about this summer’s Prime Day sale, so we don’t have any concrete information on a second Prime Day-like event for the fall. Ultimately, if Amazon views last year’s Prime Early Access Sale as a success, it will probably wish to repeat it for 2023, though the event didn’t appear to make as big of a splash as Prime Day usually does. That being said, an October event gives Amazon the opportunity to get out ahead of the competition before Black Friday sales kick off in November.

What countries can participate in Prime Day?

Like years gone by, Prime Day 2023 will be an international affair with over 20 countries participating. The full list is as follows:

  • Australia
  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Brazil
  • Canada
  • China
  • Egypt
  • France
  • Germany
  • Italy
  • Japan
  • Luxembourg
  • Mexico
  • Netherlands
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Singapore
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • Turkey
  • UK
  • US

How does Prime Day work?

The idea behind Prime Day is a simple one: Subscribers to Amazon’s Prime service can get exclusive discounts on thousands of products and services across the site during a limited period of time. The products, while still available to non-Prime members, will have extra savings for members, dropping many of their prices 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 in order 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.

Do you need to be a Prime member to shop the Prime Day sale?

Yes, Amazon Prime Day requires a Prime subscription if you want to nab any of the Prime-exclusive deals. You don’t have to be a paying subscriber, though, as long as the event falls within your Prime trial period. That means you can start your month-long trial just before the event and get in on the savings for free. For more info on that, check out our guide to shopping Prime Day sales without paying for Prime.

Amazon last year raised prices on Prime membership. It’s now $15 a month ($139 a year).

Will other retailers participate in Prime Day?

Each year, we see other retailers kick off July sales in order to try and compete with Amazon Prime Day and 2023 is no different. Hot on the heels of Amazon’s Prime Day announcement, we saw the unveiling of competing sales like Walmart’s Walmart Plus Week event, Target’s Circle Week sale and Best Buy’s Black Friday in July promotion. Expect more announcements closer to Prime Day as Amazon’s biggest competitors try to poach eager shoppers’ dollars. We’ll be here to cover all of the best deals at all of the major retailers.

Why did Prime Day start?

Amazon has been hosting its annual Prime Day sale since 2015. Originally, it was a 24-hour sales event to celebrate Amazon’s 20th birthday. The “Prime” in the name refers to Amazon’s subscription service, which offers free delivery on many products in as little as one to two days, and which has now expanded to encompass the Netflix-style Prime Video service and various other Amazon-related perks.

Prime Day soon became a version of “Black Friday in July” for Amazon, allowing the retailer to have a branded 48-hour shopping extravaganza in an otherwise sleepy retail season. Unlike Black Friday, however, the Prime Day branding lets Amazon differentiate its summer sale from competitors while selling Prime memberships and Amazon-branded hardware such as Echo speakers and Fire tablets, which encourage customers to stay in the Amazon ecosystem. The fact that the sale also allows Amazon and its partners to clear out inventory and warehouse space ahead of the holiday shopping season doesn’t hurt, either.

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 sale 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 Deals 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 out our new CNET Shopping browser extension to help ensure that purchases you make all year round will be at the lowest price available.

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