Everything you need to know about Amazon’s October Prime Day sale: Official dates, the competition, and more

UPDATE: Sep. 18, 2024, 10:05 a.m. EDT This story has been updated with a list of Amazon’s best early Prime Big Deal Days deals.

Amazon‘s “October Prime Day” event is right around the corner.

Prime Big Deal Days will run for 48 hours from Tuesday, Oct. 8 (starting at 3:01 a.m. ET) through Wednesday, Oct. 9, the company announced Sept. 17. The Prime-exclusive sale will feature “millions of early holiday deals,” with flurries of new discounts dropping as often as every five minutes at certain points of its runtime.

Amazon released an initial wave of official early deals alongside its announcement Tuesday, which includes up to 55% off select Amazon devices (including Fire TVs and Echo smart speakers), four free months of Amazon Music Unlimited, and a GrubHub+ discount for Prime members. Its press release teased future savings from brands like Beats, Samsung, Fujifilm, KitchenAid, JBL, and Lego.

What is Prime Big Deal Days?

Prime Big Deal Days is a fall sale that serves as the extra-early kickoff to Amazon’s holiday shopping season ahead of Black Friday. It’s formatted identically to the retailer’s flagship summer Prime Day sale, where featured deals are only available to members of its Prime subscription service.

This marks the third time Amazon has held a fall Prime event — and it appears its name is finally sticking. It was called the Prime Early Access Sale in 2022 and renamed to Prime Big Deal Days last year.

Do you need to be a Prime member to shop Prime Big Deal Days?

Being a Prime member is non-negotiable if you want to scoop up Prime Big Deal Days savings, but there’s a small loophole for those who don’t want to commit to a paid subscription: Trial members count.

You can try Prime for free for 30 days if you haven’t before, so long as there’s a valid credit card attached to your Amazon account. Just remember to cancel your membership before it automatically upgrades to a paid plan at the end of that month.

Are any other stores competing with Prime Big Deal Days?

With plans to host multiple holiday sales from September through October, Best Buy is stacking up to be Amazon’s toughest competition this holiday season.

The electronics retailer will kick things off with a Member Exclusive Sale for Plus and Total members of its My Best Buy program from Sept. 27 to 29, which will feature paywalled discounts and a free $50 bonus reward for those who spend at least $500. That sale will be followed by an Apple Trade-Up Event for shoppers looking to upgrade to the latest Apple devices from Sept. 30 to Oct. 13, with a conveniently timed 48-Hour Flash Sale thrown in there for Oct. 8 and 9. (Expect to find deep discounts on TVs, gaming devices, laptops, and monitors while that one’s live.)

Best Buy will round out the month with a Prep for the Holidays Event starting Oct. 21, which will revolve around gadgets for entertaining (think home appliances, TVs, and smart home devices), plus a 3-Day Gaming Event from Oct. 25 to 27.

Meanwhile, Target will host the fall edition of its seasonal savings event, Target Circle Week, from Sunday, Oct. 6 through Saturday, Oct. 12. Live in stores and online, the sale will “feature deals on products to help consumers prep for the holidays, along with savings on fall favorites, everyday essentials and more,” per the announcement. That includes rotating Deals of the Day that are live for just 24 hours at a time. (These will pick up again on Nov. 1 and continue through the rest of the holidays.)

Target Circle Week deals will be exclusive to members of Target Circle, the retailer’s loyalty program. It’s completely free to join.

Walmart is expected to announce a competing sale that coincides with Prime Big Deal Days in the coming weeks.