Amazon’s first massive Prime Day sale of the year is fast approaching and it has already started to unleash some early Prime Day preview deals. This year’s July event is already shaping up to be one of, if not, the biggest ever as Amazon has significantly expanded its reach while also changing up the daily format for the first time ever. Head below for everything you need to know to get ready for Prime Day 2025. 

Firstly, let’s go over some basics just to get everyone on the same page.

When is Amazon Prime Day?

The Amazon July Prime Day will be taking place this year on July 8 and run through until July 11. The deals will start at 3 a.m. ET on the first day and (mostly) remain until 3 a.m. ET on July 12. 

Do you have to be a Prime member to access Prime Day deals?

The short answer is yes. There will be some discounts still floating around on the site for everyone, but Prime Day, as the name suggests is primarily geared towards Prime members. 

Best price for Prime membership before Prime Day

You can  join Prime for $14.99 per month or $139 per year, or start a FREE 30-day trial if eligible at amazon.com/prime. 

There are also some discounted options if you can meet the criteria:

“…young adults and higher-education students of any age can try Prime for Young Adults with a six-month trial at amazon.com/joinyoungadult, then pay a discounted rate of $7.49 per month or $69 per year for a membership.”

“Qualifying government-assistance recipients and income-verified customers can get Prime Access for $6.99 per month at amazon.com/getprimeaccess.”

Prime Day for 4 days

Prime Day isn’t one, or two days anymore, it’s four. Amazon’s Prime Day sale hasn’t been a one day event for years, but rather 48-hours of discounts that have, as of late, happened twice a year – once in July and once in October. 

This year however, at least for the July event, Amazon is expanding the usual 48-hour format in favor of 96 straight hours of deals. This expanded savings opportunity (in combination with the new daily deal format we detail below), will give shoppers more time to wade through the discounts to lock down everything they need for the summer and beyond. 

While we do see Amazon get active with on-page coupons in the middle of the day during these events sometimes, most of the deals will go live each morning at 3 a.m. ET and remain live either for the entire savings event, or just for the day. 

Brand new daily deal format

One of the new elements for this year’s July Prime Day sale is something Amazon calls “Today’s Big Deals.” This seems pretty self-explanatory – there will be new daily deals popping up each day – and while it doesn’t seem all that new, in some ways it is. 

As of late, or at least over the last couple of years, Amazon’s major 2-day events, like the typical Prime Day sales and the usual Thanksgiving + Black Friday bonanza have actually really just been one day. While Amazon used to refresh each of the days in these sales with a large selection of offers every morning at 3 a.m. ET, it has mostly abandoned this practice in favor of letting all of the deals loose either before the sale’s start date, or just having (almost) everything go live on day 1 and remain as such for the remainder of the event.

While there have still been new deals popping up on day two of these sales over the last couple years, the vast majority of the discounts just hit on day one. 

But with the new “Today’s Big Deals” for the July Prime Day, these themed daily deal drops featuring “top brands like Samsung, Kiehl’s, and Levi’s” might very well deliver some seriously notable new deals for each day of the event. And considering the new 4-day format this year, we truly hope this is the case. It can also make wading through the millions of discounts a little bit more digestible. 

Here are some additional details on the new “Today’s Big Deals” format:

These special offers launch daily at midnight PDT and remain available for a limited time, while supplies last. Members can also check back frequently to discover incredible savings with deals dropping as often as every five minutes during select periods throughout the event.

Are there any early Prime Day deals this year?

Yes there are early Prime Day deals every year, but the actual on Amazon are still trickling in slowly. We are expecting to see Amazon launch much of the offers on its in-house tech sometime next week and keep them on sale right through the actual event, but with this year’s new format, you’ll want to be cautious. 

Another thing to watch out for is brands running their own early Prime Day sales outside of Amazon. This is not necessarily a bad thing, and doesn’t mean you’re going to pay more than the July 8 – 11 deals, but it’s hard to say for sure. Your best bet is to stay locked to 9to5Toys for in depth analysis of this deals and remember that “early” means “early,” and that there’s no way to know for sure. 

Do other retailers run competitor Prime Day sales?

Why yes, yes they do, and we have all of the details you need on the big ones waiting below:

Best Buy’s Prime Day competitor Member Deals Days sale is now live: Apple, Google, TVs, kitchen gear, more

Walmart officially announces July Prime Day competitor sale – Start times, early access, sneak peek at deals, more

Target’s weeklong Prime Day competitor sale will start in early July, here’s what we know so far

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