Two of the biggest selling events of the year are Amazon’s Prime Day and Black Friday, but how do you know which one is the best to buy? And are there any key differences between the two events? With Prime Day coming soon now that the Prime Day date for 2022 has been confirmed, you may be thinking that you should favor that sale. Read on as we weigh Prime Day against Black Friday and explain everything you need to know about the two sales events.
What is Prime Day?
Prime Day is Amazon’s annual sales event to mark its birthday. It is exclusively for Amazon Prime members rather than anyone with an Amazon account, but it is possible to access the offers with a free Amazon Prime trial if you subscribe at the same time as the event.
After two years of the event moving due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Day 2022 returns to its traditional July slot and will take place on July 12th and 13th. In addition, there will be early bids starting June 21st in the race. until the big event.
While Prime Day is a two-day event, some deals last only 24 hours with others – known as Lightning deals – taking a few hours to entice you to a quick purchase.
Prime Day generally only means sales at Amazon but in recent times, a growing number of major retailers like Best Buy, Walmart and Target are using the same time of year to promote their own sales in direct competition with Amazon.
Prime Day takes place across a number of countries with more frequent additions each year. These include the United States, UK, UAE, Spain, Singapore, the Netherlands, Mexico, Luxembourg, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, China, Canada, Belgium, Austria and Australia.
Every year, Amazon has strengthened with sales revenue, so it’s very likely that Prime Day 2022 will be its biggest sales event to date.
What is Black Friday?
Black Friday is the traditional sale that takes place on the Friday after Thanksgiving in the United States. This means that in 2022, it will certainly take place on Friday, November 25th. It is generally regarded as the busiest shopping day of the year with each Black Friday season increasing in scope and success. Once upon a time, the sales event lasted only one day – on Friday itself – the event now extends through the weekend to so-called Cyber Monday.
It’s not exclusive to any retailer with almost every retailer you can think of offering a wide range of sales and pricing during this time period. A certain amount of sales took place with some sales starting the week before Black Friday and extending throughout the season to encourage consumers to spend well in advance of the holidays.
Once exclusively in the U.S. domain, Black Friday now often means big sales around the world, all to encourage people to take bargains for less on time for the coming winter months.
Much like Prime Day, offers can vary in length, meaning that some offers only last hours while others can last all day or even all weekend.
What are the differences?
The biggest difference here is that Prime Day is only for customers with Prime membership. If you don’t currently have Prime membership, you can sign up for a free 30-day trial during the sales season, but if you’ve done so in the past, you’ll need to sign up for paid membership.
By comparison, Black Friday is open to everyone, with leading retailers eager to lure you in with great discounts.
It is also a matter of time. Main Day is coming soon – starting July 12th for two days with early deals starting June 21st. However, Black Friday takes place in late November. This means that one is ideal for your holiday shopping needs while Prime Day offers are more about buying things for the summer.
Prime Day also really only happens on Amazon although some other retailers are starting to accept early July as a good time to offer great sales to compete with the internet giant. Black Friday is a general event for all retailers so, usually, your choices are much more diverse.
Who has the best prices?
In general, price reductions are more or less the same with Black Friday sometimes working a little cheaper than Prime Day. However, by making your holiday purchase much earlier in the year on Prime Day, you can spread the cost throughout the year when it comes to buying expensive gifts.
We already know that Amazon will offer a 55% discount on selected Amazon devices as well as up to a 50% discount on Fire TV, so if you’re looking for an Amazon-branded product, Prime Day is the time for you. These will include Amazon Kindle, Amazon Echo, and products owned by Amazon such as the Ring Video Doorbell.
As mentioned, Prime Day tends to focus more on technology than Black Friday (though that’s not always guaranteed) so expect to see the best prices on devices on Prime Day, but more everyday life on offer on Black Friday. As technology gets older, you may want to make sure you don’t buy soon-to-be-dated shares during Prime Day. Unless having the latest technology doesn’t matter to you, of course.
When is the best time to shop?
First of all, it depends on when you need the object. If your laptop just died just in time for the Prime Day offers, it’s really not worth waiting until November for Black Friday. After all, you need a replacement right away, right?
When it comes to treating yourself or buying gifts for loved ones, the decision becomes a little more complicated.
Basically, if you are planning to buy the latest device (or not so a recent example), you want to buy it as close as possible to the time when you plan to give the gift. That’s because technology is changing so fast and you may be left with the latest technology to give to someone. Worse, state-of-the-art technology is usually discounted when the new range is launched, so you don’t really want to store the items for months on end in such a rapidly changing world.
When it comes to new releases, manufacturers often like to launch products ready for the holidays. That means if you want the latest products and you’re ready to wait and see if they’re discounted, Black Friday is the time to wait. Typically such products will not be discounted enough if they have just been released, but you can still usually enjoy some form of price reduction independently.
Overall, Prime Day is considered best for technology while Black Friday is good for all sorts of things including household items, bedding, mattresses and more everyday life. That gap closes though as Prime Day becomes a bigger deal.
If you’re a little indecisive, it’s also worth taking a two-pronged approach to a sales season. Take a look at the prices on Prime Day and if you can’t make a complete decision, wait until Black Friday, when the item is likely to be reduced again. There is an element of risk here, as there is no guarantee that you will see the same prices, but for the undecided consumer, it can be done.
So what should I do?
Honestly, no stress. Both Prime Day and Black Friday are great times to shop around if you’re an avid consumer and there isn’t one “perfect” sale. Discounts between sales are narrowing each year. The only thing you really need to worry about is when you want to buy the item you are considering. If you need it now for the summer, take it on Prime Day. However, if you are willing to wait until the holidays or you want to buy a gift closer to the gift season, then wait for Black Friday.
Also, make sure you do your research first. Know exactly what you’re looking to buy and don’t be lured by offers that don’t work for you. It’s easy to be blinded by the big discounts or countdowns that create urgency, but just don’t serve to spark something you don’t intend to use.
Keep checking here and we have all the best deals for Prime Day and Black Friday so you don’t miss out on a great deal.
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