Amazon Prime Day Is Starting Early This Year
Business + Economy

Amazon Prime Day Is Starting Early This Year

Brendan McDermid

Amazon Prime Day, the online retailer’s biggest sales day of the year, will take place July 11.

The company announced today that the event will begin earlier this year, at 6 p.m. Eastern Time on July 10, and run for 30 hours with new deals appearing every few minutes.

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This year’s event includes several new countries, and now includes the U.S., U.K., Spain, Mexico, Japan, Italy, India, Germany, France, China, Canada, Belgium and Austria. The company says there will be a special emphasis on TVs -- “Amazon is planning one of its largest total volume TV deals in history with a record level of inventory but once again, the TV deals will likely sell out” – so if you’re in the market for a new screen, it could be worth a look.

The event has drawn mixed reviews from consumers in the past, but last year it was the single largest revenue day ever for the retailer. Non-prime members who want to take advantage of the deals can still get in on the action by signing up for a free 30-day Prime trial membership -- just remember to cancel before it automatically renews if you don’t want to pay for membership.

Amazon Prime membership, which includes free two-day shipping and access to the company’s music and video streaming services, costs $99 a year or $10.99 a month. The service has 80 million U.S. members, an increase of 38 percent over the past year, according to Consumer Intelligence Research Partners.

Consumers should also check out Amazon competitors like Wal-Mart and Macy’s on Prime Day, since they have offered their own discounts in the past in a bid to entice online shoppers while they’re in the mood to spend money. 

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