Everything We Know About Amazon Prime Day

We've been waiting for this grand shopping bonanza announcement for months. As June arrived and then marched on, we’d turn to each other at our desks, knowing that the event in question was getting closer: “When is Amazon going to announce Prime Day?” While this hallowed mid-summer sale event often falls around the same window of time every year, it doesn’t have a steady date. In fact, it’s oddly like waiting for someone to give birth. You have a vague idea of when it’s going to happen, but you never know exactly when — until you get the call. And today, we got it.

In an unprecedented feat of scheduling, Amazon has announced that Prime Day 2019 will run from 12 a.m. PST on Monday, July 15 through 11:59 p.m. PST on Tuesday, July 16, meaning that it will actually last for a full 48 hours. (Since Prime Day commenced, the massive e-tailer has been slowly fudging the English-language definition of “day,” expanding the sale window from 24 hours in 2015 to 36 hours last year — making 2019’s duration the longest in the history of the event.)

As always, the first rule of Prime Day is that you don’t talk about Prime Day have to have an Amazon Prime membership to take advantage of the epic and ever-changing deals that will be on offer come July 15 — but conveniently, you can always sign up for a free 30-day trial period. And it might be worth your while more than ever this year — Amazon is trumpeting the best deals to date on Alexa-enabled devices, plus competitive offers on Amazon Music, Prime Video, and Twitch Prime. They’re even releasing one deal early: starting today, members can save $120 on a Toshiba HD 43-inch Fire TV Edition Smart TV. One hundred and twenty dollars (!). The R29 Shopping team is heated.

In true Amazon form, there is a diverse and swiftly-rotating assortment of deals on offer, both in advance of and during Prime Day. Be on the lookout for “Lead-up Deals” (like the Toshiba discount mentioned above) that will be valid in the weeks leading up to Prime. (We know there are some fashion ones coming down the pipeline, like up to 30% off in-house brands, including Daily Ritual and Amazon Essentials.) “Spotlight Deals” are super-limited flash discounts that are contingent on inventory levels, meaning that they can come and go very fast. And the “Deal of the Day” will be applied to select, in-demand products, also for a limited time. (Word to the wise: you can also be on the lookout for mid-July deals from competing retailers — like the mega-sale that Target just announced and the highly-coveted Nordstrom Anniversary sale.)

Amazon has promised “lead-up” deals in advance of Prime Day, and they didn’t disappoint — we sussed out discounts on Tommy Hilfiger, oodles of leggings, and and one our reader's hidden gems — this handy bug zapper, plus up to 15% off Amazon house brands like Lark & Ro, Daily Ritual, and Mae. We just caught wind of another non-insignificant bonus: Prime members who spend $10 at Whole Foods between now and July 16 will get a $10 coupon from Amazon.

That’s really just the tip of the iceberg, so watch this space for more updates — we’ll be reporting on all of the savings in the home, fashion, tech, and beauty space as we learn about them. And get ready to act fast — inventory is always limited and quick to sell out during this promotion, so we suggest priming (sorry, had to) yourself to click the “buy” button, so as not to miss out.