GameSpot may receive revenue from affiliate and advertising partnerships for sharing this content and from purchases through links.

Amazon Prime Day 2021 Preview: Tips, Early Deals, Free Trial Info, And More

Amazon Prime Day 2021 begins on Monday, June 21. Here's everything you need to know before the big sale.

2 Comments

Amazon Prime Day 2021 is nearly here. Every summer, the members-only sale brings a massive amount of deals on practically every type of product, from video games and electronics to apparel, beauty, and home appliances. Prime Day 2021 kicks off Monday, June 21, and Amazon is promising over two million deals globally. It's become one of the biggest sales of the year, rivaling Black Friday, so if there's something on your wish list, chances are you'll find it discounted during Prime Day. We're here with a guide to all things Amazon Prime Day, breaking down when it starts, how to sign up for the 30-day free trial, and the best Prime Day deals to take advantage of.

When is Amazon Prime Day 2021?

Prime Day 2021 will take place Monday, June 21, and Tuesday, June 22. The first wave of deals kicks off on June 21 at midnight PT / 3 AM ET and run through Tuesday, ending in the early hours of Wednesday. The event will span a full 48 hours as it has since 2019.

Prime Day 2021 dates and times

  • Starts Monday, June 21 at 12 AM PT / 3 AM ET
  • Ends Wednesday, June 23 at 12 AM PT / 3 AM ET

Prime Day 2021 will take place eight months after last year's Prime Day, which was pushed to October 13 and 14 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Usually held in July, Prime Day 2021 is being held a month earlier than previous years, apparently caused by anticipated transportation slowdowns in July, travel plans, and the upcoming Olympics.

What is Amazon Prime Day?

Here's a quick overview: Amazon Prime Day is a blowout sale the retailer throws every summer to offer steep discounts on thousands of products, exclusively for Prime members. The sale offers a mix of deals that end at different times--some will run for the full 48 hours, while others will only be available for one day. The hottest offers tend to be lightning deals that may last for a few hours but usually sell out much sooner (sometimes in a matter of minutes).

Prime Day has grown exponentially since its launch in 2015, expanding to take place over multiple days and offering tens of thousands of deals for Prime members to shop, but it's also forced competing retailers to hold their own anti-Prime Day sales to try to steal some of Amazon's thunder. The summer sales bonanza is almost on par with Black Friday at this point, with all the biggest stores offering best-of-year prices on their hottest items.

Best Prime Day deals

The best Amazon Prime Day deals will always heavily feature the company's own devices, including Echos, Fire TV Sticks, Kindles, and Ring, and that's already proving true for Amazon Prime Day 2021. Amazon's early Prime day deals featured quite a few Echo Dot and Echo Show deals, along with deals on 4K TVs, Blink security cameras, Ring doorbells, Eero Wi-Fi systems, the Luna Controller, and more. If you have an Alexa device, you can take advantage of Prime Day's best prices already by saying, "Alexa, order an Echo Dot"--or any other eligible product you're interested in. These Alexa-exclusive deals end June 20 before the main sale kicks off--but you can count on these being the same prices available Monday and Tuesday, while stock lasts. Check out more of Prime Days' best deals below.

How to participate in Amazon Prime Day

In order to take advantage of Amazon Prime Day's deals, you'll need to sign up for Amazon's 30-day free trial (unless you're already subscribed, of course) ahead of the event. Once you're subscribed, you'll be able to shop Prime Day deals and take advantage of other Prime benefits like free one- or two-day shipping, Prime Video, free monthly PC games, and more. You can cancel your membership anytime to avoid being charged the full yearly price after the free trial ends. Amazon Prime costs $119 per year or $13 per month if you choose to pay monthly. There's also a student membership that comes with a six-month free trial. For more, see our full guide on how to get Amazon Prime for free or at a discount.

How to get the best Amazon Prime Day deals

Though snagging the best Prime Day deals is largely a matter of dedicating time and energy to the event of the course of its two days, there are some Prime Day tips we recommend. For one, non-subscribers should jump on the aforementioned free 30-day free trial--now that Prime Day is upon us, you can do that at any time in order to shop the sale. If you're a currently enrolled student, be sure to take advantage of the Prime Student free trial and general discount as well. Other tips include turning on product notifications in the Amazon Shopping app, checking price history using CamelCamelCamel (to ensure you're actually getting a good deal), comparing prices between retailers, and more. Check out our full guide with Prime Day tips and tricks to make sure you're prepared.

We'll be covering Amazon Prime Day up until the big event itself, so stay tuned for more coverage and the very best deals and sales. You can also follow us on Twitter @GameSpotDeals, as it's the best way to stay up to date with all the best Prime Day deals when the sale actually kicks off. For now, you can check out all the best deals at Amazon right now, including the latest daily offers.

Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com

Join the conversation
There are 2 comments about this story