Amazon Prime Day 2025 offers exclusive 4-day deals

WASHINGTON — Amazon’s annual Prime Day sale is here, with the world’s largest online retailer offering discounts storewide for four days. 

For the first time, Seattle-based Amazon is holding the now-somewhat misnamed Prime Day over four days; the company launched the event in 2015 and expanded it to two days in 2019.

The sale this year runs from July 8 through July 11, and deals are exclusive to Amazon’s Prime subscription members. 

For those who aren’t already subscribed to Amazon Prime, the company is offering some new membership perks in an effort to entice younger shoppers and consumers wary of spending with looming tariffs set to take effect. 

Amazon says 18-24-year-olds and students can get 5% cash back on their purchases as well as a six-month free trial. They’ll also pay $7.49 per month for Prime instead of the $14.99 that older customers pay. 

Before wrapping up Prime Day 2025 early Friday, Amazon said it would have deals dropping as often as every 5 minutes during certain periods. 

There will also be a new feature called “Today’s Big Deals.” Starting at midnight Pacific on each day of the sale, there will be “themed daily drops” across top brands like Samsung, Kiehl’s, and Levi’s. 

Amazon’s announcement said those drops will feature “some of the most exciting deals of the event” and will only be available for a limited time, while supplies last. 

There will also be “deals dropping as often as every five minutes during select periods throughout the event,” Amazon said. 

Santa Clara University business professor Kirthi Kalyanam, who is writing a book about Amazon, said Prime Day offers have been good, historically. That’s because the company was able to source discounts from well-known brands such as Apple and to incentivize third-party sellers to lower their prices by promising to feature them prominently on the Amazon website, according to Kalyanam.

But Prime Day discounts may matter less these days because customers are getting accustomed to the ultra-cheap products sold by Amazon competitors Shein and Temu, which were both founded in China.

“Many of (the) deals may not be as competitive compared to Temu and Shein,” Kalyanam said.

Because so many people are shopping on Prime Day, it’s a lucrative opportunity for scammers and fraudsters. 

This year, Amazon warned customers in an email about a new scam specifically targeting Prime customers. 

The message from Amazon, according to Newsweek, describes a scam where customers receive an email asking them to cancel their Prime subscription or risk having it auto renew for a significant amount of money. 

But in reality, the email is being sent by fraudsters looking to steal Amazon login information and bank account details. 

“We’ve recently noticed an increase in customers reporting fake emails about Amazon Prime membership subscriptions,” Amazon wrote in the (real) email described by Newsweek.

To actually check your Prime status, you can log in to Amazon and select “Prime” from the main menu. 

The Better Business Bureau, a nonprofit that provides the public with information on businesses and charities, warns in guidance published last year ahead of the 2024 Prime Day sale to watch out for lookalike websites, too-good-to-be-true social media ads, and unsolicited emails or calls during sales events.

Walmart has its “Walmart Deals” event returning with six days of savings online and in stores. It kicked off online at midnight Eastern on Tuesday, July 8 and runs through Sunday, July 13. Walmart+ members got early access to deals beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern on Monday, July 7. 

Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, said it plans to offer thousands of deals across electronics, home, back-to-school and more including major brands like Samsung, Vizio and Dyson.

Target announced the return of Target Circle Week starting July 6, with early access on July 5 for its Circle 360 members, through July 12. 

The Minnesota-based company said it will be maintaining its 2024 prices on key back-to-school items, including a list of 20 must-have supplies that add up to less than $20 total and its top-selling $5 backpacks.