E-commerce juggernaut Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN -1.65%) has become one of the premier online destinations for holiday sales. And not content to restrict its best deals to Black Friday alone, the company has expanded its deals to encompass an 11-day period. Amazon announced its "Countdown to Black Friday" sales, which began on November 17th, and has dubbed the days leading up to the shopping event of the year as "Black Friday Deals Week".
The most deeply discounted sales will be available on the days Amazon labeled "The Turkey 5", which begin on Thanksgiving Day and end on Cyber Monday. The company noted in its press release that "The deals included below will be available on various dates and times between Nov. 17 and Nov. 24 (Black Friday), while supplies last." (Emphasis by author)
Amazon has become a go-to destination for holiday shopping. Image source: Getty Images.
The devil's in the details
There are a few other things shoppers should know. Amazon plans to feature "new deals every day all season long." Different items will go on sale each day, called appropriately Deals of the Day. Even more compelling are the Lightning Deals, which are introduced throughout the day, but only while supplies last.
As always, the best deals are reserved for those with a membership in loyalty program Amazon Prime, which also entitles subscribers to unlimited free shipping, with many items available with 2-day or faster delivery. Prime members also receive a host of other benefits like free streaming of thousands of programs on Prime Video and access to a growing library of streaming songs available on Prime Music.
Prime members even have their own shopping holiday dubbed "Black Friday in July," also known as Prime Day, with the most recent being the largest sales day in the company's history.
Big deals
Shoppers can get the best prices of the year for a number of products, including:
- Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones, which normally go for $299 and are discounted by 40% to $179.
- An LG 55-inch 4K Ultra Smart OLED TV, which has a retail price of $2,299, is 35% off at $1,497.
- The Samsung 55-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV is discounted 25% to $898 from its usual $1198.
- The iRobot Roomba 690 Vacuum with Wi-Fi and Alexa connectivity can be had for $275 -- $100 off its usual price tag.
The Nintendo Switch has been a hot property, becoming the most popular current-gen gaming console in the U.S. Shoppers can currently find the gray version in stock at Amazon for $299, but the neon blue and red version currently "ships when available." At this rate, the remaining available Switch consoles may be sold out by Black Friday.
Echo devices are on the list of hot items for sale during Black Friday. Image source: Amazon.
Deeply discounted Amazon products
Some of Amazon's best deals are for its branded electronic devices, like the Kindle e-reader, Fire Tablet, and Echo smart speaker.
The popular Kindle Paperwhite E-reader is available for $89.99, a 25% discount to its regular price of $119.99.
Multiple versions of the Amazon Fire HD Tablet, which usually sell for between $79.99 and $149.99, will be discounted between 30% and 37% and will be priced between $49.99 and $99.99. For example, the Fire HD 10 with 32 GB of storage, which sells for $149.99, is currently listed at 33% off at $99.99 -- the lowest price ever for the device.
The smart speaker that started it all, the Amazon Echo powered by Alexa, has been hugely popular and deals will vary throughout the holiday. During the Black Friday sale, numerous Echo products will be deeply discounted. The Echo Dot, which typically sells for $49.99, will retail for $29.99, which Amazon noted is also the lowest price ever for the mini-smart speaker. The Echo will be available for $79.99, $20 off its regular price, while the portable Tap can be had for $79.99, down from $129.99.
More fine print
Keep in mind that different sales will occur on different days, and not all items will be on sale all the time.
Amazon also noted that customers that voice-shop with Alexa via any of the company's smart speakers "will get an exclusive shopping window several hours earlier than the general public," which will begin at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time on Wednesday, November 22nd.
The bottom line
Amazon has some of the best deals out there, but it will take a little more diligence to catch them all. Amazon suggests downloading its app to be notified of the primo deals. Some shoppers will gleefully sit by their computer waiting for the next lightning deal, others might fight the Black Friday crowds at the mall. To each their own.
