When is Amazon Prime Day? Everything you need to know about the shopping event

There are rumours about this year's Prime Day

Amazon Prime Day is usually in July each year and this year it will last a lot longer. The rumour is Amazon will extend Prime Day to a four-day event, giving shoppers more time to find a bargain.

Amazon has already confirmed Prime Day will take place in July again. Last year it was 16-17 July and you can expect similar timing this year. 

The longer length of Prime Day is a good thing. Last year there were tens of thousands of discounts in total and the long list of sales, time-limited deals and obscure discounts mean 

You can be forgiven for wondering why you would need to wait for Amazon Prime Day. While Amazon itself labels it one of the biggest sales of the year, only behind Black Friday, shoppers usually do not have to wait.

Amazon has an almost endless list of sales dates and themed discount weeks. This week (6 May) is Tech Week, sponsored by Samsung. It means you can get everything from Samsung phones to headphones, power banks and gaming tech at reduced prices.

In March it was called the Amazon Spring Sale and that lasted several days with discounts on tech, gaming, food and drink, fashion and furniture.

Amazon says over 200 million items were sold last Prime Day and shoppers saved on average £200 - which is more than twice the annual Prime membership.

How to access Amazon Prime Day

Amazon Prime Day, as the name suggests, is only available to Prime members. Amazon’s subscription service costs £8.99 a month and gives you access to free delivery on items labelled Prime. You can also get a free trial here.

A Prime membership also allows you to access Prime Video. That means you can watch The Grand Tour, Good Omens, The Man In The High Castle and The Rings of Power. It also allows you to watch sport on Prime including Premier League and Champions League football.

Prime also gets you perks such as access to Prime Gaming, which lets you play a selection of games free.

How to get a bargain on Prime Day

There are multiple ways to get a cheap deal on Prime Day. The easiest way to do it is to sign up to Prime now and create a wishlist of items you want to keep an eye on.

The wishlist allows you to put all your items in one place and you can then track prices. As soon as the prices drop to the level you want you can buy them.

During Prime Day you can also keep an eye out for Lightning Deals - these are time-limited and stop once a certain number are sold. Other options include the heavily discounted Amazon Warehouse section, where tech returns can be purchased at ultra-low prices.

You can shop the Prime Day sale here.