When is Amazon Prime Day in October 2022? Date and time revealed

Amazon Prime Day is October 11 and 12, and Prime members will have a second chance at deals one month before Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Amazon Prime Day in October 2022 date is happening this week starting tomorrow, October 11 at 3am ET / 12am PT. That’s what time we expect the first Prime Day deals to go live exclusively for paid Prime members. There’s no promise that this second Prime Day of the year will include a PS5 restock, but I’ll be tracking the page just in case the Sony console comes back in stock.

What is the Amazon Prime Early Access Sale?

Prime Early Access is what Amazon is calling its deals marathon running from October 11 at 3am ET to October 12 ending at 3am ET. This ‘Prime Day Part 2’ will be another full 48 hours of discounts on just about everything that Amazon sells. You should look out for the deepest discounts on Amazon Echo speakers, eero routers, Ring video doorbells and big-screen televisions at a reduced rate.

It was originally dubbed “Prime Fall,” according to CNBC, and is thought to be a way for Amazon to launch deals right before Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Why would Amazon have two Prime Days?

Amazon isn’t just looking to double-dip in sales (although that’s one reason it’s an attractive business decision). The Prime Day tomorrow is likely an effort to start the Black Friday play clock earlier than its top competitors, like Walmart, Target and Best Buy. Of course, now all three of those stores are holding discounts this week as a way to rival Amazon’s Prime Early Access sale.

Why the rush? It also has to do with consumer behavior in 2022. Shoppers today are eager to buy earlier in 2022 for two reasons, according to retail and manufacturing insiders I’ve talked to over the last two weeks.

First, inflation has people wanting to purchase sooner rather than later for fear that prices are going to continue to rise. Spending money now in October might be the wiser choice instead of waiting until November or December.

Second, the global chip shortage sent people into a buying panic last year and early this year. While the supply chain has caught up, people have learned their lesson and it’s still hard to find a PS5 restock, while the Xbox Series X price and Nintendo Switch OLED price have only stabilized recently. Demand for such products is down, but could pick up again right before the holidays based on recent consumer behavior. And Amazon will be right there with another Prime Day.

When is Amazon Prime Day in October?

The ramp-up to Amazon Prime Day has already started, with discounts being seeded on a daily basis in October – Amazon is once again offering a free year of GrubHub+ (although that’s never really gone away, it’s just now front-and-center again), and we may see more freebies to lure you onto the Amazon retail website.

The official start date and time is Tuesday, October 11 at midnight Pacific Time, the time zone where Amazon is located. That means the first set of deals will go live at 3am on the East Coast. But you might not have to stay up, as Amazon is known to launch many of its best deals in advance (especially for Amazon Devices), or they stick around for the entire 48 hours. You’re unlikely to miss the big discounts.

Likewise, Lightning deals are always rolling out around the clock, so keep it locked to my Twitter tracker as I highlight the best Amazon discounts. Some of the top deals won’t happen in the middle of the night – that would be a poor business tactic.

Will PS5 restock during either Prime Day?

Likely. The Amazon PS5 restock has switched to an email invitation system, but not many people have received a notice to buy the console. It may be building inventory.

Just look what Amazon did last year whenever it had a big sale. It sold the PS5 in the final three hours of the two-day Amazon Prime Day, essentially clearing everything in Prime members’ carts as they scrambled to purchase the Sony console. Genius.

Amazon hasn’t had the PlayStation 5 in stock often, yet we’ve seen ample supply during the Walmart PS5 restock, GameStop PS5 restock and Sony Direct PS5 restock in recent weeks. The Target PS5 restock, meanwhile, is taking a slower approach by trickling the console to stores locally (still bought online, though). That could very well set us up for a PS5 restock during Amazon Prime Day in October – right at the tail end again of the sales marathon again.

I’ll continue to keep tabs on all Amazon prices in October. Keep in mind that Amazon isn’t always going to have the best deals on Prime Day. Some of the best PS5 games sales came from Walmart earlier this summer as Prime Day happened.

Similarly, it’s not always big-box retailers that have the best discounts. The best PlayStation Plus discount code and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate 12-month membership can be bought from a small site called Eneba. It pays to shop around with experts.