The Prime Day vs Black Friday tradeoff
Amazon Prime Day (typically July) and Black Friday week (November) both run as multi-day Lightning Deal events with deeper-than-normal discount depth. For most categories, Black Friday is deeper, but for specific categories Prime Day consistently beats Black Friday in most years.
For shoppers planning major Amazon purchases, knowing which categories favor Prime Day vs Black Friday avoids buying at the wrong window. Cumulatively across 5 to 10 major Amazon purchases per year, choosing the right window saves $100 to $400.
Where Prime Day beats Black Friday
Apple AirPods Pro 2 USB-C at Amazon during Prime Day (July) typically hits $169 to $189 vs $249 list. Black Friday at Amazon usually matches but does not beat Prime Day on AirPods Pro 2. Both Prime Day and Black Friday at Amazon trail Best Buy and Costco on AirPods Pro 2 by $20 to $40 (Apple gives Best Buy and Costco direct seasonal pricing authority).
Sony WH-1000XM5 Lightning Deals at Amazon during Prime Day hit $249 to $279 vs $399 list. Black Friday at Amazon typically matches the Prime Day floor on WH-1000XM5. For shoppers willing to wait either window, both work.
Some premium third-party brands (Anker, Eufy, Ring, Echo Show) see deeper Prime Day pricing than Black Friday because Amazon coordinates inventory with Sony, Apple, and select brand partners specifically for the Prime Day window.
Where Black Friday beats Prime Day
Most TV brands (Samsung, LG OLED, Sony Bravia, Hisense U-series, TCL Q-series) discount deeper at Black Friday than Prime Day at Amazon. Sony Bravia 9 65-inch at Amazon Prime Day 2024 was $2,799; at Best Buy Black Friday 2024 was $2,499 (with Best Buy beating Amazon). Hisense U8K 65-inch at Amazon Prime Day was $698; at Amazon Black Friday Lightning Deal was $698 with deeper Cyber Monday at $598.
Most laptops (Acer, Lenovo, ASUS, HP, Dell, MacBook) discount deeper at Black Friday than Prime Day. Acer Aspire 5 Black Friday floor at $329 vs Prime Day floor of $399 in 2024. MacBook Air M2 Black Friday floor at Best Buy $749 vs Prime Day $899 (Apple-specific seasonal pricing pattern).
For most kitchen appliances (KitchenAid stand mixer, Vitamix), Prime Big Deal Days in October sometimes beats both Prime Day in July and Black Friday in November on specific models. Vitamix 5200 Prime Big Deal Days October 2024 was $349 vs Prime Day at $399 vs Black Friday at $379.
How Prime Big Deal Days October fits
Prime Big Deal Days (typically mid-October) is Amazon's third major annual Lightning Deal event after Prime Day and Black Friday. For Amazon house brands (Fire TV, Echo, Ring), Prime Big Deal Days typically matches or beats Black Friday on specific models. Fire TV Omni QLED 65-inch hit $499 during Prime Big Deal Days 2024, matching only the deepest Black Friday Lightning Deal pricing.
For Vitamix specifically, Prime Big Deal Days has beaten Black Friday in 4 of the last 5 years. For shoppers planning Vitamix purchases, October is the right window to track.
How to choose between Prime Day, Prime Big Deal Days, and Black Friday
For Apple products (MacBook, AirPods, Apple Watch), watch Best Buy and Costco rather than Amazon across all 3 windows. Apple gives those retailers direct seasonal pricing authority that Amazon does not match.
For Sony WH-1000XM5 and AirPods Pro 2 specifically, Prime Day and Black Friday at Amazon trade the lead with Best Buy. Cross-retailer URL tracking catches whichever is deeper for the specific year.
For most other categories (Acer, Lenovo, ASUS laptops; Hisense, TCL, Samsung TVs; Anker, Ring, Echo electronics), Black Friday at Amazon is usually deeper. Cyber Monday at Amazon sometimes catches the deeper window than Black Friday on specific Chromebook and gaming peripheral SKUs.
For Vitamix and select KitchenAid models, Prime Big Deal Days in October is often the deepest window.
How to set up multi-window tracking
For shoppers planning major Amazon purchases, tracking specific ASINs across all 3 windows tells you which is deeper for the specific model. Set monthly monitoring outside promotional windows. Switch to daily during Prime Day week (July), Prime Big Deal Days week (October), Black Friday week (November), and Cyber Monday.
DiffScout records the price at each check, building your own historical chart. After 1 to 2 years of cross-window tracking on the same ASIN, you can calculate the actual deepest window for the model you want and time future purchases optimally.
What Amazon Prime membership math adds
Amazon Prime ($139 per year) is required to access Prime Day and Prime Big Deal Days pricing. The membership pays back via Prime shipping savings, Prime Video, and grocery savings independently of Lightning Deals.
For shoppers without Prime, Black Friday at Amazon is accessible without membership; only Prime Day and Prime Big Deal Days are Prime-gated. The Prime Visa cobranded credit card earns 5 percent back on Amazon purchases for Prime members, paying back the Prime annual fee through cashback alone for shoppers spending $2,800-plus per year at Amazon.
The bottom line
For most categories, Black Friday at Amazon is deeper than Prime Day. For specific categories (AirPods Pro 2, Sony WH-1000XM5, Vitamix during Prime Big Deal Days October), Prime Day or Prime Big Deal Days beat Black Friday in most years.
For shoppers planning major Amazon purchases, tracking specific ASINs across all 3 Amazon promotional windows (Prime Day in July, Prime Big Deal Days in October, Black Friday in November plus Cyber Monday) catches the deepest window for the specific model.
*DiffScout tracks any Amazon ASIN across multiple promotional windows. Try it free →*