Prime Day Vs. Black Friday: Which Sale Is Best?

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Update: October 10, 2024, 2:00 PM EDT Prime Big Deal Days 2024 is officially over, but some deals are still live – the list at the bottom of this post has been updated with the best.

The difference between Prime Day and Black Friday – their roots, anyway – is no mystery to anyone who's dabbled in online shopping before.

Most of us know that Black Friday is the big sales frenzy that happens around Thanksgiving leading up to the holiday, and every store you can think of is participating. Alternatively, named “Prime Day,” the event is an Amazon-specific event created by Amazon for its Prime subscription members.

The lines between these two shopping holidays aren't as blurred as those between Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday1. It has become almost indistinguishable from each other due to being a few days apart on the calendar, and 2. Black Friday relying heavily on online shopping, similar to Cyber ​​Monday.

But back to the question at hand. Most people don't care about these shopping holiday semantics. People want to know: Are there better deals on Prime Day or Black Friday?

Are there better deals on Amazon Prime Day or Black Friday?

Amazon hypes up Prime Day so much that you can't help but think of those two days in July and two in October as its Olympics. In the case of October Prime Day, specifically, Amazon Can't Might have the bandwidth to do the same bad thing for Black Friday a month later, right?

Jeff Bezos can be heard in the distance.

Amazon price history shows us that, in many cases, Black Friday goes as hard as Amazon Prime Day. It's not uncommon to plug the URL of any popular item from Amazon into Price Watch and Camel to see a few consistent dips to that item's all-time low price – some of those occurrences being mid-July (Prime Day) and late November (Black Friday), and a common third dip in mid-October (Prime Big Deal Days (which we know is basically another Prime Day).

Black Friday deals are a little more accessible and Prime Day deals don't require you to be a paying Prime member like Prime Day deals (most of the time). (It's the same story for Walmart's Walmart+ events and Walmart's Black Friday sales, even with a paid Walmart+ membership that still offers benefits like early access to Black Friday deals.)

In terms of what's on sale, there's a ton of overlap between Prime Day and Black Friday deals. Robot vacuums, headphones, Apple devices, laptops, and kitchen gear are all likely to get the same treatment, so if you find a stellar deal on one of those items, there's no need to wait until another event. Then the deal is better.

In some ways, shopping on Black Friday is better than Prime Day

A few categories play favorites. Black Friday is the best time of year to find A TV deals – aside from its own Fire TVs, Amazon doesn't go too hard with TV deals at any time of the year. Best Buy has a much wider selection at any point on its (virtual) shelves, notably offering larger screen premium options than Amazon. Although Best Buy runs competitive sales during Prime Day, it tends to have a bigger show during Black Friday.

Toy deals abound for Black Friday, making for a truly nostalgic holiday. If you're looking to sign up for a cheaper-than-usual streaming service, many of the big ones (Hulu and Peacock come to mind) are almost guaranteed to have Black Friday sales, and there's no excuse for them. Participate in Prime Day.

The best October Prime Day deals are still live:

Any deals marked with 🔥 are even cheaper.

• Apple MacBook Air, 13-inch (M2, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) — $749 $999 (Save $150) 🔥

• Apple iPad mini, 8.3-inch (A15 Bionic, WiFi, 64GB) — $349.99 $499 (Save $149.01) 🔥

• Apple AirPods Max (Lightning) — $394.99 $549 (Save $154.01)

• Anker Soundcore P30i Noise-Canceling Wireless Earbuds — $29.99 $49.99 (Save $20) 🔥

• Amazon 50-inch 4-Series 4K Fire TV — $279.99 $449.99 (Save $170) 🔥

• Hisense 85-inch U8 Mini LED ULED 4K TV — $1,797.99 $2,799.99 (Save $1,002) 🔥

• Eufy X10 Pro Omni Robot Vacuum — $549.99 $799.99 (Save $250) 🔥

• Roborock Qrevo Master — $949.99 $1,399.99 (Save $450 with coupon on side) 🔥

• Breville Barista Touch Espresso Machine — $799.95 $999.95 (Save $200) 🔥

• Keurig K-Mini Coffee Maker — $59.99 $99.99 (Save $40)

• Ninja Flip 8-in-1 Air Fryer Toaster Oven — $149.99 $199.99 (Save $50) 🔥

• Shark Flex Style Air Styling and Hair Drying System — $234.94 $299.99 (Save $65.05) 🔥

• Holy Stone HS175D Drone — $159.99 $199.99 (Save $40)

• Canon Pixma All-in-One Printer — $139 $199.99 (Save $60.99)