Amazon Prime Day 2022 in Australia: what happened and will there be another?

Prime Day 2022 is over now... or is it? Rumours abound that there's going to be another one again later this year

Amazon Prime Day
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(Image credit: Amazon)
How to shop Prime Day deals

Prime Day is a members-only event, meaning you'll need to be an Amazon Prime subscriber to make the most of the big sale. If you'd like to participate, click on the link below to sign up and you'll get a 30-day free trial, plus free and fast delivery on millions of eligible products, and access to a lot of other Amazon services, including Prime Video, Prime Reading and Prime Gaming (previously called Twitch).
Sign up for Amazon Prime now (opens in new tab)

Amazon Prime Day 2022 is over and we're quite sure that, if you shopped during this mega sale event, you saved yourself an absolute fortune. Turns out, we may not be done with the event just yet. There have been reports of Amazon apparently planning a round two of Prime Day again for later this year, but there's no official word on that and they're still just rumours.

If Amazon does decide to go ahead with a second Prime Day this year, it would be the first time since it all began in the US in 2015. The rumours suggest that, if there is a round two, it would be held in October of this year. Perhaps that might come to pass – we'll have to wait for official word of course – but it won't be the first Prime Day to be held in October. Remember 2020?

If you're still not familiar with all the fuss around Prime Day, then perhaps you haven't tried Amazon's Prime service yet. If so, you can get a taste of all its benefits by signing up for Prime now (opens in new tab) and you'll get a 30-day free trial to sample the goodies. It costs AU$.699 a month or AU$59 a year, and gets you free and fast delivery on all Prime-eligible items, plus access to Prime Video, Prime Reading and Twitch (now called Prime Gaming).

That said, once you use up your 30-day trial, you don't get it back. So if you're looking forward to the next Prime Day, we'd recommend holding off till just before the next big sale, so you get to participate and pocket plenty of savings.

When was Amazon Prime Day 2022?

Prime Day 2022 was held from July 12-14 in Australia, with the last day for deals available from Amazon UK and Amazon US (which can be found on our local site).

Having the sale in mid-July meant Amazon got back to schedule with its Prime Day events. They're typically held during this time of year, but historically have kicked off on a Monday. So to start on a Tuesday is a little different but not unheard of.

As with previous Prime Days, we got to bargain hunt over 65 hours. That's because, as we just mentioned, we get to shop some products shipping in from Amazon UK and US. So Australia's Prime Day goes on till it ends over on the US West Coast.

When will the next Amazon Prime Day be held?

There are rumours suggesting that Amazon Prime Day 2022 might come again... well, the second one. According to some US publications, Amazon had apparently asked its third-party sellers to share a list of fresh lightning deals by the end of July. That means the deadline for the new deals was after Prime Day 2022 itself. So perhaps we're going to get a second instalment.

When, though, is the question we'd like answered. Amazon hasn't said a word about it yet, so take this with a pinch of salt till things are official, but apparently the second Prime Day 2022 will be some time in October.

Considering Prime Day 2020 was in October due to the pandemic and stock issues, we wouldn't be surprised by this timeline at all. There is precedent for it after all. Or perhaps Amazon won't call it 'Prime Day' – it could just be a nice big sale to usher in Black Friday in November.

What is Amazon Prime Day?

Prime Day began as a 24-hour sale in the US in 2015 to celebrate Amazon's 20th anniversary, but it quickly took a very different role for the retail giant. With a higher volume of deals than on the corresponding Black Friday and with bigger discounts on offer, it proved to me a money mill for Amazon, and the company has carried on hosting the big sale ever since.

It has, of course, grown. It's now held in several countries and over 48 hours. In Australia, however, we get a whooping 65 hours to enjoy shopping. That's because we get to purchase items that are imported from the US and the UK, so the sale carries on till it ends on the US West Coast.

It’s worth reiterating that the bulk of the Prime Day deals are exclusively available only to Prime members, so to get the best savings out of this event you will need an Amazon Prime membership (opens in new tab). In Australia, Amazon Prime is billed at just AU$6.99 per month, or AU$59 yearly. This small fee gets you not only access to great deals and savings, you also get free expedited shipping on thousands of eligible items, as well as free access to Amazon services like Prime Video, Prime Reading and Prime Gaming (aka Twitch).

Amazon Prime Day deals to expect

Prime Day always offers incredible savings across tens of thousands of products from beauty to consumer electronics, fashion, home improvement and tools, luggage, pantry food and drink, toys, video games and more. 

First and foremost of the discounts will be on Amazon's own hardware. You can pick a smart speaker or smart display for a fraction of their RRP, throw in a few smart lights to kickstart your smart home setup. If that's just one too many 'smarts' for you, and you prefer a good story to get lost in, Prime Day is a great time to pick up a Kindle. And, more importantly, there's a very good chance Amazon will either discount Kindle Unlimited or offer an extended free trial of three months to new customers.

Prime members will also be able to access deals across big brands such as Bosch, Calvin Klein, Fitbit, Lacoste, Lego, Lenovo, L’Oreal, Nintendo, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony, Yamaha and more. 

Other Prime Day regulars are electric toothbrushes, wireless headphones and speakers, cameras and so much more, so expect discounts from brands including Bose, Philips, Sony, Samsung and others.

The important bit here is that Amazon now has an Apple Store on its site and, as of December 2021, iPhones are available as well. Prime Day 2022 saw discounts on the iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 models but not the 13. So perhaps that will be the case next time round. Apple Watch 7 got a rare discount, so here's hoping we see more of that.

Top deals from Prime Day 2022

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The North Face | up to 44% off jackets

The North Face’s thermal jackets can cost a pretty penny, but for Amazon Prime Day 2022 you could grab a new jacket for just AU$169. There were discounts for both men and women's styles, but only on a select few with sizing a little hit and miss.

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Nintendo Switch | AU$469 AU$339 (AU$130 off)

The price for the regular Switch was pretty darn good this Prime Day past, AU$9 less than its previous Prime Day (2020) low. So here's hoping we see even bigger discounts as this console gets lapped up whenever there's a big sale.

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Apple Watch 7 (GPS, 41mm) | from AU$599 from AU$497 (AU$102 off)

Since its launch last year, the Apple Watch 7 hardly saw a discount – we'll put that down to stock issues. So seeing over AU$100 off during Prime Day 2022 made this one of the standout offers. Whether we'll see better discounts than this again is anyone's guess, but here's hoping. Perhaps by the time the next Prime Day comes round, it could be the Series 8 that's discounted...? Fingers crossed.

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De'Longhi Magnifica automatic coffee machine | AU$1,099 AU$624.95 (AU$474.05 off)

For an automatic cappuccino machine, this is an expensive proposition, but when it drops in price this dramatically (by 43% to be precise), it's hard to ignore. And it's an absolute pick-me-up at this price. It makes two cuppas at the same time, has a milk frother too and makes a great cup of joe. Perhaps we'll see other coffee machines get such deep discounts next time round.

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Philips Airfryer Essential (HD9200/21) | AU$199 AU$99.95 (AU$99.05 off)

At half price, this was a sizzling deal indeed! Admittedly it's a small-capacity air fryer, but it can do a few things, is easy to use and came down to under a hundred buck. You couldn't have asked for more.

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Lego sets | up to 41% off

Massive discounts on Lego was great news for the little children and the big ones. Who doesn't love a good Lego set? No matter what you like, there's a set for you – Star Wars, Harry Potter, Batman, even flowers. And to be able to save money on those sets, that's just the icing on the blocky cake.

Is Prime free on Prime Day?

If you have not had an Amazon Prime account before then, yes, you can get a free Prime trial for Prime Day (or for any other day). Amazon offers all customers a free 30-day trial of Prime. You can cancel at any time during the trial and you won't be charged a thing.

If you decide to pay for Prime once your trial ends, that'll cost you AU$6.99 a month or AU $59 a year. Unlike in the US, Amazon Australia does not offer discounted student memberships or a family plan.

Click here to sign up for an Amazon Prime membership (opens in new tab).

How to find the best Prime Day deals

Shopping Amazon Prime Day can be an exhausting and overwhelming experience if you aren't prepared for what's ahead. While Prime Day is some of the most fun deal hunters will have all year, it can easily go bad if you aren't sure what of to look for – or how to look for it. Here are some helpful suggestions to shopping Amazon Prime Day and tips on how to save the most money this year.

Don't just shop at Amazon: This may be a weird one to hear, considering this is Amazon Prime Day we're talking about, but hear us out. Since Prime Day has gotten so dang popular over the years, many retailers out there are trying to get in on the action by running their own Prime Day-like sales alongside Amazon. If you've got a favourite store you like to shop at, don't be afraid to shop there as well. You'll be surprised what kind of discounts you can find.

Trust your gut on reviews: Here's the thing with Amazon's review system, it's not very good at filtering out useless and unhelpful feedback. If you head to almost any major product released in the past year, you'll see one star reviews with one sentence clearly expressing dissatisfaction and nothing else. You may even find "fake reviews" to help deter you from a good product or even steer you towards buying a bad product. If it's something you truly want and it's on sale, reviews may help but at the end of the day it's your money!

Compare prices: This applies to everything. Clothing, electronics, you name it. If it's on sale during Prime Day, chances are every seller who has it is dropping their prices. What you may not know, however, is that it may be cheaper in some cases to check out alternative sellers. Don't be afraid to click that "see other buying options" button from time to time.

Stick with us: If you don't want to spend too much time and energy in bargain hunting during Prime Day, then bookmark this page as we'll be doing just that for you. T3's deals team will be on hand to pick out the juiciest offers on a wide variety of tech and lifestyle products and we'll list them right here in an easy-to-navigate page.

Are Prime Day deals worth it?

The question of "Are Prime Day deals worth it?" gets asked quite a lot around this time, and quite frankly there's a yes and a no answer to this one. Depending on what exactly you're hoping to buy, Prime Day could be the perfect chance to get the best discount, while it may be more beneficial to wait until Black Friday / Cyber Monday sales when the same or similar product could see a bigger discount at a different retailer.

That said, Prime Day deals are definitely worth if when it comes to electronics, smart tech and, of course, Prime services. Most Prime services, including Kindle Unlimited (opens in new tab) and Amazon Music Unlimited (opens in new tab)  get some pretty sweet offers for newcomers and Prime members alike.

Sharmishta Sarkar

Sharmishta is T3 sister site TechRadar's Managing Editor for APAC, and contributes to T3 on occasion, particularly if any local Aussie product testing is needed. She's a keen photographer, managing Digital Camera World for the APAC region, and also helps produce two of Future's photography magazines in Australia. She loves trying to find ways and means to make her home (and life) smarter and, when she's got time to herself, she can usually be found with her nose buried in a good book... erm, ereader.