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Was Amazon’s Prime Day sequel worth it? Here’s our Prime Early Access Sale postmortem.

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UPDATE: Oct. 14, 2022, 12:55 p.m. EDT This story has been updated.

Prime Day 2: Electric Boogaloo. Prime Day 2 Fast 2 Furious. Prime Day: Episode II – Jeff Bezos Strikes Back.

Amazon went with “Prime Early Access Sale,” but whatever you called it, a new Prime Day-style savings event ushered in deep discounts across the site from Oct. 11 through 12. The sale marked Amazon’s earliest-ever start to the holiday shopping season and the first time it’s hosted two events for members of its Prime subscription service in the same calendar year, the first of which fell on July 12 and 13 in 2022. It also introduced a new Top 100 list of popular gifts in addition to its usual holiday guides.

The retail giant faced a massive challenge with the Prime Early Access Sale in convincing consumers not to postpone their holiday shopping until Black Friday, when products are usually at their year-round lows. Unlike Target, for example, which has already begun rolling out Black Friday deals, Amazon doesn’t have a price guarantee to soothe skittish shoppers who are (rightfully) worried things will get cheaper in November or December.

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The pressure to win consumers over was magnified by the fact that Amazon had an especially sluggish Q2, posting its slowest growth rate since 2001. Its CEO attributed the results to economic conditions related to the pandemic and Russia’s war with Ukraine, as CNBC reported.

Early numbers indicate that the Prime Early Access Sale wasn’t the blowout Amazon maybe hoped for. According to household order data compiled by Numerator, a consumer insights firm:

  • The average order size during the Prime Early Access Sale was $46.68, down from $60.29 during Prime Day in July.

  • Of shoppers who stopped by the Prime Early Access Sale and the original Prime Day, 64% spent the same or less this time around.

  • Inflation was a top-of-mind concern for 79% of Prime Early Access Sale shoppers. While one in three bought a specific item they’d been holding out on because it got a price drop during the event, 1 in 4 abandoned a great deal on something “because it wasn’t a necessity.”

Shame, too, because many of the deals were all that great, beating or matching previous discounts Amazon’s offered.

What were the best deals from the Prime Early Access Sale?

Amazon offered unprecedented markdowns across almost every category, from TVs and Apple devices to robot vacuums, pet tech, camping gear, workout equipment, and even everyday household essentials like dish soap and diapers. Highlights included:

Products marked with an asterisk were bestsellers during the event, according to a press release.

In a very OG Prime Day move, Amazon also used the Prime Early Access Sale as an opportunity to plug its streaming services. Prime members who hadn’t tried Amazon Music Unlimited before could get four months free; nonmembers got three months free (normally $9.99/month). And if you needed something new to watch, a Prime membership unlocked deals on select new and popular titles from the Prime Video library. (Half off Morbius, anyone?)

Other event-specific perks for Prime members included a free $10 promotional credit with the purchase of any $50 gift card from select brands and 20% off any GrubHub order over $15 with the code “Prime20.”

Who competed with the Prime Early Access Sale?

Target got a jump on Amazon with the revival of “Deal Days” from Oct. 6 to 8, which marked the start of its holiday season and the beginning of its extra-long Holiday Price Match Guarantee (good through Dec. 24). It hasn’t wasted a moment since: Target’s Black Friday sale is now live through Thanksgiving weekend in stores, online, and via the Target app, delivering weekly and daily deals with its “best planned prices for the holiday season.” Top offers so far include 50% off the Beats Solo3 headphones, half off the Keurig K-mini, and free gift card promotions with household essentials and select skincare purchases.

Walmart also vied for a slice of Amazon’s pie with a four-day “Rollbacks and More” sale from Oct. 10 through 13, which featured juicy discounts on the Dyson V12 Detect Slim, third-gen AirPods, Splatoon 3, and Samsung Galaxy tablets in addition to a rare Xbox Series X restock. If you’re thinking about scoping out its Black Friday sale in the coming weeks, note that the big box store has extended its holiday return policy: Eligible purchases made there can be returned through Jan. 31, 2023.

Amazon got more competition on Oct. 11, when Bed Bath & Beyond debuted deals on home goods and kitchen appliances as part of its Beyond Big Sale (live through Oct. 16, or four whole days after the Prime Early Access Sale ended).

How to sign up for Amazon Prime

Want to be prepared for the next Prime event? Anyone who hasn’t been an Amazon Prime member within the past 12 months can sign up for a free 30-day trial by following these steps:

  1. Visit amazon.com/prime.

  2. Click on the orange button that says “Start your free 30-day trial.”

  3. Sign in or create an Amazon account.

  4. Add a payment method and a billing address. (Don’t worry — you won’t be charged.)

  5. Click the yellow button that says “Activate your free trial.”

After your trial period ends, you’ll automatically be upgraded to a paid membership plan for $14.99 per month or $139 per year. Pro tip: The latter saves you just over $40 annually.

Getting your degree? Anyone with a .edu email address can take advantage of a free six-month trial that converts to a $7.49-a-month paid tier under the Prime Student program. (You can ride out that rate for four years or until graduation, whichever comes first.) As a member, you’re entitled to several bonus offers on top of the standard Prime perks:

  • A free six-month trial of LinkedIn Premium

  • A free three-month trial of Calm Premium, which renews at a discounted rate of $8.99/year (normally $69.99/year)

  • A month’s worth of free 24/7 homework help from Course Hero

  • Up to 10% off flights and hotels via StudentUniverse

EBT and Medicaid cardholders also qualify for a discounted monthly rate of $6.99 — you just have to verify your eligibility every 12 months.

Is Amazon Prime worth it?

Prime’s current annual rate is the result of a 17% price bump this spring (from $119 to $139), which wasn’t totally unexpected: Amazon has increased it by $20 every four years since 2014. But that higher cost is undoubtedly harder to swallow after two-plus years of a pandemic that made us ultra-reliant on deliveries — especially when Walmart’s rival service hovers at just $98 a year.

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That being said, $139 is still a decent value for all of the perks a Prime membership includes if you’re someone who does most of their shopping online. Subscribers get free two-day (or faster) shipping on millions of items, plus exclusive access to Prime Video, Prime Music, Prime Gaming, and Prime Reading libraries, unlimited photo storage with Amazon Photos, and a free year’s worth of Grubhub+. Amazon also offers special discounts on items to its members beyond special Prime events like the Early Access Sale. Check out Mashable’s guide to maximizing all the perks of a Prime membership while you’re at it.

But there is a way to shop Prime events without committing to a paid Prime membership, and that’s by scheduling your 30-day free trial around a sale. Just remember to cancel it as soon as the sale is over to avoid getting charged.