Amazon Black Friday and Cyber Monday: what to expect this year
Those Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals are just around the corner, so you should start drafting your shopping list ready to start looking out for some of the best deals on the year.
If you're looking for a selection of tech alongside a variety of other products, Amazon is set to be one of the best retailers you can head to when the sales period rolls around.
When the time comes, TechRadar will be here to give you the best deals from the most popular retailers over the sales period and we'll curating our best picks ready for you to scroll through, interrogate and, hopefully, be delighted with when it arrives on your doorstep.
Before all of that, we've put together our beginner's guide to Black Friday and we've done the same here as a guide on what to look out for from Amazon when the big day arrives.
We'll talk you through some of the best deals of last year, what we're expecting to see go on sale later in the year and give some solid advice on when you should keep your wallet secure and when you want to actually spend that cash.
How to get the best deals at Amazon on Black Friday / Cyber Monday
It's very difficult to say when you'll be able to buy the absolute very best deals, but the start of November is when we expect to hear more about what's going on in the deals world.
Most of this year's tech will be announced and we'll have a good understanding of what you'll be able to buy come the last full weekend in November.
November 23 is Black Friday, while Cyber Monday will be on November 26. Expect to see great deals across the whole weekend from a variety of retailers, but for Amazon it's set to be an even longer period.
Last year, Amazon ran a scheme called Deals of the Day that began on November 17. That's a whole week before Black Friday itself, which meant some products were on sale for a whole 10 days.
We saw some impressive deals in those first few days, but it wasn't anything like we saw over the weekend itself. That's when most of the discounts started to properly kick in, so we'd expect that to be the same again this year.
Amazon will probably run a similar scheme, and if it's over a 10 day stretch we'd expect that to start on November 16 and run for a whole week before Black Friday itself.
Our advice would be to check out what's happening over the days in the lead up to Black Friday, but don't spend money until you're certain you've got the best deal for you.
Last year, the company also brought extra Lightning Deals out each day in the run up and over the Black Friday weekend.
These are only active for a certain amount of time or until the stock is gone. Anyone can buy these, but if you were an Amazon Prime customer you were able to get access to these half an hour before everyone else.
We'd recommend being an Amazon Prime customer for that benefit, plus it also gives you access to the Amazon Prime Video service, free one-day delivery and a series of other benefits too.
The best part is, if you've never been an Amazon Prime subscriber before you can get a whole month for free.
If you haven't subscribed before, don't do it yet. You should activate your free 30 day trial a few days before the Lightning Deals begin, and that way you'll get all of these benefits across the whole sale period.
Our last bit of core advice is to check back at TechRadar for our selection of the best deals, and don't rely on Amazon having the lowest prices over the Black Friday period.
We'll be covering a wide range of retailers including Currys, Argos, John Lewis, Carphone Warehouse, AO and a variety of other topics like the best PS4, laptop and TV deals, plus many many more.
5 best deals at Amazon last year
Below we've put together five of the best deals we saw over the Black Friday period last year, but bear in mind you are no longer able to buy these at the discounted prices. There's no gurantee we'll see the same deals this year, but it gives you an idea of the discounts we're used to seeing.
5 best deals predictions for 2018
Reasons to choose or avoid Amazon
Most of the products on sale over the Black Friday period through Amazon will be included in the Amazon Prime section of the site, so you'll be able to get next day delivery if you subscribe to the service.
If you don't already subscribe, be sure to hold off as you'll have a 30 day free trial you'll be able to use closer to the time to ensure you're getting the best deals from Amazon.
There may also be some big offers on Amazon's own services too. We've previously seen fantastic deals on the Amazon Prime service as well as Audible and some other services provided by Amazon.
Also bear in mind that there are other retailers to choose from too. Amazon's own products are sold at third-party retailers, and considering the retailer now has its own big day in Amazon Prime Day we may start to see lesser deals over the Black Friday period.
Stick with TechRadar to get the best deals
We don't yet know what deals Amazon will offer over the Black Friday and Cyber Monday period, but we can gurantee one way you'll be able to find the best deals; coming back to TechRadar.
We'll be sifting through the deals Amazon and all the other top retailers around the UK will be offering and giving you honest advice on what and where is the best place to buy your big purchases.
If you want to keep an eye on the best deals, we'd heartily recommend following TRDeals on Twitter plus you can enter your email address below to join our mailing list so you'll get all of the information ahead of the Black Friday deals later in the year.
