Amazon Black Friday deals 2019: What to expect and how to bag the best bargains
If you found a great deal during Amazon’s Prime Day event back July, you’ll be excited to know that the online shopping giant is promising even bigger things for Black Friday, the ultimate shopping event of the year.
With Amazon’s sales increasing by “millions” during the Black Friday period last year and Cyber Monday being the biggest shopping event in the retailer’s history, we’re expecting impressive deals across everything from tech and beauty to toys and fashion.
Black Friday always falls on the first Friday after Thanksgiving. This year, it will take place on Friday 29 November and will last the entire weekend, culminating with Cyber Monday, which is the online-only day of the sale.
Like every other retailer, Amazon’s main Black Friday sale will be on November 29. But its event usually lasts a lot longer than just a long weekend. Last year, the retailer’s sale ran for 10 days, featuring major discounts on everything from electronics to must-have toys, games, fashion, jewellery and beauty products.
Notorious players in the Cyber Monday world too, expect slashed prices on Amazon during the online-only part of the Black Friday period. As the event continues to get bigger and better, here’s our top tips on how to find the best Amazon deals this Black Friday.
Our IndyBest team has hand-picked every deal featured here. We may earn some commission from the links in this article, but our selections have been made independently and without bias. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
When is Black Friday?
As the sale falls on November 29 this year, there's less than a month for shoppers to find deals before Christmas.
But Black Friday deals – on the high street and online – begin long before the actual day, from anywhere between the week before to as early as mid October.
What were the best Amazon deals last year?
While Amazon is expected to offer particularly great deals across tech, fashion and toys, the retailer is notorious for slashing the prices of its own-brand products, with the Echo Dot being the global best-seller last Black Friday/Cyber Monday.
David Phelan, The Independent's tech writer says: “The company’s Echo smart speakers routinely hit their lowest prices on Black Friday, making them exceptional value, especially since they are always sold at or around cost-price outside of the November bunfight.
Expect Amazon’s Fire tablets, Kindle ebook readers and novelties such as the Amazon smart wall clock to become near-irresistible”
Amazon has also just announced new additions to its smart product range, including the "best sounding Echo ever", the Echo Studio: a music focused speaker capable of playing high definition audio. The popular Echo Dot has also been updated, with a new fabric design and better sound quality. It has also introduced the Echo Flex – a cheaper plug in smart speaker that makes it easier to place Alexa all round the home.
Among other launches, including an Amazon Echo Dot clock, and the Echo Show 8 (a smart speaker with an 8" screen), comes Amazon's Echo Buds – the retailer's new true wireless earphones with noise reduction and hands-free access to Alexa. All of the new Echo products are available to pre-order today, apart from the Echo Buds, but you can sign up to be notified when they become available.
How to get the best Amazon deals
The key to making the most of this annual event is not getting sucked into deals that look too good to be true. Instead, do your homework and come up with a list of products you're actually interested in. That way, you won’t buy lots of pointless things.
Then shop around for the best price, and make sure you know the actual RRP of the product, so you’ll know a good deal when you see one. To find the original price of a product, use PriceSpy or CamelCamelCamel – the latter is especially useful for Amazon.
Throughout Amazon’s sale, you can expect to find Deals of the Day which are featured for just 24 hours, Lightning Deals that are featured for several hours and Best Deals which can run for up to two weeks.
Sign up to Amazon’s daily deals email to get the best offers sent straight to your inbox. If you want your bargain buys to arrive as soon as possible, register for Amazon Prime ahead of the event.
Finally, be sure to check back in closer to Black Friday where the IndyBest team will be hand-selecting the best deals from a range of retailers, including Amazon, Curry's, John Lewis & Partners and more.
For more details on Black Friday, check out our guide.
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How to get the best Black Friday deals this year
