Celebrating 5 years in existence and being right up there with Arthur’s Day when it comes to made-up holidays, it’s nearly time for Amazon Prime Day 2020. It’s a day to bag a bargain and buy that thing you’ve been thinking about for quite some time. I once bought a drill that took me well over a year to find a use for, but I’m still glad I got it! I’m after taking a look at the 2019 Prime Day Guide and feel it needs some sprucing up before you go shopping.
Does Amazon Prime Day Matter In Ireland?
For many reasons, this is a valid question. Amazon never setup an Irish website so we’ve had to run of their UK. Now with Brexit and COVID-19 it’s fair to wonder if Prime Day is even something that Irish shoppers can benefit from. The good news is that it absolutely is! Some delivery times are slightly longer and you might need to use a virtual UK address for some things but there will be bargains to be had for shoppers in Ireland.
When Is Amazon Prime Day?
Calling it a day is a bit of a lie. Amazon Prime Day 2020 takes place on 13 and 14 October 2020. More specifically, the Prime Day sales kick off at 00.01 on Tuesday, 13 October and runs through to 23.59 on Wednesday, 14 October. If you’re at a loose end, the good news is that some of the best Prime Day Deals are already live and available to buy over on Amazon.co.uk.
Is It OK To Shop On Amazon?
You can only answer this question for yourself. I’ve personally been trying to shop locally whenever possible but I do still buy some things on Amazon.co.uk. Sometimes it’s the price, sometimes it’s a choice and sometimes it’s just convenience. Given the year businesses have had, please do try and shop local when you can. At the same time, Prime Day means massive discounts and can often mean buying something being a lot more affordable. Don’t feel bad about buying something you really want or need and saving substantially.
Before you can bag a bargain, there are a few things that are nice to have and things you’ll absolutely need.
Amazon Prime Membership
This is essential. Amazon Prime Day discounts are reserved exclusively for Prime members. Along with the discounts, a Prime Membership brings various other benefits.
Benefits Of Amazon Prime
- Next Day Delivery
- To Ireland this will usually take two days when using a virtual UK address
- Still really quick
- Amazon Prime Video access
- Limited Amazon Prime Music access
- Limited Amazon Prime Reading Access
- Amazon Photo storage
New Amazon Prime Customers
If you’ve not had an Amazon Prime Membership before, there’s a free trial you can make use of. You can sign up for this, enjoy Prime Day discounts and then cancel your membership if you don’t think you’ll continue to get value from it.
Existing Prime Customers
If you’re already an Amazon Prime customers you’re good to go. The membership costs £79 per year or £7.99 a month which means there’s a wee saving to be had by paying annually if you think it’s a sound investment. I’ll touch on this later, but pay with Revolut and you’ll save even more versus Amazon’s exchange rate. That should work out at about €90 per year or €9 per month.
There are benefits for existing customers too. Until 14 October existing Prime members can get four months of Amazon Music Unlimited for £0.99.
What Are The Best Prime Day Deals To Look Out For?
There will be some deals that spring up on the day but there are also annual favourites, some of which I’m repeating from last year’s guide but others are very much new for 2020.
Echo Devices
Amazon has announced a new suite of Amazon Echo devices and you can be sure they’ll all be discounted for Prime Day. These voice assistants are great for helping with little jobs around the house. I use timers and reminders a lot but you can also download various skills and even use them for video and voice calls. There’s never a better time than Prime Day to pick up a new Echo device or your first one.
Amazon Fire TV
Another Amazon device that tends to be really popular during the Prime Day sales in the Fire TV stick. I use mine probably more than my Chromecast. The Fire TV stick is powered by Android and can have loads apps installed on it like Netflix, Prime Video and even Apple TV. It’s a handy little thing to have.
Home WiFi Mesh Booster
We’ve spent more time than ever at home this year and not all of it was for fun. Loads of us are working from home these days are that’s left us needing some things we’ve never thought of before. One of these things is a WiFi mesh system. A mesh system can also be referred to as a WiFi extender or WiFi booster. Basically, the modem you get from your internet provider is usually pretty crap. Mesh systems let you spread your WiFi to more of your house and even property. That means you can get WiFi in the garden if you link enough mesh modules together.
I’ve reviewed a few of these and the lies of the Google Nest Wifi is fantastic but pricy. You’ll find plenty of these systems on sale for Prime Day, including this Tenda Nova mesh system I’ve used in my mother’s house which works brilliantly.
The key thing to look out for is the area the mesh system covers and the are you’re trying to cover too.
Eufy Robovac
I tipped this last year and I have to do the same this year. I have a Eufy Robovac and I love it. There are loads of robotic vacuums on the market but Eufy seems to get the balance of quality and value just right versus the industry leaders like Roomba. Again, spending more than at home than ever means we’re probably making more of a mess so this is a great way to get some of your time back. Automate that task you really hate with a Robovac.
Other Tips For Amazon Prime Day
I’ll be checking out other offers on the day so follow me on Twitter to get updates on the day. There is two other big things you should know about making sure you get good value on Prime Day.
Using Revolut
I was shocked recently when shopping on the ASOS website in the UK. I was shopping with the site set to Euro. I knew you can sometimes get a better rate if you pay in Sterling so I swapped it over. What I couldn’t believe was that I saved nearly €67 on €330 order by doing so.
This is because the ASOS website uses its own currency conversion. The Amazon.co.uk website is the very same and you can save a couple of Euro by paying in Sterling and not Euro. The reason for this, at least for me, is that I’m paying with Revolut. When paying with Revolut, I can pay in Sterling and use their exchange rate not Amazon’s. Being a kind of a bank, Revolut has access to the interbank exchange rate and always gives you the best rate in that instant. So if you can, pay in Sterling on UK sites and save yourself some money.
Virtual UK Addresses
Another favourite of mine is using a virtual UK address. These allow you to get your package delivered to a UK address of a courier company like Nightline, DPD or even An Post. They’ll then bring your package to Ireland and deliver either to a locker, to your address or the local post office.
The benefit of using a virtual UK address is manifold! They let you get faster shipping, sometimes cheaper shipping and even let you order some products which aren’t shipped to Ireland at all.
That’s it for now, but we’ll be updating this article in the countdown to Amazon Prime Day 2020, so hit that wee bell in the bottom left corner for push notifications. We normally only send them for new articles but will include push notifications for updates here too.
Amazon Prime Day: Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, there is. Amazon’s annual Prime Day event is taking place on 13 and 14 October, 2020.
It does indeed. Amazon Prime works all year round in Ireland. Sometimes you might need to use a virtual UK address but you can nearly always benefit from Amazon Prime in Ireland. For that reason, you can also bag a bargain during the Prime Day Event.
There’s no easy answer to this question. It’s tough to justify paying more money locally if you can save money on Amazon.co.uk. If the prices are similar, we recommend shopping local as much as possible, especially given the year businesses in Ireland have had. But if you are saving significantly and can’t afford to spend more, you should take advantage of the discounts and enjoy your purchases.
Amazon Prime £79 per year or £7.99 a month. That means you’ll save a bit by paying the lot upfront. Pay with Revolut and save even more on the exchange rate. That should work out at about €90 per year or €9 per month.
Most of the time, in order to buy these products you’ll need to use a virtual UK address from someone like Parcel Motel, DPD or An Post. If it still doesn’t work, make sure you’ve tried An Post. They have a mainland UK address which nearly always works versus the Northern Ireland addresses.
Note: When you click a link on this page, head over to Amazon.co.uk and make a purchase, we may get a small percentage of the sale. It doesn’t cost you anything extra but it’s one of the ways you can support us in continuing to bring the latest tech news to the masses. Thanks in advance!
