Amazon Prime Day 2020 will feature tons of limited-time 'Lightning Deals' — here's how to get them

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Amazon lightning deals homepage — If you’re a deal-hunter, this section of Amazon will look familiar to you.

Amazon

Amazon Prime Day 2020 is coming October 13 and 14 and one of the most prevalent types of deals you’ll see in the event are Lightning Deals.
Amazon’s Lightning Deals are limited-time, limited-stock offers on anything from tech accessories to shoes.
They’re usually available to everyone, but on Amazon Prime Day 2020, they’re only available to Prime members.
There are ways to claim new deals as they arrive throughout the day, including setting up notifications that alert you when a deal goes live and adding yourself to a wait list after a deal has been 100% claimed.

Every day, Amazon hosts a variety of deals under the “Today’s Deals” tab on its site, including the following:

Deals of the Day: Last 24 hours.
Lightning Deals: Last a few hours, while supplies last.
Savings and Sales: Ongoing deals on select items or brands.
Coupons: Must be “clipped” in order for the discount to apply at checkout.
Prime Early Access Deals: Exclusive to Prime members, Lightning Deals that are available 30 minutes before they officially go live.

With the exception of Prime Early Access Deals, all these deals can usually be accessed by the public. However, during Amazon’s annual sales event, Amazon Prime Day, Lightning Deals can only be accessed by Prime members.

What is a Lightning Deal?

Lightning Deals are limited-time offers on anything from tech accessories to shoes that are live for only a few hours, not the whole day. Not only does the deal last for a short amount of time (a live countdown timer shows how much time you have left), but stock is also limited at the deal price.

You can check the progress of how many have been claimed on both the Lightning Deals homepage and the individual product detail page.

lightning deals example — Each Lightning Deal’s product page will tell you how many of the discounted products have been claimed and how much time you have to claim the deal.

Amazon

How to ‘watch’ a Lightning Deal

To stay on top of deal availability, you can visit the Upcoming Deals section on your desktop or in the free Amazon app (iOS, Android) to view all deals 24 hours before they go live.

Click “Watch this Deal” and you’ll receive push notifications on your phone when a deal is starting. This will be the best way to ensure you successfully grab a deal during the frenzy that is Amazon Prime Day.

prime day lightning deal — What it looks like to watch a Lightning Deal on the Amazon app. There’s a separate “Watching” section that organizes all the deals you’ve chosen to keep an eye on.

Amazon

What happens if the deal I want is 100% claimed?

The deals can get snatched up pretty quickly, but there’s still hope even if a Lightning Deal has been 100% claimed.

You can click “Join the Waitlist” in order to potentially get the deal anyway. Lightning Deal purchases must be made within 15 minutes of adding an item to your cart. If the purchase isn’t completed within that time frame, then the deal will be made available to the next customer on the wait list. Joining the wait list won’t guarantee you’ll be able to purchase the deal, but it’s certainly worth a shot.

If you want to shop Amazon Prime Day Lightning Deals, the rest of Amazon Prime Day, and Early Access Deals, remember that you have to be an Amazon Prime member first. You can sign up for a free 30-day trial of Prime here.