Home » Family » BLACK FRIDAY In July – and are you an AMAZON PRIME MEMBER yet???

BLACK FRIDAY In July – and are you an AMAZON PRIME MEMBER yet???

July 11, 2015 - By Ashley Johnston 14 Comments

It’s no secret that I’m an avid Amazon.com shopper. Anything that I CAN get on Amazon, I will. If it can save me a trip to the store (aka: I don’t have to haul my kiddos around in a shopping cart an extra time) AND it’s either the same price or cheaper — sign me up! Oh, and don’t forget FREE shipping.

But, have you heard that Amazon is having a huge list of Better than Black Friday deals going on in JULY?!?! Yes. True story.

Amazon has leaked that they will be having “BETTER THAN Black Friday Deals” happening on July 15th. All day long. And who doesn’t love a REALLY good deal! (I love stocking up for anything. Especially Christmas present. And school supplies.)
HERE’S SOME EXCLUSIVE SNEAK PEEKS OF PRODUCTS AND DEALS!

Fire TV Stick, fastest selling Amazon device of all time, $15 off
Kindle, $30 off
Fire HD 7, $60 off
Fire HD 7 Kids Edition, $60 off
32-inch LED TV, $75
40-inch 1080p LED TV, $115
Brand-name 32-inch Smart HDTV, under $200
50-inch 4K TV bundle, under $1000
Bose headphones at the lowest price ever on Amazon
Chromebook laptop, only $199
Over 50% off two Nikon COOLPIX cameras
Highly rated binoculars, under $120
Two security camera-kits, $279.99
K’NEX 2-in-1 Ferris Wheel Building Set (Amazon Exclusive), $35.99
K’NEX Crossfire Chaos Roller Coaster Building Set (Amazon Exclusive), $23.99
Playskool Heroes Transformers Rescue Bots Optimus Prime Figure (Amazon Exclusive), $9.99
iRobot Roomba Pet Vacuum Cleaning Robot, under $300
Husqvarna mower, under $300
40 lightning deals on DVDs up to 75% off
Up to 50% off any of the Harry Potter books
Save more than 70% on the Divergent Series Complete Box Set of books
Save up to 70% on select kitchen products from top brands like Cuisinart, KitchenAid, Foodsaver and Thermos
Save up to 50% on select tools for the DIY auto enthusiast
Connected Car and Scan Tool products starting at 60% off
Road-trip-ready automotive products starting at 50% off
Save more than 50% on Drinkwell Platinum Pet Fountain
30% off select clothing, shoes, jewelry, watches & more
60% off Amazon Elements Baby Wipes with code ELEMENTS60
Free luxury beauty sample box with $50 purchase of luxury beauty products, with promo code LUXSAMPLES
Buy an Amazon.com Gift Card multipack, get $10 in Amazon.com promotional credit
Get 25% bonus Amazon Coins when you buy 5,000 or 10,000 Amazon Coins
Prime Now will also offer deals in the six cities where the service is offered

So here’s the OFFICIAL release from Amazon: On the eve of Amazon’s 20th birthday, the company introduces Prime Day, a global shopping event, with more deals than Black Friday, exclusively for Prime members. On Wednesday, July 15, new and existing members in the U.S. will find deals starting atmidnightPDT, with new deals starting as often as every ten minutes

Here’s the catch. You HAVE to be an Amazon Prime Member to take advantage of these deals. But WAIT, WAIT…..don’t fret! Amazon is offering a FREE 30 DAY TRIAL of Amazon Prime.

If you decide you don’t like it…..cancel at any time. No biggee. But you’re not going to want to miss these deals on July 15th. So GO HERE to sign up!

If you’ve never tried it, I’m going to guess that you’re going to fall in love with Amazon Prime though…..just like so many others have. You can shop for anything at all, for often times better prices than the store — and FREE 2-day shipping. You can find everything from a clear plastic ruler, and a faucet, to a dining room hutch. And yes, I have purchased all three of those exact items (and a whole lot more) from Amazon.

(These are screen shots of actual items that I purchased.)

But it wasn’t until recently that I realized not everyone shopped on Amazon as much as I do. WHA?!?! I actually met a real live person here in Oklahoma (hi Kim!!) who hasn’t signed up for Amazon Prime (gasp!). Ha…..yeah, I know. ;) And even more shocking — she didn’t even really know what it was! This friend of mine is a mom to 5 little ones and I told her this will rock her momma world. (We tease back and forth about this whole Amazon thing, haha……love that girl!) But I realized there are probably plenty of others out there who aren’t basking in the joy of Amazon Prime. So, it’s time I spill my secrets with my friend Kim…..and all of YOU! And share why Amazon and I are the very best of friends. Because seriously, Amazon saves me a lot of time, money, and grief. Grief? Yes, it causes me unnecessary grief driving from store to store to store, looking for some random mystery item…and then never finding it. Have I mentioned that I have 4 kids, ages 8 and under? And they get hungry a lot? And tired of walking? So if there’s even a remote change that a store won’t carry it, I try to skip the store thing all together.

Here’s an example of why — We moved into our new house here in Oklahoma about 3 months ago and in the master closet, there is a vaulted ceiling and it has an upper tier of rods to hang clothing. But of course, we can’t reach it. So, we needed one of those long metal rods with a hook on the end to help us hang all of our off-season clothes way up high. So, we checked Target. And Walmart. And Bed Bath and Beyond. Nothing, nothing, aaaaaand nothing. Then Steve and I looked at each other and slapped our foreheads……duh, Amazon. Here are some of the options we found below.

And sure enough — we found all sort of lengths, qualities, and prices. And after reading the helpful reviews, we ended up with the one in the center for $17.50 (with yep, FREE shipping) and that sturdy 54-inch pole works PERFECTLY!!

So, what is Amazon Prime really mean?? Well, anyone can shop on Amazon. But an “Amazon Prime Membership” is a yearly subscription service for all of your Amazon products and services…..but that subscription includes a whole lot of goodness that MORE than makes up for the yearly subscription. But wait, don’t click away because of the subscription thing…..because you can always try it out for 30 days HERE, just to see if you like it.

We have been Amazon Prime members for, let’s see, more than 5 years I think?? And this is what we love about it:

SO MANY things to buy…from HOME: You can find just about anything on Amazon — shoes, books, jewelry, makeup, kitchen sinks, party supplies, kitchen gadgets, tools, rugs, electronics, furniture, groceries, light fixtures, office supplies, drying racks, books, mixing bowls, diapers, movies, nail polish, etc. I’m serious guys…if you need it, check Amazon first. They probably have it….and maybe even cheaper. Plus, they have so many brands and cool styles, colors, etc. (But you don’t have to be a member to have access to these things…..the perks are below.)
FREE 2-Day Shipping: Do you understand what that means? It means that even though it’s only a few days before a special day like Christmas/birthday/anniversary, you can find the perfect gift for someone living in another state, and get it to them in 2 days. For FREE. (They even have a 1-day shipping option that usually only costs a few dollars for Prime Members….you know, just in case!)
FREE Same-Day Delivery within 14 Metro Areas: If you live in one of the bigger metro areas in the U.S…..this means that even though everyone in your house is sick, you can have laundry detergent, cough drops, and I don’t know, some spare bath towels (seriously, you can buy anything) to your house without ever stepping out the door. For FREE.
FREE Unlimited Streaming of Movies/TV Series (with over 10,000 titles): Do you like to watch movies? Or past TV series? Well, this service is free. Enough said.
FREE Music: Over a million songs to choose from. Without Ads. :)
FREE Photo Storage: Unlimited photo storage. No more clogging up your computers’ storage.
FREE E-Books: Access to over 500,000 book titles. For free. Anytime you want to read them.
Early access to deals, Amazon elements, membership sharing perks, and MORE…

So, yes…so many reasons to sign up. But if you’ve never used Amazon Prime, give their 30 Day Free Trial a try. You can always decide it’s not really for you or that maybe you wouldn’t use it enough to make it worth it…and cancel before you ever pay anything. No biggee.

But the thing I value the very most, is the FREE shipping. And, the fact that they carry so many things that I can’t find locally. But even if I can find it locally….sometimes I don’t need something right away and don’t want to run to the store just for that item. Especially if I was just at the store and forgot something on my list (i.e. tape, glue, a ruler, bobbi pins, laundry detergent, etc.). I can just hop online real quick and purchase what I needed, stop worrying about needing it…and it will be on my doorstep in 2 days.

Check out some of the things we have purchased lately. All have been within the last 6 months….and are actual pictures of items from my order history. :)

As a side note, when you’re shopping for items, you’ll find several items from different sellers. Some items qualify for FREE 2-day shipping (and are qualified as “Amazon Prime items”) and other items are from sellers that Amazon hosts as safe and qualified sellers, but they may charge shipping. I would say that 95% of the time, I find the item I need as one of the Amazon Prime items and will receive the free shipping. But there are times when something that I can’t find in local stores and I can only find through one of Amazon’s other sellers…and I’ll pay for shipping. That is rare….but also, very worth it. Because it means that even MORE of the things I need but can’t find, are offered on Amazon.com.

Anyway, I realize I’m a little overly excited about this whole Amazon thing and even more so about this July 15th “Better Than Black Friday” sale they have going on…..but, well, it’s kinda like I stopped at the local mall and noticed that they were closing its doors and everything was on sale for 90% off. The first thing I would do is send out a mass text to all my local friends and tell them to get their buns over there. So, consider this your text…about Amazon!

I can’t wait to see what they are putting on sale that day. Time for some early Christmas shopping!!!!!! :)

Author Bio

Article Info

Ashley Johnston

Administrator at Make It & Love It

Ashley Johnston is a professional DIY costume maker, sewist, crafter, and owner of Make It & Love It. She is a mom of 5 and a wife to a very patient (with the craft clutter) husband. In case you’re wondering, she always chooses crafting/sewing/designing over mopping/dusting/wiping base boards……but bathrooms/laundry/full bellies are always attended to. Whew!