Personal Finance

October Prime Days vs. Black Friday: Which has better deals?

Amazon is rolling out another two days of deals on Oct. 10 and 11, but does that mean you should do your holiday shopping now?

October Prime Days vs. Black Friday: Which has better deals?
Keith Srakocic/AP
SMS

We are coming up on Amazon's second Prime event of the year: Prime Big Deal Days in October. That has some shoppers wondering if you really need to wait until Black Friday for the best deals anymore.

After all, Amazon is about to throw down another two days' worth of deals on Oct. 10 and 11. That's great news for shoppers like Diane Hamm.

"I'll take advantage of it," she said.

Jackie Collins would like to get some holiday shopping done early, because, she said, "I want to get it done and out of the way."

When should you shop?

Are the best deals of the holiday season happening now, or like a kid waiting for Santa Claus, should you be more patient and wait for Black Friday?

Meg Streit is editor-in-chief of the Scripps sites Simplemost and Don't Waste Your Money.com.

"We're starting to see some early markdowns on basics like fall sweaters, mixing bowls and dishware," she said.

She follows all the early deals for Prime Big Deal Days and says more deals are coming.

"Look for deals on Amazon brands like Fire TVs and Echo devices," she said. "Last year during their October event, we saw markdowns on robot vacuums like Roomba vacuums, and Ninja blenders."

But these October events aren't for everyone. Some shoppers still crave the thrill of the hunt. So why would you want to wait for Black Friday?

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Kristin McGrath of BlackFriday.com suspects better deals on non-Amazon electronics will come later.

"Gaming consoles and Apple devices are things you probably want to wait for Black Friday for," she said.

In addition, non-Amazon name-brand 4KTVs are often at their biggest markdowns the week of Black Friday. But she said don't wait for deals on hot holiday toys, like Barbie.

"Not only might you get a discount now," she said, "but you're going to find it in stock, which is not a guarantee even as early as Black Friday."

So check for deals during October Prime Big Deal Days, but remember that you will find many more deals in November.