Get ready for one of Amazon's biggest events of the year! Starting Monday, July 16, it's Amazon Prime Day. Everyone subscribed to Amazon Prime (both monthly and annual subscribers) will have special access to the longest Prime Day ever -- actually, it's a day and a half! Beginning at 3:00 p.m. EST on July 16, there will be a full 36 hours of fantastic deals on millions of Amazon products.

The first step to getting on Prime Day is to get an Amazon Prime subscription so you can take advantage of the huge offers. You can sign up for Amazon Prime for only $12.99/month, or $119 per year... or if you've never had an account, you can grab a 30-day free trial as well! Not only will you have full access to Prime Day, but you'll get all the regular Prime benefits as well. There are dozens of Amazon Prime benefits -- these are just the highlights:

  • Free two-day shipping on eligible items anywhere in the lower 48 states
  • Free same-day shipping (or one-day shipping if ordered after 12:00 p.m.) when you buy at least $35 of eligible products. This is only available in certain metro areas... but good news, Tampa/St. Petersburg is one of them!
  • Access to the Prime Video and Prime Music streaming services
  • Exclusive savings at Whole Foods Market
  • A 30-minute head start on Amazon's special Lightning Deals (except for the ones on Prime Day, of course)
  • Access to Prime Wardrobe, which gives you seven days to try on eligible clothing items and only pay for what you keep

Now that you have an Amazon Prime subscription, it's time to start mapping out your Prime Day shopping plan. There are two types of deals on Prime Day -- Lightning Deals and All-Day Deals. A Lightning Deal starts at a specific time and offers the biggest savings, but quantities are limited... and once the item is gone, it's gone! You don't have to worry about running out of the items in All-Day Deals, as they're available during the entire event. However, the savings on All-Day Deals aren't as big as Lightning Deals (although they're still big money savers).

Want a sneak peek of some of the items you can get on Prime Day? Download the Amazon app and search "Sneak Peeks" to see a selection of Prime Day specials. You can also turn on Personalized Notifications (in the Settings menu) so you can be alerted when one of your sneak peek specials begins.

Once Prime Day begins, there will of course be big savings on Amazon products, like Fire TV, Fire tablets, Kindle e-readers, and all Echo speakers. As for the rest of the specials, you can always see just how good the deals are by checking search engines like CamelCamelCamel, Keepa, or The Tracktor. All of these sites let you search Amazon's price histories to make sure the Prime Day prices are as low as you can go.

Other retailers have also started offering their own specials during Prime Day, too. Whether you head to Amazon or your local brick and mortar retailer, Amazon Prime Day on July 16 and 17 will be a great day to go shopping!

Look for more news on shopping around Tampa by visiting 813area.com. While you're there, sign up for free email updates to hear about the latest events!

Photo from Envato Elements