Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days opens in Canada as Walmart and Best Buy run rival fall sales

Amazon’s fall sales event, Prime Big Deal Days, began in Canada at 12:01 a.m. Pacific time Tuesday, or 3:01 a.m. Eastern, and runs through Wednesday, Oct. 7. The company says the 48-hour event offers Prime members “hundreds of thousands” of deals across more than 35 categories, from kitchen and home goods to electronics, beauty and early holiday gifts, according to its announcement. The deals are for members only; on Amazon.ca, Prime is listed at $9.99 a month or $99 a year after a 30-day free trial.

In a preview of the sale, Amazon lists discounts of up to 66 per cent on select Fire TV streaming devices, up to 60 per cent on select coffee and espresso machines, up to 54 per cent on select iRobot Roomba vacuums, up to 50 per cent on select Ring and Blink doorbells and cameras, up to 47 per cent on select Samsung SSDs and up to 39 per cent on select Dyson vacuums. Canadian brands in the lineup include Kamik footwear at up to 43 per cent off, Herschel bags at up to 35 per cent off and Jamieson vitamins at up to 29 per cent off. Amazon notes that deals and savings are subject to change and availability.

“As Canadians settle into fall and start thinking about everything from home projects to holiday prep, Prime Big Deal Days is the perfect time to save on all of it,” Eva Lorenz, vice-president and country manager of Amazon Canada, said in the announcement. The company is also offering three free months of Kindle Unlimited to new customers with Prime, four free months of Amazon Music Unlimited to Prime members who have not tried it, and a six-month Prime for Young Adults trial for eligible 19- to 24-year-olds and post-secondary students, after which membership costs $4.99 a month or $49 a year.

Amazon is not alone in the market this week. Walmart’s Deal Days sale offers up to 40 per cent off big-ticket items and runs until Oct. 11, while Best Buy’s Tech Fest sale includes discounts on Apple, Google, Garmin and Samsung products, Canoe reported in a roundup of competing Canadian promotions. Other retailers, including Aldo and Gap, have lined up their own fall sales around the same dates.

The flood of “was” and “now” prices puts a spotlight on Canada’s rules for discount claims. According to the Competition Bureau, a regular price used to advertise a sale must be genuine, and a business must be able to prove it by meeting one of two tests: more than half of the product’s sales were at that price or higher within a reasonable period, usually within a year, before or after the promotion; or the product was offered in good faith at that price or higher for a substantial period. If neither test is met, the discount claim can be considered misleading.

The bureau also warns about pressure tactics that may not be truthful, such as countdown timers that run out or reset while the offer remains available, “limited time” deals that continue long after the stated deadline, and claims like “Only 2 left in stock” when availability does not change over time. When false or misleading, such urgency cues can raise concerns under the law, the bureau says.

Amazon has faced the bureau on this issue before. In January 2017, Amazon.com.ca agreed to pay $1.1 million to settle the bureau’s concerns that “list price” comparisons on its Canadian site created the impression its prices were lower than prevailing market prices. The bureau said the company had relied on suppliers to provide list prices without verifying them. Amazon changed how it advertises list prices as part of a consent agreement registered with the Competition Tribunal, which has the force of a court order.

Prime Big Deal Days runs in 22 countries this season, with dates that may vary by country, Amazon said.

Sources: Amazon Canada (announcement); Amazon Canada (deal preview); Amazon.ca Prime membership page; Canoe; Competition Bureau: ordinary selling price; Competition Bureau: fake sales and discounts; Competition Bureau 2017 Amazon settlement (via Newswire).