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Happy Friday,
On July 8, Amazon opened ticket sales for its October event. The fees are published. The deadlines are published. The early-bird discount is published. The date of the event is not.
The invitation
Prime Big Deal Days returns "at the same time as last year," per Amazon — which was October 7–8. Asked directly whether that means October 6–7 this year, an Amazon spokesperson declined to say, noting the company "had not made any announcements about the event."
The submission window, by contrast, has been announced to the minute: July 8 through September 8. Submit by August 5 and save $50 on the upfront fee. It is possibly the first save-the-date in commercial history to include pricing tiers and omit the date. Weddings have been called off for less.
Over in the seller forums, someone did the arithmetic Amazon wouldn't: last year was the second Tuesday of October, so… the 6th and 7th, right? The thread settled on probably. Seven-figure operators are now planning Q4 by calendar inference, navigating by a star Amazon declines to confirm exists.
The cover charge
The economics of the mystery party, played straight: $100 upfront per promotion — $50 if you commit before knowing the date — plus 1.5% of promotional sales, capped at $5,000. Then, October 15 through January 14, holiday peak fulfillment fees add an average of 32 cents per unit.
Then the detail deserving of a frame: the 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge applies on top of the holiday peak fees. A surcharge, levied on a surcharge. Somewhere in Seattle, an accountant discovered recursion and nobody stopped him.
The house rules
Your deal price must sit at or below your lowest price of the last 60 days — and at least 5% under your lowest of the last 30. Coupons count. Which means the modest little promotion you ran in August is quietly your October price floor. Your past self is your deal's most dangerous competitor.
Amazon understands this hazard intimately — which is why Prime Big Deal Days prices are excluded from the lookback windows for Black Friday deals. They wrote an immunity clause so their October event can't poison their November event.
Your coupons receive no such diplomatic protection. Theirs travel with a motorcade.
This Week In Amazon
Alexa for Shopping now shows customers a full year of your price history. Your deal eligibility rules still remember 60 days. The machine has a better memory than the rulebook — and shares it with shoppers.
Prime members got $0.50 per gallon off this Fourth of July — on one fuel purchase. Singular. The savings revolution will be rationed.
Etsy spent June pointing shoppers at its 5,000 sellers named Jeff. No surname was mentioned. None was needed.
Quick Win
Before anyone on your team submits an October deal, run the floor audit. Pull every coupon, Lightning Deal, and price discount from the last 60 days for each candidate ASIN and mark the true price floor each one created. Then model the deal at that floor with the peak surcharge and the fuel surcharge loaded in. The artifact: a one-page deal-candidate sheet — ASIN, true floor, all-in margin, submit or skip. Ten minutes per SKU now beats a rejected deal in September or a negative-margin one in October.
P.S. Know a founder who's spent two years explaining to their board that the AI is mostly people? Forward this. The label finally changed. They can subscribe at newsletter.myAMZelite.com.
Any questions? Book a meeting with me here.
Dan Head
Founder, AMZ Elite
