Three of the country's largest retailers scheduled competing fall sale events for the same week this October — a rare moment of direct, dated overlap. Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days runs October 6-7, Target Circle Deal Days runs October 6-7 as well, and Walmart's "Deals & More" event runs a full week, October 5-11. Here's what actually separates them.
The dates
- Amazon Prime Big Deal Days: 48 hours, starting 12:01 a.m. PDT October 6 through October 7
- Target Circle Deal Days: October 6-7, with early access from October 5 for Target Circle 360 subscribers
- Walmart Deals & More: a full week, 12 a.m. ET October 5 through October 11
What it costs to shop each one
Amazon's event requires an active Prime membership. Target's requires a free Target Circle account — no purchase necessary to join. Walmart's sale, notably, is open to any shopper with no membership or account required at all.
We plan our events around how and when our customers want to shop. We know many customers are starting to think about the holidays earlier while also shopping for their everyday and seasonal needs, so we wanted to give them a full week to save in early October.
What's actually on sale where
- Amazon: deals across more than 35 categories, including Halloween costumes from $5 and candy under $10, groceries with markdowns as steep as 75% (avocados listed at $0.33 each), and Amazon Haul items starting at $1
- Walmart: up to 50% off home goods, 40% off technology, 30% off toys/food/Halloween items, 25% off tools, and 20% off wellness products
- Target: up to 40% off fashion brands (65% off Vera Bradley specifically), 30% off select furniture and bedding, and up to 40% off select Dyson vacuums
The bottom line
If you don't want to sign up for anything, Walmart's event is the only one of the three that requires no account at all — and it runs five days longer than its rivals. If you're already a Prime or Target Circle member, the category mix, not the sign-up cost, is what should decide where you shop first.
