I’ve covered every Amazon Prime Day for the last seven years, so I’ve come to know what sort of products will be on sale and what best deals you can expect to see. That’s why my advice is always the same: if you want to buy an Amazon product – such as a Fire TV, Echo Dot, or a Kindle – then wait for the retailer’s members-only sale. That’s when we see the best prices of the year for all of these products.
But, hold on, what’s going on with these disappointing Kindle deals this year?
Let’s start with the standard Kindle, which is currently $84.99 at Amazon US and £64.99 at Amazon UK.
The UK deal? That one is actually okay. It equals the lowest price ever for the device – an offer that hasn’t been seen for over a year. Still, it’s only £5 cheaper than the deal that was available over last year’s Black Friday. Decent, but not great.
In the US, though, it’s all wrong. That $84.99 price tag isn’t even the lowest price I’ve seen this year, and it’s a whole $10 more than the previous record-low price that was available during the secondary and smaller Prime Day-esque sale in October 2023.
For a sale that’s supposed to reward Amazon Prime members with some exclusive and unbeatable offers, this feels incredibly underwhelming. But that’s just the start.
It gets worse
Now we get onto the Kindle Paperwhite, which is this year’s worst offender deals-wise, no matter which region you live in. You can pick it up for $134.99 at Amazon US and for £129.99 at Amazon UK this Prime Day – but I’m not sure that I can advise you to hit that ‘buy’ button.
Why? Well, it’s been cheaper before – much cheaper before, in some cases.
Let’s go to the US first where, according to our price tracking, the Kindle Paperwhite has been as low as $114.99 earlier this year. Worst of all, it was even cheaper than that during the second Prime Day last October, when it fell to $99.99. An extra $35 has been added to the deal price, seemingly from out of nowhere, which is a shame given how many people I’ve spoken to who had their eyes on one during this sale.
It’s a similar though not quite as damning story in the UK. Again, the Kindle Paperwhite has been cheaper than this year’s Prime Day deal – and that was only two months ago. True, it was only £10 less back in May; but I must reiterate, given that this sale is exclusively for Prime members (who are paying a membership fee to get access to these deals, remember) that the fact that it was cheaper for everyone previously stings just a little.
So, will there be a better time to buy?
Now you’ve seen the numbers, that leads me to the key question: should you still buy a Kindle this Prime Day? As with many things in life, there is no simple yes or no answer, but I can offer some advice based on my deals-hunting experience, and what I expect to see in sales later this year.
The Kindle Scribe is the one outlier, with new record-low prices available on the ereader-meets-notebook in both the US and the UK.
First off, if you really want your new ereader now, and aren’t too upset about having to spend a few extra bucks or pounds, then buying during Prime Day is a perfectly valid move. The deals are reasonable, if not exceptional, and the price differences compared to some previous record-low offers aren’t too dramatic – depending on the model.
If, on the other hand, you’ve only got eyes for bargains, or you were mulling over an upgrade from an old Kindle to a new device if the price was right, you’ve got a tougher decision to make this year.
If you want the standard Kindle, I think you’re relatively safe to buy today without the risk of getting stung by a much better price cut in the coming months. With this basic ereader equalling its lowest-ever price, or being just a few dollars above it, it’s not a huge difference in the grand scheme of things. It doesn’t feel great, but it’s fine.
When it comes to the Kindle Paperwhite, however, it’s a lot easier to suggest holding off for now – especially in the US. Given that this improved ereader has been as much as $35 cheaper (and down to $114.99 even for non-Prime members) there’s a really good chance of a better deal in the months ahead or during Black Friday.
The Kindle Scribe is the one outlier in all of this, with new record-low prices available on the ereader-meets-notebook in both the US and the UK. It’s down to $234.99 at Amazon US, and has dropped to £209.99 at Amazon UK. If that’s on your shopping list then I believe this is your best opportunity to buy one.
Of course, I don’t have any insider information here. Amazon could have decided that it no longer wanted to discount the Kindle by as much, or inflationary pressures may have meant those bigger price cuts were a thing of the past. What my gut says, though, is that you could save more money later in the year.
Either way, I thought it was important to point out that this year’s Amazon Prime Day Kindle deals aren’t all as good as they originally seem.