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It’s official: All four major retailers have announced their October holiday sales. The main event is Amazon’s two-day Prime Big Deal Days promotion; the remainder were all announced in response to it, and have coinciding dates that position them to directly compete with the online shopping juggernaut.
Today, Walmart’s became the last one to officially announce its own “Prime Day”-esque promotion, and there’s some good news for those of you who balk at the idea of paying for a membership to take advantage of a sale—it’s free to everyone.
What (and when) is Walmart’s October Prime Day competition sale?
Walmart’s response to Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days is a six-day sale starting on Oct. 8 (the same day as Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days) at 12 a.m. ET and running through Oct. 13. You can shop online or in person and you can find deals on virtually anything they sell that you can’t eat.
Do you need to be a member to shop for Walmart’s October sale?
Unlike Amazon or Best Buy (and like Target), you can participate in all of Walmart’s holiday sales without needing to be a paying member. However, Walmart+ members will get a 12-hour head start (exclusively online) on the deals compared to everyone else. To become a Walmart+ member is $98 a year but you can always get a 30-day free trial.
What deals can you expect during Walmart’s October sale?
Walmart was kind enough to publicize some of their deals, which will start on Oct. 8. Although these products are available right now, you won’t see the discounted prices until the sale starts:
Other retailers with competing sales
In addition to Walmart and Amazon, Target has “Circle Week,” a whole week of deals starting on Oct. 6 for Circle members (which is also free to join). Best Buy’s sale which lasts nearly a whole month and includes five different events, starts on Sept. 27 and runs through Oct. 25, and will require you to be a paid member to score the best deals.
Amazon will likely command the lion’s share of the day’s spending, but every retailer typically has a killer deal or two that outdoes the others, so it’s worth planning ahead if you’re eyeing any big ticket items.
