Amazon has confirmed the dates for its US Black Friday Week and Cyber Monday: the sale starts at 12:01 a.m. PT on Thursday 19 November and runs through Monday 30 November. That’s twelve days. The new part is timing: on Black Friday (27 November) and Cyber Monday (30 November), Amazon’s featured “Today’s Big Deals” drop twice, at midnight and again at 8 a.m. PT. Amazon says this is the first time. If you sell in the US, your ad budgets and stock need to last twelve days, and on the two peak days a campaign that runs out of budget early can miss the second drop.

What changed

  • Dates and start time. Black Friday Week and Cyber Monday run 19–30 November, starting 12:01 a.m. PT on 19 November. US store only; the announcement doesn’t mention any other country. Source: Amazon press release and About Amazon, both 9 November.
  • Twelve days of themed deal drops. “Today’s Big Deals” run for each of the twelve days, by theme: Toys, Tech, Fashion, Beauty, Premium Gifts and Stocking Stuffers. Amazon says the deals are available “only while supplies last”. Source: Amazon press release.
  • Two drops on each peak day. On Black Friday and Cyber Monday, deals drop at midnight and at 8 a.m. PT. Amazon calls this a first. Source: Amazon press release and About Amazon.
  • Not a Prime-only event. The main electronics, beauty, fashion, toy and home deals aren’t labelled Prime-only. Some side offers are for Prime members only. Source: About Amazon.
  • Small businesses get a way to be found. Amazon tells shoppers they can ask Alexa for Shopping to “shop small businesses” or look for the Small Business badge. Source: Amazon press release.

What it means for a private-label seller

Your peak is twelve days long, not one. A budget sized for Black Friday alone runs out early. Spread over 19–30 November, the same money is thinner on each day. Decide now which days you want to win, rather than finding out on the 24th that you’ve spent too much already.

The 8 a.m. drop is a second morning peak. Amazon is sending shoppers back to the deals page at 8 a.m. PT on the 27th and the 30th. If your campaigns already ran out of daily budget overnight, you’re not showing for the second wave. This is reasoning from the schedule, not a measured result. Amazon hasn’t published traffic figures for either drop.

Being “in” Today’s Big Deals is Amazon’s call. The announcement names the featured brands but doesn’t say how products are chosen for the daily drops. Plan around your own deals and ads. Don’t plan around being featured.

Stock that runs out early costs you twice. A deal that sells out on day three leaves you with nine days of paid clicks landing on an out-of-stock listing, and stops sales history at the moment it was building fastest. If you can’t send more stock to FBA before the event, a shallower discount that lasts all twelve days may beat a deep one that ends on the 21st.

Ad sales in this window aren’t all extra sales. Shoppers buy more over these twelve days whether or not they see your ad. Before you judge how the event went, compare your total sales with the weeks around it, not just ad-attributed sales.

What this doesn’t tell you

The announcement says nothing about deal submission deadlines, deal fees, how Today’s Big Deals are picked, FBA inbound cutoffs for this event, or how the Small Business badge is awarded. We’ve seen reports of a reopened Black Friday deal submission window, but couldn’t confirm it on a public Amazon page, so it’s not in this post. Check your Deals dashboard in Seller Central.

What to do about it

  1. Split your November ad budget across the twelve days on purpose, with the most on 27 and 30 November. Write the daily numbers down before the 19th so you aren’t deciding in the middle of the event.
  2. Check that your main campaigns still have budget at 8 a.m. PT on the 27th and 30th. Raise daily budgets for those two days, or set a schedule-based budget rule in your ad console, so you’re still running when the second drop lands.
  3. Divide what you have in stock by twelve days of expected sales, not by one big weekend. If it doesn’t stretch, make the discount smaller or shorter rather than selling out early.
  4. Open your Deals dashboard today to see which deals are scheduled for 19–30 November and whether any submission window is still open for your account.
  5. Write down your sales for 5–18 November as a baseline, so you can tell afterwards how much the event really added on top of your normal sales.

Sources

  • Amazon press release, 9 November 2026: dates 19–30 November, US store, twelve days of themed Today’s Big Deals, the two drops at midnight and 8 a.m. PT on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, “shop small businesses” and the Small Business badge
  • About Amazon, 9 November 2026: 12:01 a.m. PT start on 19 November, end date 30 November, the two drops on each peak day, which offers are Prime-only