The Amazon Great Indian Sale is now live; expect discounts, Prime exclusive deals and cashback offers

Amazon’s first sale of 2017 will run from 20 January to 22 January. While the sale itself isn’t unusual, it marks the first time that Amazon is pushing its own digital payment service, Amazon Pay Balance.Called the Great Indian Sale, expect to see the usual “massive” discounts on consumer electronics, fashion, mobile phones, etc. during the sale. As is usual, there will be a number of cashback offers that you can avail. Amazon Prime subscribers will get 30 minutes early access to these deals.It’s always best to take these “sale” prices with a pinch of salt because Amazon and other ecommerce companies regularly raise prices at the time of a sale and then offer a “discount” that looks big.That said, Amazon Is offering up to 15 percent cashback on items purchased via Amazon Pay Balance. SBI Debit card holders can also expect to see either 10 percent or 15 percent cashback depending on whether they’re using the Amazon desktop site or the app respectively.Prime exclusive dealsAmazon is offering a number of deals that are exclusive to Amazon Prime subscribers. The Xiaomi Redmi 3S Prime, for example, will go on sale for Rs 8,999 (which was its original launch price) between 09:30 AM and 10:30 AM today. Other Prime exclusive deals include discounts on the Xbox One, Sennheiser Headphones and various fashion accessories.What is Amazon Pay Balance?Amazon Pay Balance, as Amazon calls it, was launched in December and might be confused for a digital wallet service like PayTM. Unlike PayTM, however, this service is only limited to payments on Amazon.in, whether on the app or on the site.Pay Balance can be topped up with a credit/debit card just as you would any other digital wallet service.Oh, and if you’re interested, Amazon says that there’s a chance of you winning 10 Renault Kwid cars or 10 all expenses paid trips to Europe for two (4N/5D); but only if you shop on the app.These prizes are only valid on orders of Rs 500 and above and if you live in Tamil Nadu, you’re not eligible to win.