Image: Mike Seyfang/Flickr
Amazon is taking Black Friday and stretching it into a weeks-long deal bonanza with special privileges for Prime members, starting now and ending December 22.Amazon will offer over 30,000 "Lightning Deals" in its "Black Friday Deals Store" over the coming weeks, and Prime members will get a stab at them 30 minutes before they're open to the public. Amazon is also issuing a gift guide for electronics and a "Gift Finder" tool, appropriating some of the conveniences of retail shopping and translating them for ecommerce. Two highlights today are an unlocked Moto X (the 2nd generation model from 2014) for $200 and Metal Gear Solid V for $40.Amazon seems determined to avoid the embarrassment of "Prime Day," a shopping event this past July that promised sweet deals to Prime members. Prime Day hyped itself to be "better than Black Friday," but most of the better deals were sold out too quickly. (And a lot of the deals featured a bunch of bizarre items, like this 55-gallon drum of personal lubricant, which can still be yours for only $1,275.)Like Prime Day, this extended Black Friday is geared at least in part to getting customers to upgrade to a Prime membership. With free 2-day shipping, Prime members will spend more money on Amazon in the long run, making it in the company's best interests to convert as many shoppers as possible.