Prime Day has occured every year for the last few years, and at this point it's really hard to not compare them. After all, the events are very similar each time with a huge emphasis on tech and Amazon devices and tons of retailers trying to get in on the action. This year, however, has been unique. First off, we're here celebrating the event in October instead of July. That's different and a result of the weirdness that is 2020 in general. And being in October makes the sales unusual, too, because it's already so close to Black Friday. While we have seen dozens of discounts and some really great items on sale, it still makes us wonder: how do 2020's Prime Day deals compare to 2019?
Cutting Through the Noise
Every year there's a lot of noise. Hundreds of items that we're not really interested in and you're not really interested in and maybe aren't even that good of a price. It's so hard to see through all that sometimes, which is why we continue to sort through the content year over year. We want to provide a place you can come to see the best of the best and ignore the other stuff. Last year had a lot more noise, though.
If we're looking at the sheer volume of deals, 2020 has been lacking. That's not to say the deals haven't been on point. We've seen some excellent prices on fantastic products. But if we're looking at "quantity" over "quality," 2020 has not had the same quantity as previous years. As a small example, there have not been a lot of printer deals this year. The brands of printers I would normally expect to see deals on have been nonexistent. When looking for a deal earlier in the day, there was only one official Prime Day deal on a printer on Amazon we could even write about.
Top Brands
Of course, like any Prime Day, we have seen huge deals on Amazon's smart devices. That's nothing to sneeze at since you can get an Echo Dot for just $18.99 and $30 to $75 off other products, including rare sales like the Kindle Oasis. But it's also not really new. We know Amazon is going to discount its products on Prime Day, but what about the other top brands?
We have certainly seen some deals like the sale on Apple's AirPods Pro and Razer had a big Prime Day sale, but for the most part the big names have been noticeably absent.
Many of Logitech's webcams remain sold out. Many of the "low prices" like on this Apple MacBook have been prices that have been around a while and weren't inspired by Prime Day. Where is Sonos? That audio company almost always makes an appearance. The only Bose headphones we've seen on sale are the Bose QC 35 II. It's a great deal on a great product, but I would've loved to see more than just that. We saw all these brands and other big names participating last year, and many of them have just not shown up this year.
There's Always Black Friday
Prime Day 2020 has not been a total bust. Honestly, if you're into smart home devices, there have been some amazing discounts. Especially if you're already in the Amazon Alexa ecosystem. I wouldn't mind adding a mesh networking system to my home personally, and that Eero 3-pack deal is definitely enticing.
There are advantages to having a sales event that has shaped out the way 2020 has. Less volume means more focused deals. Less noise means it's easier to get to the good stuff. Unfortunately, it also seems like the good stuff is fewer and far between. We're not seeing as many awesome deals and the big brands haven't quite shown up the way we were hoping.
Of course, many of them could still be waiting for Black Friday. It is right around the corner. It's so close, some places aren't even differentiating between now and then. Many retailers have already announced Black Friday is not going to be a single day but rather a month-long event. The Prime Day "hangover" where the deals tend to disappear for a couple days definitely won't last long this year since November is already almost here. There's still plenty to be excited about if saving money is on your agenda. Keep an eye out and follow our Thrifter deals team on Twitter for more updates to come.
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