Hey Friends!

This week, I’m revisiting two of my favorite passions: research and shopping. Couple these together, and you have a Scrooge McDuck librarian who scours the internets for the best deals. This week, we’ll see if Amazon Prime Day delivers those deals.

“I’m lost, Justin. What the heck is Prime Day?”

For those who don’t know, Amazon debuted what they call Prime Day for Prime members two years ago (read more here). It was supposed to be a day to celebrate Prime memberships and say thanks by giving members exclusives deals with all kinds of great deals. However, the deals were…bad. How bad? Here’s a recap:

• The Observer called it “The Internet’s Worst Clearance Rack“.
• First Slice called it “The Internet Yard Sale“.
• Gizmodo even further by listing the crappiest deals of Prime Day.
• Business Insider made a list of the best items, but Black Friday was still better.

What did Twitter say?

(View the full recap here)

It was so bad, I didn’t even write about it last year. I wrote a few recommendations about what they should do in the future, and it seems they’ve listened. Did they actually listen? They might have.

• I asked for notifications for when deals go live, and the app/website do that now.
• I asked to give more previews instead of keeping us in suspense, and they did it for the most part.

I don’t know what else is in store, we’ll find out when Prime Day actually gets here.

One thing they’ve really upped their game on this year? THE GIVEAWAYS. They’ve been doing giveaways for the past 10 days or so, all products you’d actually want. One a scale of “check them out if I have time” to “keep my eyes glued”, I’m at “set alarms for every major one”. Ya dang right, I want a Nintendo Switch and Macbook!

I already missed a shot at a free Playstation 4 by MERE SECONDS, I ain’t making that mistake again.

Yes, these deals are still going on. Enter for free stuff while you still can!

Did I mention that these are just the giveaways offered by Amazon? There’s literally thousands of giveaways – of course, many of these are offered by people or companies that want you to follow them on Twitter/Facebook/etc to be eligible, but if the product’s worth it to you…

Will the deals actually turn out to be worth it? After 2 years of nothing to show, maybe Amazon is hoping third time’s the charm. I’m not holding my breath, I’ll patiently wait for Black Friday and snag my stuff at 60% off. If you want a TV, get it in the first 20 days of January (that’s when every retailer is trying to make room for new TVs just in time for the Superbowl)

If you asked my mom, she’d tell you “Justin will squeeze a penny until a nickel falls out”. I guess we’ll see how many nickels Amazon can squeeze out of me tomorrow.

What I do with all those savings, you ask?

Are you looking forward to any deals? Any good giveaways you’re interested in? Feel free to let me know in the comments below or on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

Justin Brasher, Brash Librarian