Prime Day is coming up, and with it comes a surge of discounts and savings. While Amazon wants you to think each and every deal you come across is worth your time and attention, the truth is few of these deals are actually that great.
All the chaos overwhelms even the most seasoned online shopper, making it hard to know if you’re really saving money at all. But there’s one category that will undoubtedly stand out on Prime Days by design: tech made by Amazon itself. That means things like Fire tablets, Fire TV Cubes, and anything else specifically made by Amazon.
For typical tech sales, most retailers want you buying whatever they can convince you to plunk down money for, be it an iPhone or an Android, a Mac or PC, Xbox or PlayStation. They just want as much of your money as possible, and so traditional shopping events like Black Friday see deals across the spectrum of brands and manufacturers. But Amazon is different.
Amazon is both a store and a manufacturer
While the company sells tons of products from a wide variety of manufacturers, it also makes its own tech. If you’re looking for a new smart TV, Amazon makes one; if you just want the smart TV streaming device, Amazon makes that as well. For home security, you’re covered with Blink products. Alexa powers so many of these devices, so why not get one of its smart speakers or screens operated via the personal assistant? Amazon Basics even makes plenty of accessories, from USB cables to batteries.
Amazon now makes so much tech, it only makes sense that the company would prefer to sell you its version of a product over that of the competition. Instead of a Roku, buy a Fire TV stick. Instead of a Nest Mini, buy an Echo Pop. It seems Amazon has comparable products in almost every category—they even make their own earbuds (Echo Buds).
The quality of these products compared to the competition is certainly up for debate, and I encourage you to do your own research before buying any tech product—made by Amazon or otherwise. But whenever you do search for a tech product on Amazon, and especially during Prime Day, you’re going to be served up an Amazon alternative. It’s only in the company’s best interest to use the event to run big deals on its own products.
Amazon is still a market, and it’s good for them when you buy anything, so if you end up going with a Samsung TV over an Amazon TV, that’s still a sale. That's why you’ll still find plenty of deals throughout Prime Day for non-Amazon devices. But Amazon products will be pushed the hardest and likely see the biggest discounts and promotions.
Still, don’t impulse buy
Eye-grabbing discounts and tempting product bundles aside, don’t buy an Amazon device just because it looks like a killer deal. If you are in the market for a specific Amazon-made product and it goes on sale, great. That’s a smart purchase. If you were more interested in a non-Amazon device but the Amazon version is now significantly cheaper, though, it’s not necessarily worth chasing value over getting the product you actually want to buy.
Take the time to research the difference between Amazon’s version and the competition. If you do find an Amazon device you want to buy, you can set alerts to be notified when the product hits the price you're looking for. That’s good general advice for any Prime Day deal (or any big ticket purchase), but considering how hard Amazon will be pushing its own products in July, it’s especially important to keep in mind. If you buy anything on Prime Day, I hope you get deals on the best devices for you, whether Amazon made them or not.