Amazon Prime Day is highly anticipated for some online shoppers — but others might be better off waiting until the sounds of jingle bells are in the air to hunt for bargains.
The site’s promotion takes place on July 16 and 17. This year, the average shopper is expected to spend $167 during the event, including $70 on back-to-school items, according to discount website RetailMeNot[1].
Amazon AMZN, +0.68%[2] has already announced significant discounts[3] on back-to-school items like binders, backpacks and lunch boxes. This year, Prime members will receive some brick-and-mortar deals[4] when they shop at Whole Foods, the grocery chain that Amazon acquired in 2017[5]. (Amazon did not respond to a request for comment.)
Otherwise, the steepest Prime Day discounts will be on Amazon’s own devices[6], including the Echo smart home assistants, Kindle tablets and Fire TV devices. Major savings can also be found on subscription services from Amazon, including Audible. For instance, the Echo Show was on sale for $129.99 at the start of Prime Day, which is $100 off its regular price. Additionally, the Fire HD 8 tablet with Alexa will cost buyers only $49.99 on Prime Day, which is $30 off its usual retail price, Amazon announced on Monday.
Read more: Is Amazon Prime worth its new $119 price tag?[7]
Prime Day competes with other major sales events. This year, 70% of sales on Prime Day are expected to be better than those on Black Friday, said Phillip Dengler, co-owner of savings website BestBlackFriday.com[8]. Dengler based this prediction on comparisons between Prime Day and Black Friday sales on a few hundred items over the past few years.
But not all items are worth buying during this event. Amazon’s success with Prime Day has inspired more retailers to begin offering “Black Friday in July” or other similar promotions this time of year. In some cases, like with Macy’s M, +1.13%[9] these deals match what consumers will find later in the year, said Kristin Cook, managing editor at savings website BensBargains.com[10].
Here are some products consumer should avoid on Prime Day:
Game consoles
Deals on video game consoles, such as the latest Xbox MSFT, -0.31%[11] or the Nintendo Switch ...