Amazon Prime Day Is Tomorrow And Our Expectations Should Be Tempered

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) is attempting to establish a new tradition in the summer, a “Christmas in July” so to speak. Tuesday, July 12 brings the second annual Amazon Prime Day. Last year Amazon promised deals better than Black Friday and disappointed millions across the globe. I was one of those disappointed customers last year, describing my experience as “Amazon and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Prime Day“. I initially bought into the hype:

“As I take to the internet to see if Amazon released any previews for what items will be on promotion, the ones that stood out the most were the 40 lightning deals on movies up to 75% off, savings up to 70% on select kitchen products, and an undisclosed 40-inch 1080p LED TV for $115 (Did I need a new LED TV? Absolutely not. But it is $115; this deal is irresistible).

From there, I preemptively place different items on my Wish List: Blu-Ray movies, comic books, cat houses, 40-inch TVs, Windows desktop computers, and a few other random items. I wanted to be prepared since not many items were listed explicitly. Will the Batman New 52comic series be discounted even more? Can I purchase Akira or Interstellar on Blu-Ray for under $10? Will a quality Dell all-in-one desktop be discounted beyond 50%?

You can tell I had very high expectations for what Prime day was going to be. Why wouldn’t I? Customers were being told they could purchase a LED TV for $115 and DVDs up to 75% off the listed price. These deals are being promoted as ‘bigger and better’ than Black Friday. That’s what I expecting. That’s what I wanted.”

This hype slowly turned into disappointment as the night progressed. I messed up the time of when Prime Day would commence because Amazon operates on Western Standard Time, not Eastern, and I also fell asleep on my sofa trying to say up for the start of the event. Furthermore, the deals truly were nothing special:

“Wednesday July 15th, 2015 – 6:00pm. 16 hours have passed since Prime Day initiation and my morale had been crushed. Technically, a large number of items were on promotion. Technically, there was a sale. However, to claim that items worth purchasing had great savings would not be true. If you were in the market for Stacy Adams square-toe dress shoes, ice cube trays, cell phone cases, beef jerky, 6 slot USB ports, non name-brand watches, women’s bras, or HDMI cables, Prime Day was for you.

The 40-inch 1080p LED TV for $115 hadn’t shown up, falling into a mythical abyss. All-in-one desktops at most were 30% off, and I missed out on purchasing Frtiz Lang’s Metropolis on Blu-Ray for $8 and a Planet of the Apes Blu-Ray box set for $20. To proclaim Amazon’s Prime Day as underwhelming would be an understatement. I gave up on the day, despite 8 hours left.”

Myself and millions of Americans essentially wasted hours of our time at an online garage sale. Amazon basically put a bunch on unnecessary junk on promotion. Many customers took to Twitter to voice their frustration and yet, Amazon still managed to generate 18% more orders on Prime Day than it did on Black Friday 2014.

Because of the financial success of Prime Day in spite of all of the customer complaints, Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE:WMT) has decided they want in on the fun. Walmart today announced its plan for taking on Amazon by offering free shipping during the entire week on over one million items on Walmart.com (purchases must be $50 or more to qualify). Everything from televisions to household appliances to children’s toys, you name it, it’s probably discounted at Walmart.com

I, for one, am not going to participate in the anarchy that are these giant sales events this week, especially Prime Day (even though I do have access as an Amazon Prime member). Consumerism is at an all time high, and the desire to find the best deal on an item has become an obsession for many individuals. I may very well miss out on some great deals tomorrow on Amazon.com. A new flat screen television does sound nice, and this would be a great opportunity for me to purchase one.

However, the question that I ask myself and to whoever is reading this article: do you really need that item? And if the answer is no, then is there really a purpose in participating in Prime Day?