I was genuinely excited for Prime Day 2022. There were three deals in particular that I was looking forward to: Cheap OLED TVs, a discount on any of the new MacBooks, and a PS5 restock/Xbox discount. While we did see a lot of cheap OLED TV deals, Amazon disappointed on all other ends.
I feel confident saying this because I've been covering Amazon's summer sale for eight straight years. I'm also a Prime member and the only thing I bought this week (for the third consecutive year) was laundry detergent. I'm shopping around for a new TV and a new laptop, but Prime Day failed in getting me to make any major purchases. Here's why.
Deals that never happened
I understand that good deals sell out fast, but there were some Prime Day sales that I never saw materialize. In the days leading up to Prime Day, Amazon said via press release that it would offer the Amazon 50-inch 4-Series 4K Fire TV for just $99. That's an epic price cut and I looked for that deal like a hawk searching for mice, but it must've sold out in seconds because I never saw it go live.
Instead, the product page for that TV said that the TV was out of stock and that the wait list was full. However, today the TV is magically back in stock for $299. We reached out to Amazon asking how many TVs it sold at the $99 price, but a company rep told us they don't have specific details.
To Amazon's defense, the press release said there would be limited stock at this price, but if Prime Day wants to become more than a predictable garage sale, Amazon needs to up its ante.
There were no console restocks
Amazon may be an e-comm giant, but it's one of the worst stores when it comes to PS5 restocks and Xbox Series X restocks. I was hoping we'd see both consoles in stock over Prime Day and part of me even hoped Amazon would surprise its Prime members with a modest discount (even a free $25 Amazon credit would've worked), but nothing materialized.
What's extra disappointing is that stock of the Xbox Series X has stabilized. On any given day, the Microsoft Store has the console in stock for $499. Even Best Buy has reliable stock. Amazon, for some reason, appears to be struggling with next-gen consoles two years after their release.
Credits were harder to come buy
A few years ago, Amazon teamed up with Whole Foods to offer Prime members a $10 credit they could use during Prime Day. All you had to do was spend $10 or more at the Amazon-owned grocer and you'd instantly get a $10 credit. To this day, it remains one of my all-time favorite Prime Day deals because it was a no-brainer for Prime members who shop at Whole Foods.
This year, there was no such deal. Sure, there were a lot of good Prime Day credits to be had in 2022, but a lot of them required you to make purchases AND jump through a few hoops, such as streaming a show on Prime Video. I don't know why Amazon hardened its stance on these freebies/credits, but again it makes me care less about Prime Day as a major retail holiday.
Not all deals were bad...
I'm not hating on Prime Day for the sake of it. There were some good deals offered over the last 48 hours. I still can't believe OLED TVs have dropped to $679. Likewise, seeing the Apple Watch 7 drop to an all-time low of $279 is something I wasn't expecting.
And from the initial numbers, it appears Amazon had a successful Prime Day. In their latest press release, the company says this was the "biggest Prime Day event in history." According to Amazon, Prime members made more than 300 million purchases worldwide. In the U.S. alone, members purchased more than 60,000 items per minute!
Personally, this was yet another forgettable Prime Day for me and it makes me question why I'm giving Amazon $139/year for my Amazon Prime membership. Sure, there's more to Prime member benefits than just Prime Day, but for me at least — those perks are starting to look as stale as Prime Day itself.
Agree? Disagree? Let me know what you think (and what you bought) in our comments.
