Most of it is noise. A few things are worth having at full price, which makes them very worth having for less.
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It’s early October and I’m already saying the C word. Forgive me. We’re halfway through Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days, which ends at 11.59pm tomorrow, Wednesday 7 October, and there is a quiet smugness in ticking off a few presents now. So, straight to it.
The sale is designed to keep you scrolling. The trick is to arrive knowing who you’re shopping for. Pick one, then go looking.
Shop by person
The friend who alphabetises their vinyl
The cook who wants a kitchen that still looks right in 20 years
The one who takes their bath very seriously
The one whose coffee table is never just a coffee table
The friend who has never knowingly bought beige
The one who bought the smartwatch in June
The one with hens, or plans for some
The one who feeds the robins before they feed themselves
The small people on your list
Amazon’s headline UK offers include up to 40% off selected beauty from CeraVe, L’Oréal Paris and La Roche-Posay, and up to 50% off selected personal-care tech from Oral-B, Philips and Braun. There are offers on selected Kindle, Echo, Ring and Fire TV devices too. Good for the Christmas list. Equally good for the thing you’ve been quietly eyeing up since spring.
Prime Day moved to June this year, and Britain did not hold back. According to Adobe, UK shoppers spent more than £2.3 billion online across the four days, up 11% on last year. Smartwatch sales more than doubled. Consoles and fridge-freezers rose by 85%, and headphones and speakers by 70%. TVs were among the deepest discounts, around 15% off on average. Meanwhile, exercise equipment has been selling at almost twice its normal rate all year. Hyrox, the gym-meets-race craze, has a lot to answer for. Make of that what you will: a nation getting fitter, or one buying a very nice smartwatch to tell it to.
My rule is simple: if I wouldn’t recommend something at full price, a discount doesn’t change my mind.
The ‘smart’ gadget you’ll be updating by Christmas. The rug that’s 60% off because it was never right for anyone. Storage boxes in multipacks for a problem you don’t have yet. Anything you’re buying because a countdown timer told you to.
Then all that’s left is remembering where you’ve hidden the presents. That’s the hard part.