[Closed] Amazon Prime Day

The only money I've given to Amazon this year is for Kindle books, and when I'm retired and have less need for portability I'll stop doing that. Prime Day will not tempt me back. As Mark said last week, it's a question of use it or lose it - support local, independent businesses, or pretty soon you'll have no choice.

A pizza cutter.

it’s a question of use it or lose it

I shop local and online.

I haven't had to do a search, as I don't actually need anything so would only be buying for the sake of it...which is bonkers

^ I have to agree - Lex Luthor's personal wealth has increased exponentially since covid happened, they dodge tax wherever they can and they get enough of my money as it is. They are a habit we all need to kick.

My 8 year old mechanical keyboard has started playing up in the last few weeks, not turning on when booting up, so it's time to get retired - ordered a nice shiny corsair RGB mechanical keyboard. I spend 10+ hours a day at the PC so a nice keyboard is a must.

Normally £120+, down to £85. I paid £55 for my current one 8 years ago.

well for Whisky lovers, 35% of some gooduns!!!

Had a quick browse, couldn't see any must have bargains! The Echo Dots have been that price for a couple of days now, as you note they're an old model.

Did see the keyboard deal as well, although it was even cheaper on BF last year. Not convinced by Prime Day tbh!!

support local, independent businesses

I tried but my local butcher doesn't sell Echo devices.

Stocked up on cat food.. other than that - meh!

Was ready to pick up a few things from the Warehouse, but the 20% discount is only selected items (unlike previous years).

Edge Explore for 129

Not really found anything else I need and trying to avoid spending on frivolous smart stuff.

Not browsing Amazon looking for 'bargains' would be a good start. I'd pay substantially over the odds to avoid giving any money to Bezos.

The Echo Dots have been that price for a couple of days now, as you note they’re an old model.

Yes as part of Prime deal they did them early.

Amazon is a wicked site for researching your purchases. Spend your money elsewhere. I use it for iPhone screen protectors.

@Drac fair enough. Still, you could get one for a quid last month so as I didn't bite then this "deal" isn't going to do it for me either 😂 They should be paying YOU to have them really 🤣

any coffee deals?

Got a Tenda mesh setup and saved £30. Even if I was shopping on the High St, I think only Dixons/PCWorld would have supplied it, so not feeling too bad about that.

Pro tip,

Go to smile.amazon rather than www.amazon and you can set up a nominated charity. Amazon then filter a small percentage of their profit from your purchases to said charity.

I got a fire TV 4k stick, chromecast is getting dodgy and Iplayer no longer supported on ps3!

There's some good deals on Garmin's if anyone's interested.
Don't need one myself, but might be relevant on a bike forum.

Also, Curry's are doing epic deals, their words, as competition for a couple of days.

I shop with local and independents when they can deliver.

If people can't bring it to my house, I'm not buying. Happy to pay delivery.

Any benefit to getting a 4k firestick over a normal one if the tv is not 4k? I've not been overly impressed with the picture quality on the normal one - with dark areas becoming very pixelated / compressed

There’s some good deals on Garmin’s if anyone’s interested.
Don’t need one myself, but might be relevant on a bike forum.

They don't have the new edge 1030 plus at 50% off though, which is poor. C'mon Amazon! 😀

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/oct/13/uk-shoppers-urged-to-shun-amazon-prime-day-to-support-small-businesses

I picked up a 1TB SSD for my laptop (to add to the 500gb M2 stick in there).. reduced from £98 to £71.. was after one, so served me a purpose..

DrP

Amazon then filter a small percentage of their profit from your purchases to said charity.

I use the link for our kids school, when I remember.

Go to smile.amazon

Yep. Set up for our school PTA. Need to spend a fair bit to get much from it but if every parent signed up for it then it'd soon add up.

Picked up some knee-length Sealskinz with 40% off.

And a new Kindle because I borked my old one. Self-isolating without a Kindle means I'm spending way too much time on Netflix, when I've still got a load of unread books to get through.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/oct/13/uk-shoppers-urged-to-shun-amazon-prime-day-to-support-small-businesses/blockquote >

onewheelgood made the national news!

 

Any benefit to getting a 4k firestick over a normal one if the tv is not 4k? I’ve not been overly impressed with the picture quality on the normal one – with dark areas becoming very pixelated / compressed

the 4k is quicker, so loading times etc are reduced

I'd not heard of Prime Day..... seriously though, does anyone need to buy more shite? It'll more than likely be landfilled within 5 years.

seriously though, does anyone need to buy more shite? It’ll more than likely be landfilled within 5 years.

Very noble of you to pledge never to purchase anything new though, from this day forth! You should set up an insta page so we can follow your eco-journey.

Typical STW, all those saying I wont buy anything from Amazon, its too successful blah blah blah.

Yes its successful, yes its owner is mega rich. Why? because it provides a service that is useful to people who are too busy to find the time to visit 17 different shops in order to "support" their local businesses. Not everyone has the money to afford to pay the premium of a local shop and the savings that Amazon offer are vital to them.

I ordered a Kindle for £30. Bargain and i cant get one in a local shop.

There's some corking deals to be had on Amazon hardware. £30 for a Kindle is silly cheap.

I'm eyeing up their mesh offering.

... actually, where are you seeing Kindles for £30? Do you mean a Fire tablet?

Since the dog arrived I've spent a small fortune on 'stuff' that we need, I've mostly done this at a local independent pet store, but yesterday in the middle of a chewing haze I went to amazon for some extras. My wife is currently working 11 hour shifts, the pet store is about 7 miles away and I can't leave the dog for the time I'd need to go to the store, so I feel this is a reasonable trade off.

I do spend enough with Amazon as it is, I'm not looking to spend more just because they want me to!

Picked up some knee-length Sealskinz with 40% off.

I've just done the same. I do try and support local businesses but I'd never buy these socks at the RRP my local shops would charge. I've been looking for a decent deal on these for a couple of months on and off.

Not everyone has the money to afford to pay the premium of a local shop and the savings that Amazon offer are vital to them.

Yes it's vital that people save a bit of money on the endless purchasing of tat they don't need.

well for Whisky lovers, 35% of some gooduns!!!

Yeah, Laphroiag Quarter Cask for 25 quid.

The Glengoyne 12 at £27 and Tamdhu 12 for just over £30 also tempting.

I, rather disappointingly, cannot think of a single piece of tat that I don't need, to save money on.
So annoying as I paid for Prime to watch a violent TV series which had no benefit, except for entertainment.
FML

Typical STW, all those saying I wont buy anything from Amazon, its too successful blah blah blah.

It's not because they are successful, its because in general they are probably a net negative to society and the world. If they paid as much tax, employed as many people, treated the people they did employ humanely, as the businesses they displaced, and if they didn't do everything they could to encourage the acquisition of yet more tat I wouldn't be so bothered. And I acknowledge my hypocrisy as someone who owns more than one bike, I've done my bit to destroy the planet too. We all need to change.

Hmm, shall I order a stack of cat food, and sneak a Garmin Explore into the order. Our five cat's might not enjoy the Garmin, but I would. Dilemma as my 705 still works well.

Whilst it's all well and good to take the moral high ground, the elephant in the room is that supporting 'local business' rather than evil Amazon / Tesco / Insert Conglomerate Here has a financial overhead that unfortunately not everyone has the luxury of affording.

You'll also find that a lot of the stuff sold on Amazon is sold by a small local (to somebody) business.

Cougar
There’s some corking deals to be had on Amazon hardware. £30 for a Kindle is silly cheap.

I’m eyeing up their mesh offering.

@Cougar, I picked this up as cheaper than Amazon's own and gets good review on 'ere..

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tenda-Nova-6000sq%C2%B2-Coverage-Replacement/dp/B077HTZ4TT/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?ie=UTF8&aaxitk=zqAUfeD4KoiY6Y617WCeDA&hsa_cr_id=5183772010502&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_mcd_asin_0

Whilst it’s all well and good to take the moral high ground, the elephant in the room is that supporting ‘local business’ rather than evil Amazon / Tesco / Insert Conglomerate Here has a financial overhead that unfortunately not everyone has the luxury of affording.

Well, you could just... you know... buy 10% less stuff if it costs 10% more, which everyone has the 'luxury' of doing.

Don't get me wrong, I've had a terrible Amazon habit in the past and still use it very occasionally so I have no moral high ground to stand on, but that doesn't mean I'm going to pretend I think it's ok.

Yeah, I remember the Tenda stuff being recommended on the previous discussion.

Hard to choose between them all if I'm honest, it's a bit of a minefield.

… actually, where are you seeing Kindles for £30? Do you mean a Fire tablet?

My mistake £44

The thing that grates about Amazon for me is that it's become the default for a lot of things. It's convenient and quick but also very often more expensive than other places. It's kind of a lazy option. The amount of sheer tat they sell is off-putting too.

Well, you could just… you know… buy 10% less stuff if it costs 10% more, which everyone has the ‘luxury’ of doing.

Good idea. My cat wouldn`t mind not eating every 10th day and im sure if we used no detergent in every 10th washing machine load no one would really notice.

Well, you could just… you know… buy 10% less stuff if it costs 10% more, which everyone has the ‘luxury’ of doing.

Not everyone buys tat! You’re beating a drum based on your own experience.

Good idea. My cat wouldn`t mind not eating every 10th day and im sure if we used no detergent in every 10th washing machine load no one would really notice.

Terrible examples. Your cat would just eat at one of it's other houses a bit more and detergent is killing the planet. You should be ashamed of yourself.

A Roku TV stick for £18 down from £29.99 then £24.99.....

Well, you could just… you know… buy 10% less stuff if it costs 10% more, which everyone has the ‘luxury’ of doing.

Do I get to choose which 10% of my kindle that I don’t get, or is it random ?

You’ll also find that a lot of the stuff sold on Amazon is sold by a small local (to somebody) business.

There is that – I bought some screws for some corrugated sheet from Amazon (I had already tried my local DIY store where I bought one pack of 8 for £4.99 but it was the last pack they had). I ended up getting a pack of 50 for <£10 from Amazon (which is why we all often DO use Amazon unfortunately). Somehow I got into a conversation with the Amazon marketplace seller and they mentioned that they get hundreds of transactions a day via Amazon so it must be a very good earner for many of them.

Well, you could just… you know… buy 10% less stuff if it costs 10% more, which everyone has the ‘luxury’ of doing.

or if you buy 10% more stuff, your money filters down to some factory workers in a 3rd world country, who probably need it more than some hobbiest shopkeeper living in leafy surrey

If they paid as much tax, employed as many people, treated the people they did employ humanely, as the businesses they displaced

Of course they wouldn't be as cheap then.

and if they didn’t do everything they could to encourage the acquisition of yet more tat I wouldn’t be so bothered.

I don't think that is unique to Amazon. People have been acquiring useless tat for, well, ever.

You’ll also find that a lot of the stuff sold on Amazon is sold by a small local (to somebody) business.

Very much this, Amazon have for a long time provided the internet presence for many individual sellers, warehousing and dispatch for others.

See also banggood, aliexpress, etc.

Somehow I got into a conversation with the Amazon marketplace seller and they mentioned that they get hundreds of transactions a day via Amazon so it must be a very good earner for many of them.

The value of being of a visible and popular website is very high.

Some while ago I was working alongside a married gent who was the less active partner in their family B&B business. They had tried lots of ways of advertising but in the end they found simply being listed on booking.com got them more customers than everything else combined.

Whilst it’s all well and good to take the moral high ground, the elephant in the room is that supporting ‘local business’ rather than evil Amazon / Tesco / Insert Conglomerate Here has a financial overhead that unfortunately not everyone has the luxury of affording.

Fair point.

*goes off to browse campervan, woodburner and e-bike threads*

I rank people that use Amazon at a similar level to the muppets that used to buy second hand car radios.

Please people, don't do it. You're killing society.

Amazon Black Friday clearing out old shite 🙁

You’re killing society.

It's really not that simple, in my opinion.

Whilst it’s all well and good to take the moral high ground, the elephant in the room is that supporting ‘local business’ rather than evil Amazon / Tesco / Insert Conglomerate Here has a financial overhead that unfortunately not everyone has the luxury of affording.

And the elephant in the other room is that part of the reason that society as a whole, and some people in particular, have no money is.....

Tax dodging global corporations killing off small businesses and exploiting the needy so they can line their own pockets. If people stopped buying at Amazon then perhaps a few more shops would be open paying their owners decent wages instead of subsistence wages. Those people would have a bit of cash to spend, which might provide jobs for other people etc etc. You could have a functioning society where businesses thrive and generate wealth for the general people . Rather than just the 0.005% at the top of the heap

I use Amazon a lot as I don't want to have to pay to go into the city centre to shop, it's either £5 in parking charges and fuel or £3.50 on the bus and have to walk a mile. I sometimes ride in but the chance of coming back out to no bike is quite high, happened once and that was enough! So Amazon it is usually. But:

You’ll also find that a lot of the stuff sold on Amazon is sold by a small local (to somebody) business.

I try and use the small shops that have a presence on there, easy to find them if you look at the listings. Amazon then are just the courier company that deliver to me. If you avoid all of the cheap tat on there and only buy stuff you need from UK businesses it is actually rather good. That's not defending their tax-dodging practices at all, but I do know a few people who would be in dire straits right now if they hadn't picked up a delivery job with them. Using the Marketplace in the way I try to keeps money flowing to UK shops and keeps these couriers in a job so it's not all bad.

molgrips +1

Tax dodging global corporations Global corporations who can trade in the UK yet aren't required by English law to pay tax here.

There's no "dodging" going on, the root of the problem is higher up the food chain.

Still, brexit will fix all that, hey.

From the article:

“There are now even more ways to shop from local bookshops: booksellers have developed websites, and adapted to offer ordering by phone, email and online, with home delivery often an option. We are actively encouraging book lovers to start their Christmas shopping early to spread out demand. Shopping locally and early will help secure jobs and support a thriving community high street.”

It is somewhat amazing that it takes a global pandemic for stores to adapt to the 21st Century. If only they had adapted a bit sooner.....

Not everyone buys tat!

I use the term tat to describe any non essential purchases. I would say that almost everyone I know buys 'tat' from Amazon IME.

Funny how prickly people get at the suggestion that rampant consumerism benefitting a global megacorp that barely pays tax and treats employees like dirt might not be a great idea.

Anyway I'm mainly annoyed at their price gouging during the lockdown shortages. Sellers are still charging ridiculous amounts for certain items.

I use the term tat to describe any non essential purchases. I would say that almost everyone I know buys ‘tat’ from Amazon IME.

I’m not sure that’s exclusive to online shopping let alone Amazon.

I usually hate use of the term 'virtue signalling', but if you look up a definition it points straight to this thread...

I bought a diesel heater for my campervan from Amazon today. It's a Chinese rip off of a German design. My pal has one and it's really good.
I don't have a job because of the pandemic and no more are forthcoming, so the only thing my girlfriend and I can do as far as giving ourselves a reason to bother getting to the next day is sex and campervanning, sometimes at the same time. But it's getting cold - for both of those.
I don't pay any tax because I'm unemployed, she earns about £800 a month and the shop she works in is hanging on by a thread with just her left to staff it, stock it, do the purchasing and online listings and sales for her monthly pittance.

I'm sorry I couldn't spunk the £600 on an Eberspracher which I probably can't buy from any of the newsagents, charity shops or betting shops on my street, but this purchase (which I had to think about for ages and fund by selling bits of my bikes) will let us do the one thing we can do that is enjoyable and relatively virus-secure for the rest of the year. Like Christmas and New Year since there's no way we'll be allowed to see family or friends.

Anyway, just remember, when judging people on their choice of retailer that some folk out there's dole money is less than the cost of the lease on your car.

If people stopped buying at Amazon then perhaps a few more shops would be open paying their owners decent wages instead of subsistence wages

Shops paid crap wages long before amazon came along, £3.20ph when I started in one in the mid 90s, I took a job as a KP a month later on £4ph.

I'm plenty old enough to remember life before ebay and retail has been on its arse since the mid 80s, first it was chain stores making the highstreet ubiquitous, then it was out of town supermarkets followed by out of town shopping centres, then parking charges etc.

High Street retail has had more excuses than any other business model I can think of for why it isn't successful. None of those reasons have been "we're doing it wrong" they've all been "the big bad man isn't playing fair 😭" they haven't woken up to the fact that (amongst a plethora of other things) people want convenient and a shop which opens the same hours they are at work isn't. It's not 1950 any more yet the highstreet retail model is the same. Its traded on good will for decades rather than looking in the mirror and now it's buggered.

Back on topic, Tado radiator valves are cheap today

I rank people that use Amazon at a similar level to the muppets that used to buy second hand car radios.

Please people, don’t do it. You’re killing society.

The definition of stupidity: not realising that you can get a brand new car stereo cheaper on Amazon than second hand.

And 100 pencil sharpeners for £2.99

I'm not convinced Amazon treat employees like dirt, I was a temporary worker for them (albeit 14 years ago) but it wasn't like any scathing reports I saw at the time.

Because this is the internet where nuance isn't a thing.... I'm not saying never shop at amazon or you are a bastard, I just think it should generally be avoided, and I think some of the justifications for using it so much are a bit spurious. I think looking for things to buy on the basis of 'bargains' is particularly pernicious, and yes, I've been there.

I think also now that you don't generally have to set up a new account with every independent/smaller seller due to things like shop pay it makes using non-Amazon options a lot easier.

I took a job as a KP

Are you some kind of nut?

DC rainmaker has a link to decent cycling/gadget deals https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2020/10/amazon-prime-day-best-sports-tech-deals.html

Ordered the Garmin Explore and two massive cat food boxes of Felix. The Garmin is from MrsF for Christmas (asked her as she said what do I want a few days ago - couldn't miss it at that price).

I usually shop local, but will use Amazon for bargains or stuff needed in a hurry. Ebay has been good for new stuff I can't get locally, but from small traders.

Don't forget all this delivery is keeping people in jobs - I'm stuck WFH, so being here for deiveries has meant we've been in shops very little, unless local grocery. MrsF out of a job now, and son lost a job, but he's now delivering Pizza.

TBH, the Garmin deal was great - my 705 doesn't navigate that well, and I have a few things planned that the Explore will be great for - the 705 - I can't see the screen to navigate. I was thinking of trying to use my old phone, but that went to my son when his screen broke on his.