Are Amazon Prime Day Deals Worth It? And What I'd Actually Buy

Amazon Prime Days has become such a big shopping event that people wait all year to shop it, influencers start prepping content for it months in advance, and now tons of other retailers time their own major sales to compete or piggy back off the big shopping momentum it generates. Love it or hate it, Amazon knows what it’s doing when it comes to getting consumers to spend and spend they do during Prime events (hence, why they keep doing them). Some people claim they jack their prices in advance so it’s not really a deal. Other people lament that it gets us all in a shopping frenzy and we buy stuff we wouldn’t otherwise. And some people celebrate the discounts on things they wanted or needed to buy anyway, whether that’s a Dyson airwrap or a new microwave or toilet paper (my top Prime Day purchase every year lol).

My take as someone who has covered Prime Day sales since the first ever Prime Day, first as a magazine editor and journalist, then as a consumer and now as an influencer who shops for you for a living? You have to treat it like any other sale. It can be a great time to scoop up things you have been wanting or need at a discount. But you also have be wary that it’s also meant to get you to just buy buy buy without thinking so be careful not to buy things you don’t need or won’t actually use just because they’re on sale (like the bacon egg and cheese maker that got used once and then collected dust before we tossed it). With that said, what I love about Amazon Prime is that the returns are fairly simple, so if you do impulse purchase and have regret (first, try to cancel the order — they’ve gotten pretty good about letting you cancel things that haven’t shipped yet), it’s really not hard to return the item(s). Just package all of it up and make one trip to UPS. Yes, an extra errand but honestly, it’s pretty simple as far as returns go.

But because who has time to go through all those deals and the lighting deals and all of that, and to help you stay on track, I’ve curated a list of what I think is actually worth buying. My top buys are typically diapers, wipes, garbage bags, toilet paper, batteries, paper towels, cleaning supplies — basically all the household goods we need. Some stuff for camp and school year like the lunch boxes and water bottles the kids use. Bigger electronic purchases we have been needing or wanting like the upholstery and rug cleaner I couldn’t live without, the vacuum that works better than the ones three times the cost, the tablets we use for the kids for travel (and like better than iPads), a new frame TV flat screen for our family room, a good like this one I’m lusting for coffee machine and this one we own and love but takes a few more steps, etc. or gear we love like our Nanit monitor, the hand weights I use, the travel tent we use for Brooks and Grace to nap in hotels, etc.

Here is my roundup of Amazon picks that I’ll update throughout the Prime Days (which lasts June 23-26 this year). This is all stuff I own and love and use regularly, have bought during Prime Days and not regretted and/or will be buying this year.

I also always love to share the fashion, kids and motherhood essentials, and home finds that I’ve bought on Amazon over the years that are on sale.