Reports of Strikes, Price, Selection Complaints -- Another Prime Day Begins

Black Friday came early Tuesday in the form of Amazon Prime Day. The company’s two-day discount fair spawned me-too events at Best Buy, Target, Walmart and others and is considered the launch of the 2020 holiday season. GameSpot used the #primeday Twitter hashtag to direct shoppers to Best Buy’s “early Black Friday deals, just in time to compete with #PrimeDay." The Amazon event drew a wide range of tweets, including charities looking to benefit from purchases through Amazon Smile, customers complaining of lower prices prior to Prime Day and watchdog groups keeping their eye on the e-commerce titan.

Consumer watchdog group Public Citizen cited Amazon Monday for practices during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying customers should be wary of the online retailer’s pricing: "Only a matter of weeks ago, Amazon got caught price gouging customers on a wide range of essential goods -- jacking up prices on face masks, toilet paper, and antibacterial soap by up to 1,000%,” it blogged, urging customers to contact lawmakers to draft a “tough price gouging law.”

Amazon workers in Germany went on strike Tuesday, according to reports, demanding decent working conditions, better pay and safety, and collective bargaining, tweeted @CommerceUni, saying “#PrimeDay deserves prime fight!” Several cited Prime Day dangers for fulfillment workers including @reveal, tweeting: “With new deals come increased risks for Amazon workers. Last year, the week of Prime Day was the worst week for injuries at Amazon warehouses -- even as Amazon denied it.” Amazon didn't respond to questions Tuesday.

Some deals weren’t just deals at Amazon, we found, as manufacturers are increasingly turning to e-commerce and matching sale prices. Bose QuietComfort 35 Series 2 wireless noise-canceling cans were 43% off to $199; Bose matched the price on its e-commerce site and at Bestbuy.com. Sony’s WHCH710N noise-canceling headphones, $199 at sony.com Tuesday, were the same in an Amazon Prime Day deal shown as 43% off. Skullcandy’s Venue active noise-canceling headphones were a Prime Day deal at $99, down from $179; Best Buy showed the same price and an extended holiday return period through Jan. 16.

Over-ear headphones were a featured sale item Tuesday, as true wireless earbuds have become de rigueur for the category. Sennheiser had its lowest price ever on the Momentum 3 Wireless headphones at $297 ($349 at Sennheiser.com), a spokesperson emailed, in a noon-6 p.m. EDT sale; the PXC 550 IIs were $179 from 6:25-p.m. Tuesday to 12:25 a.m. Wednesday EDT, he said.

As usual, Amazon’s brands offered some of the best deals Tuesday: Echo Dot was $19, down from $49, the 8-inch Fire HD tablet was 39% off to $54, Echo Studio was $50 off to $149, Echo Buds dropped 38% to $149, and the Ring Doorbell was $30 off to $69. A 24-inch Insignia NS-24DF310NA21 Fire TV was cut 47% to $79.

But some Amazon watchers were disappointed that new products, announced last month (see 2009240052) in what many assumed would be in time for Prime Day discounts, hadn’t shown up for sale status as of midday Tuesday. “I'm not finding anything I'm interested in, or that seems like a particularly good deal this year," tweeted @holly. “Usually they do discounts on the Echo devices at least but none of the new ones are included. I know the new Echo speakers aren't out yet but I intentionally waited for Prime Day to preorder because they 'always' discount them. Not this year! Not even a fiver off.”

Bestbuy.com headlined “Black Friday Prices Guaranteed” Tuesday with an asterisk, noting that select deals were available to all customers but the price guarantee was valid for My Best Buy members only. Top TV sales were a Samsung 70-inch 6 Series 4K smart TV, marked down $220 to $529 and a 50-inch TCL 50-inch 4 Series Android TV cut $120 to $229. Best Buy was $10 higher ($89) than Amazon on the Insignia 24-inch Fire TV.

Walmart called Tuesday “the big save.” A Samsung 50-inch N50NU6900FXZA was $298, a 2018 model. In doorbuster fashion, the retailer had two left of the JVC LT-55MAW595 Roku TV for $248; the JVC was a Black Friday deal last year at Walmart for $269. @DMOberhaus cited the irony of deal-priced Amazon security cameras: “Pretty wild that Amazon successfully launched a consumer holiday that's all about paying them to put new surveillance devices in your home,” he said.