The Kinja Deals team has been dutifully reporting on the best Prime Day deals for over 36 hours at this point, but we all took a few moments throughout the event to buy things for ourselves.
Below, you’ll find everything we bought this year, why we bought them, and what we paid. And in my defense, I just moved and I need a bunch of stuff for my new place, so don’t judge my embarassingly long list.
Shep’s Purchases
1. AmazonBasics 4-Shelf Shelving Storage Unit on 3" Wheel Casters
Price paid: $40
Why I bought it: So this wasn’t a Prime Day deal, but I needed it for my new basement, so I waited until Prime Day to see if it was going to be on sale. Oh well, at least I had a $10 Whole Foods credit to ease the sting.
2. Nintendo Switch Joy-Con - Gray
Price paid: $60
Why I bought it: I bought this begrudgingly and under protest because my original Joy-con have the dreaded control stick drift, and I don’t really have a choice if I want to play my Switch in handheld mode.
3. Amazon Gift Card + $5 Bonus
Price paid: $25
Why I bought it: Because it’s basically free money.
Price paid: $40 (Lightning Deal)
Why I bought it: I pay $10/month for iCloud storage regardless, so this is basically a free month.
5. Fire TV Stick + Echo Dot Bundle
Price paid: $12 (price mistake)
Why I bought it: 90% because it was clearly a mistake and I couldn’t resist, 10% because I’m wall-mounting my bedroom TV and it’ll be nice to not have to run a power cord or HDMI cable from my old Apple TV to it.
6. Amazon Essentials Men’s 7" Swim Trunk
Price paid: $10
Why I bought it: Because it was $10, I sort of needed a new pair, and Style Girlfriend told me to.
7. Soylent Squared, Meal bar, Plant Protein, Chocolate Brownie, 25g, 30 Count
Price paid: $18
Why I bought it: Honestly, probably because I was hungry.
8. AmazonBasics Cat Condo Tree Tower With Scratching Post And Step Ladder
Price paid: $43
Why I bought it: Ours broke in a recent move, and Garrus isn’t having it.
9. Tile Mate With Replaceable Battery
Price paid: $15
Why I bought it: I’ve come to love this thing, and got one for my wife’s keys since it was cheaper than ever.
10. Amazon Elements Melatonin 5mg, Vegan, 195 Capsules, 6 month supply
Price paid: $8
Why I bought it: Because I was waking up at 3AM on Monday for Prime Day coverage, and I was too nervous about getting enough sleep to actually sleep, and thought it’d be good to have some melatonin in the medicine cabinet for similar circumstances in the future.
11. 2x Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Light Switch, 3-Way Kit by TP-Link
Price paid: $80 ($40 each)
Why I bought it: My new condo has a lot of recessed can lights, but the main floor separates them into two circuits, each with two switches. These smart switches should let me control them them with my phone or Alexa, without paying to replace every single bulb with Hue lights.
12. YouCopia StoreMore Adjustable Cookware Rack Pan Organizer
Price paid: $12 (Lightning deal)
Why I bought it: My new kitchen is pretty small, so it’s time to actually get organized.
Chelsea’s Purchases
1. Rivet Stonewashed Sunset Rug, 5'3" x 7'7", Blush
Price paid: $146
Why I bought it: Marshall’s big post about Amazon’s rug deals inspired me. I haven’t bought a new one since I moved to New York at age 22, and my current Urban Outfitters rug is admittedly a bit juvenile. This Rivet Stonewashed Sunset Rug is still the same color scheme as my existing rug, but it’s a bit more sophisticated.
Price paid: $16 (Lightning deal)
Why I bought it: Just because I’m trying to cut back on the carbs doesn’t mean I’ve magically stopped craving pasta. I’ve found that chickpea pasta scratches my itch pretty well on Italian night—but it’s so expensive! Luckily for me, I snagged six boxes of Banza during a Lightning Deal for $16.
3. Supergoop! SPF 30 Anti-Aging City Sunscreen Serum
Price paid: $29
Why I bought it: I’m (shamefully) pretty terrible at remembering to wear sunscreen every day. I’ve heard great things about this Supergoop! SPF 30 Serum, though, so I’m hoping having it on hand serves as a daily reminder.
Price paid: $7
Why I bought it: I went through a pretty serious nail polish phase in high school, and now I own dozens of bottles of lacquer—but not a single top coat! Tragic, I know, but thanks to Prime Day, this crisis has been resolved.
5. Waterpik Water Flosser, Teal
Price paid: $40
Why I bought it: My parents have been insisting that I buy a Waterpik for years, but I’ve put it off because I 1) am lazy and 2) didn’t have a lot of bathroom counter space in previous apartments. More recently, though, I moved into a place with more bathroom storage, and I’m actively trying to be a bit more responsible when it comes to my oral hygiene. And really, this $40 Waterpik deal was too good a deal to pass up. Plus, it comes in teal! My signature color.
6. Amazon Gift Card + $5 Bonus
Price paid: $25
Why I bought it: You know why.
Ana’s Purchases
1. Daily Probiotic Capsule - Digestive Advantage 80 Capsules
Price paid: $12
Why I bought it: Probiotics are expensive. I am old. But really, after winding up in the ER for abdominal pain after taking antibiotics, I learned I need probiotics if I ever go on antibiotics again. $12 for 80 capsules was pretty much a no brainer.
2. Blink Indoor Home Security Camera
Price paid: $30
Why I bought it: I honestly wanted the Amazon Cloud Cam, but it never went on sale for Prime Day this year. After reading other reviews (and writing about the Blink), I decided that was a better deal than waiting for the Cloud Cam to go on sale. I just needed a final camera to mount on the wall in my apartment to continue playing Big Brother whenever I leave the building.
Tercius’ Purchases
1. Amazon Gift Card + $5 Bonus
Price paid: $25
Why I bought it: Free money, baby.
2. Fire TV Stick 4K + Echo Dot
Price paid: $22 (Price mistake)
Why I bought it: Pricing mistakes are fun, right?
Before Prime Day, I ordered Whole Foods groceries which gave me $10 to spend. And with the aforementioned $25 gift card, this was an easy choice.
To be honest, I didn’t need either. But I convinced/bullied Chelsea to go splitsies with me, so she can have the Fire TV Stick and I can give my mom the Echo Dot. $10 to listen to my mom ask Alexa to “Play the Beatles, please” is worth every penny.
3. PowerA Wireless GameCube Style Controller for Switch
Price paid: $27 (Lightning deal)
Why I bought it: There was a Lightning deal on GameCube-style controllers, and I had leftover gift card cash to spend. It was on sale for $37, minus $10 from the Lightning deal, minus my $5 bonus (from the gift card purchase), and $12 leftover Gift Card cash. After all of that, I just had to pay $12 ($2 of which were in taxes.)
Zach’s Purchases
1. Apple iPad + Apple Pencil
Price paid: $249 and $94, respectively.
Why I bought it: I’m impressed with the art I’ve seen made on iPads with Apple pencil (using the Procreate app), and although I have no real experience with art since high school, I want to start doodling. The price was right and Prime Day also landed on pay day, so yeah. And for the record, I wanted the 128GB but it sold out, and apparently that didn’t stop me.
2. $25 Amazon Gift Card + $5 Bonus
Price paid: $25
Why I bought it: While no one physically handed me $5, this is pretty close to that experience. And I used the gift card on the above.
Corey’s Purchases
1. Amazon Gift Card + $5 Bonus
Price paid: $25
Why I bought it: There will never be a time in my life that I turn down $5 for doing next to nothing.
2. Fire TV Stick 4K + Echo Dot
Price paid: $22 (Price mistake)
Why I bought it: I already has the $25 gift card from the previous purchase, and while I’m a ride-or-die Roku user, I do have need of a new Echo Dot in my garage. I can probably sell the 4K Fire TV Stick to a friend and cover the whole purchase.
3. Blink XT2 Outdoor/Indoor Smart Security Camera - 2 Camera Kit
Price paid: $100
Why I bought it: We already have a couple of the previous gen outdoor Blink cameras to keep an eye on the comings and goings of our rural street (mostly night deer, cats, raccoons, and an armadillo once.) My wife works in her basement darkroom most of the day and wanted a two-way audio solution. We were going to buy these at MSRP, but decided to wait until Prime Day and got lucky.
Price paid: $5 (via Alexa voice ordering)
Why I bought it: Most of my house is so controlled by Alexa that my kids can do everything from turn on lights, blare their music through the house at unreasonable levels, open the garage door and unlock the front deadbolt. Unfortunately when Christmas rolls around, I have to rob our lamp smart switches in order to automate my festive light arrays.
Also. It was $5, exactly what Amazon gave me for nothing earlier in the day.
Our Boss, Ryan
1. AmazonBasics Vintage Retro Bluetooth Speaker
Price paid: $85
Why I bought it: My last stereo was a hanky hand me down from my sister that I just… was too lazy to replace. I needed something different from the TV audio setup, and that can travel to my (tiny) NYC balcony.