Bargain shoppers swept up in Amazon Prime Big Deals Day are urged to research products before buying. But a consumer champion has cherry-picked the best buys and listed the goods to avoid.
Thousands of items were vigorously tested by Which? to see what the best and worst potential buys were during the sales which run on Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 October.
Making its ‘don’t buy’ list is the £65 Kinderkraft Comfort Up car seat which was found to be ‘poor’ when it comes to safety. During a side-impact crash test, the dummy hit its head on the inside of the car. The item designed for children aged 12 months to around 12 years old passed the legal R44 car seat regulations but didn’t meet Which?’s tougher testing standards.
The consumer champion also put technology goods under the microscope, with the £275 Hisense 43E77HQTUK 4K TV described as “quite simply terrible” due to a “wobbly picture” and “weedy audio”.
Elsewhere, the Smeg KLF04CRUK Variable Temp Kettle, which typically costs an eye-watering £149 was also rated badly by the group. Not only did it find that boiling a litre of water took three and a half minutes, but the kettle was also noisy. It also took a minute to switch off so is not so energy efficient.
On the flip side, there were positive reviews too and customers on the lookout for a tried and tested air fryer could check out the Instant Pot Vortex 4-in-1 which usually costs £79. It was a winner thanks to its roasting, baking, and reheating options.
Those hunting a recommended hoover may want to consider the Shark IZ300UKT cordless vacuum which typically retails at £329. Which? found that not only does it clean well on hard surfaces and carpets, it comes with a variety of attachments for pet hair.
Keen readers may also wish to consider the eleventh generation of the Amazon Kindle, which has double the storage of its previous model at 16GB and costs £94.99 (for the model without ads).
‘Easy to get sucked in by the masses of deals’
As customers go bargain-hunting, Natalie Hitchins, Which? head of home products and services, said: “Like all sales events it’s easy to get sucked in by the masses of deals on offer and end up buying something sub-standard, so we’ve cherry-picked the best and worst products that could be on offer this sale season.
“Our retail experts will be hunting out the best deals on products that have performed well in Which? tests this week so make sure you do your research if you want to bag a genuine bargain.”
An Amazon spokesperson replied: “We are always looking for ways to offer customers more value, and Prime Big Deal Days will offer Prime members some of the best deals of the season across some of our most popular items – including our lowest prices so far this year on products from top brands including Barbie, Samsung Mobile UK, Sony and more.
“Our goal is to help customers find the products they care about at great prices, during deals events and all year round, and make informed purchase decisions. Reviews are a core part of why customers love shopping on Amazon and customers can use the reviews and ratings – nearly 1.5 billion posted globally on Amazon last year alone – to make sure they get the product that’s right for them.”
