Prime Time

So today is Prime Day — a day Amazon devised to be the summer version of Black Friday in November. We’ve always avoided all the “deals” coverage surrounding these things because of their blatant hyper-consumeristic nature, but I was still curious so I took a peek.

Forty-eight rolls of toilet paper coming up in eight minutes!

For $19, if you want to stock up.

Except it sold out completely, and quickly.

Feel like a terrible consumer because I can’t find anything I really want to buy on Amazon Prime Day.

— Farhad Manjoo (@fmanjoo) July 15, 2015

Besides all the hyper-consumerism, one of the off-putting things about these kinds of “shopping events” is the “Fear of Missing Out” aspect of it. What if I miss out on some deals! It’s going to be OK. You’re not a bad consumer for not participating in a sales event that’s not offering anything you actually want or need. You’re a smart consumer when you know you actually have something in mind you want to buy and then shop around for it. If you do find something you’ve been meaning to buy, I hope you scored a deep discount.

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