Amazon customers get bad news for upcoming Prime Day

If you ask the average American what the most exciting time of the year is, you might get a variety of answers. 

Some might tell you it's the holidays, when everyone seems to get a little kinder, and it's not uncommon to find fresh-baked goods around the house or office. 

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Some might say it's the entire month of October, when the MLB playoffs start, the NFL and NBA are in full swing, and the weather gets a little more chilly. 

And some might tell you it's the middle of July, not because it's summer vacation or because the days are longer, but because that's when Amazon  (AMZN)  hosts its annual Prime Days sales event.

Prime Days has become something of an online pilgrimage for both brands and customers. 

The retail giant started Prime Days in 2015 as a way to celebrate its 20th anniversary. 

In the roughly 10 years since Prime Days began, the sales event's reputation has preceded it. 

In 2024, Amazon shoppers in the U.S. spent over $14 billion during the two-day event — a record for the company. 

Amazon Prime Days is big business

It's understandable why so many shoppers look forward to Amazon Prime Days. 

In 2024, the average discount was about 22%. That's a pretty good deal, considering most customers are eager to see an item go on sale for between 10-20%. 

And Prime Day is big business for Amazon and its sellers. The average order was $58 in 2024, and the average household spent just over $150. 

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"The opportunity to save big meant a record-breaking number of customers signed up for Prime in the three weeks leading up to Prime Day, with millions of new members worldwide."

To date, Amazon boasts about 310 members across the world, and it's hoping to add more before Prime Day in 2025, which is expected to take place sometime in mid-July. 

Amazon customers get bad news

But some Amazon customers will be frustrated to hear that Prime Day might not be as full of deals this year.

That's because thanks to tariffs, which are making imported goods more expensive, some brands are threatening to pull out of Prime Day in 2025. 

The move is an effort to protect the sellers' profit margins, which have been hit specifically by tariffs against China, currently sitting at 145%. 

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It's estimated nearly 70% of items sold on Amazon are made in China, which could see the cost of many of these goods either go up or pull out altogether. 

Amazon itself isn't anticipated to feel the pinch too much. Its sellers, however, are faced with a tough decision: pass costs onto customers and risk losing their business, or absorb the higher costs to the detriment of profit.

So some are weighing what once seemed like the impossible — missing Prime Day — since slashing prices in the new high-cost environment isn't feasible. 

Others are weighing the option to raise prices, despite customers' anticipation of hot deals in July. 

Amazon, for its part, maintains Prime Day will still be a blockbuster event. 

A spokesperson for the company said Amazon was already seeing a “strong response from selling partners to Prime Day 2025,” and that many items haven't seen outsized price increases over the past year.