October Prime Day deals spurred shopping sprees among Americans: Here's what people bought

With the holidays just around the corner, Amazon Prime members were ready to drop money on the latest Prime Day sale.

The two-day event, which wraps up Wednesday, comes just three months after Amazon Prime members worldwide purchased more than 375 million items during the last Prime Day in July.

"Amazon offered more deals than any past Prime Day event with a wide selection across millions of products,” CEO Andrew Jassy told investors in August. Prime members "saved more than $2.5 billion across the Amazon store, helping make it the biggest Prime Day ever.”

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Amazon has yet to release updated figures from its latest Prime Day, but shoppers across the country told USA TODAY they were dropping money on the event. Prime members have until 11:59 p.m. PDT to take part in the sale.

Final hours:Shop October Prime Day deals on tech, appliances before they're gone

Natalie Shaw: Toys, clothes, a vacuum and deep freezer

Natalie Shaw, a voice teacher and mother of three in Alabama, said she usually takes part in Amazon’s sales. (This is Amazon's first Prime Big Deal Days, also referred to as October Prime Day. Last year, the online retailer held a Prime Early Access sale in October.)

“We shop Amazon Prime all year through our Prime Membership, and so when they have these Prime Day sales we’re like, 'Oh yeah, let’s do this,'” Shaw said.  

She said she uses Prime Day to stock up on toys for her three sons' birthdays and Christmas, with a deals Facebook group helping her keep track of sales.

"I have post notifications on" for the group, she said. "I just look at the (Facebook post) title on my phone, and if I'm interested in it, I go ahead and click on it to see if I made it in time for the deal. And then we go from there."

When she spoke to USA TODAY on Wednesday, she said she had so far purchased toy trucks, Spider-Man toys, drawing pads, a kids’ camera, a vacuum, a deep freezer and three outfits, all for roughly $600. She estimates she would have spent twice that much if the items had not been discounted.

“It’s been really, really good deals,” she said. “(When we see sales) 60-plus percent off, we don’t even think about it twice. We just go ahead and get it because it’s so much savings.”

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Lauren Chao-Hernandez: Maternity and baby items

Lauren Chao-Hernandez has been using Prime Day to stock up on supplies for her nearly two-month-old daughter.

It’s her second time taking part in an Amazon sale after shopping July’s Prime Day for maternity clothes. While some purchases this time around have been influenced by social media posts, she said they’re all baby-related items that she had been waiting to purchase on sale. 

“I never was (a Prime Day shopper) before I was becoming a mother,” said the 34-year-old teacher based in Brooklyn. “It’s such a huge learning curve, seeing what I need, what I don't need.”

When she spoke to USA TODAY, she had purchased a breastmilk storage container at a $20 discount, bathing suits for her baby, a new breast pump bag, maternity undergarments and storage for frozen breast milk. The total cost was over $300, but Chao-Hernandez only spent about $120 after applying gift cards from her baby shower. 

“I didn’t think that I would see these items at a lower price at any other time, which is why I jumped on it,” she said. “I feel like I’ll see the prices go up, and then I'll look back and say I’m glad I purchased it when I did.” 

Marc Watkins: Coffee table, book and pedicure kit

Marc Watkins, 54 of Georgia, said he purchased a pedicure kit, coffee table and book during Prime Day. All three items were sitting in his online shopping cart, and he decided to buy the items when he noticed their prices dropped on Tuesday.

He said he saved about $20 through the sale.

“There’s not much that I really need. It’s not like I was just on there searching for deals,” Watkins said. “I typically just buy when I need stuff or want stuff. I rarely, if ever, wait for discounts.”

Still, he said he was pleased to find the discounts when he looked at his Amazon account.

“I think it helped spur the economy,” he said. “People do wait for these sales and deals to go ahead and spend their money.”