eBay comes for Amazon Prime Day with a concurrent ‘Crash Sale’

Following Amazon’s announcement that its annual Prime Day sale will take place on July 15 and 16, eBay was ready with its own big summer sale announcement. Rather than simply offering competing deals, however, eBay is also taking some pointed shots at Amazon.

Dubbed the Crash Sale, eBay plans to “crash the [Prime Day] party” on the 15th with deals of its own. But the crash in Crash Sale has another meaning as well — eBay promises to release a fresh batch of deals if Amazon’s site crashes on Prime Day, as it did in 2018. eBay’s press release is full of tongue-in-cheek references to Amazon, with COO of eBay Americas Jay Hanson saying that “eBay is primed to deliver exactly what shoppers want during this year’s crash (sale).”

Amazon Prime Day dominates online shopping for all of July, and most of the summer. Other retailers have tried to grab a slice of the Prime Day pie in the past few years, but none have been as aggressive as eBay. Last year the online retailer offered “Primo Deals,” a blatant Prime Day nod, but didn’t go so far as to mention Amazon by name. This year, it’s firing a more obvious shot across the bow, mocking its biggest rival.

Online retailers have clearly accepted that Prime Day is a bona fide shopping “holiday” (for now), but we can all shop smarter by not getting swept up in the hype. As with all sales, do your research before making a big purchase. If you do shop eBay’s Crash Sale (last year the retailer did have better deals than Amazon on video game consoles), make sure that whatever you’re buying shows eBay’s Best Price Guarantee icon. Then check prices elsewhere, since the company will refund 110 percent of the price difference if you find it somewhere cheaper.