4 Worst Holiday Gifts To Purchase From Amazon This Season

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With the holiday season just around the corner, you might already be starting to think about the gifts you want to give your friends and family this year.

While there are going to be a lot of popular items like Apple AirPods or the new PlayStation 5 Pro, it’s important to make sure you’re getting the best deal possible to protect your budget. 

Amazon has become the go-to retailer for many people. It’s easy, and shipping is quick and free with Amazon Prime. However, it’s not always the cheapest place to purchase items.

To help make sure you’re not overpaying this year, we’ve compiled a list of the four worst holiday gifts to purchase from Amazon this year.

Off-Brand Electronics

Electronics are some of the most popular gifts to give each year. And while it might be easy to head to Amazon to make your purchase, there are thousands of items you could choose from. 

For example, if you search for wireless earbuds, there are more than 9,000 results. You’ll find everything from name brands to brands you’ve never heard of. If you’re on a strict budget this year, it might be easy to lean toward a generic brand of something.

While these might work great for a period of time, they tend to have a much shorter lifespan than your name-brand items. Plus, they tend to have shorter warranties and less than ideal customer service.

Gift Cards

Gift cards can be one of the easiest gifts to give if you have a hard to shop for person on your list. While Amazon can make it easy, you’re not going to get the best deals on gift cards.

Instead, look to Costco for your gift card needs. Not only do they sell gift cards for below face value, but they also tend to run some pretty amazing promotions.

For example, if you have a frequent traveler on your list, they’re offering $500 worth of Southwest Airlines gift cards for just $449. Plus, you could also buy $100 worth of Domino’s or Uber/Uber Eats gift cards for $74.99 each.

Beauty Products

If you’re buying someone beauty products as a gift, it could be tempting to turn to Amazon, but there is risk involved in that.

Many of the beauty products on Amazon are sold by third-party sellers, and you can’t guarantee the authenticity of the product they’re selling or that it’s not expired. 

This makes it so that you need to be very cautious when purchasing from Amazon. Counterfeit beauty products could also have harmful ingredients like lead or arsenic.

Instead of Amazon, stick with reputable retailers when buying beauty gifts. The best place would be through the manufacturers themselves. However, stores like Ulta Beauty, Sephora or even Target are great places to shop.

Home Improvement Tools

Stores like Lowe’s and Home Depot have become go-to stops for many shoppers when purchasing home improvement tools.

Because they keep huge amounts of inventory on hand, they tend to receive inventory at a great price, which can then be passed along to consumers around the holidays. 

For example, this Ryobi ONE+ 18v Drill/Driver is $59 at Home Depot and $72.99 from Amazon. For an even bigger price disparity, Lowes is selling this Dewalt Stealthsonic 12-gallon shop vacuum at Lowe’s for $119. However, if you were to purchase it from Amazon without shopping around, you would spend $205.97.

The Bottom Line

Amazon can have a lot of great deals and make shopping extremely easy. However, these four items are things that should stay out of your Amazon cart this holiday season.

Instead, shop around to make sure you’re getting a great deal and purchasing from a reputable retailer. 

Editor’s note: Prices are accurate as of Nov. 4, 2024. Prices and availability may vary by location.

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