Amazon Prime Day 2018: Best deals for laptops, cameras and TVs may not offer value, as sales begin

'Not all offers will be as good as they seem,' a consumer group warned

Amazon Prime Day 2018 is here, with the 36 hour extravaganza of online deals expected to be the biggest shopping event in the retail giant's history. But consumer group Which? has warned that not all of the offers for TVs, laptops, cameras and other electronics represent the value they claim to.

On Monday 16 July, discounts on a range of goods will appear on Amazon's website, however some of the items may actually be cheaper outside the promotion period.

Last year, Amazon Prime Day became the retailers biggest ever event, with more purchases than Black Friday and Cyber Monday. At its peak, Amazon customers reportedly ordered 398 items per second. Among the most popular items were Amazon's own Kindle and Echo products.

"Prime Day 2017 was another record-breaking success for small businesses and entrepreneurs worldwide who participated in the event," Amazon said following the event.

Amazon responded to the latest claims from Which? by saying it never claimed Prime Day is the cheapest period to shop on its site, despite heavily promoting offers through advertising campaigns and partnerships with celebrities like Ariane Grande.

"It can be easy to get swept along by the hype and excitement on the day, so we recommend preparing in advance and researching what you want to buy, to make sure you can tell the difference between a good deal and a dud on Amazon Prime Day," Adam French, Which? consumer rights editor, told the BBC.

"Although these time-limited sales events can offer great discounts, not all offers will be as good as they seem."

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There have been complications for Amazon's marquee event this year, after Spanish unions called on 1,000 workers to strike in the middle of the shopping period.

"Remember to stand in solidarity with Amazon workers from the 10th-16th!" Twitter user Mackenzie Harris wrote in a post last week. "Don’t make purchases, stream movies, even open the website. #AmazonStrike is a transnational movement protesting working conditions in facilities. Safety should never be second to profit."

Amazon responded by defending its workers' pay as being at the "high end" in the logistics sector.