Black Friday, the annual shopping extravaganza which brought in more than $1.5 billion in online sales alone last November, is arguably the single most important day for retailers in the U.S. Now Amazon wants to steal its thunder with Prime Day. 
 
 The e-commerce giant announced that it will mark its 20th anniversary on July 15 with deals for subscribers of its Prime shopping program in nine countries (the United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Canada, and Austria). 
 
 In a press release, Greg Greeley, vice president of Amazon Prime, claims “Prime Day is a one-day only event filled with more deals than Black Friday,” but the company did not specify if that means Amazon will offer more deals on July 15 than it did during Black Friday, if the value of the deals will be worth more, or if it hopes Prime Day eventually trumps Black Friday as each year’s main celebration of consumerism (TechCrunch has emailed Amazon for more information). 
 
 The latter proposition is not as outlandish as it might seem because of Amazon’s huge influence on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which have included reducing prices on about 80 million products during the event and extending sales into the week leading up to Thanksgiving, putting more pressure on both online and brick-and-mortar competitors. 
 
 Amazon isn’t just launching Prime Day because it’s in a celebratory mood. Amazon Prime was instrumental in helping the company turn a profit of $214 million in 4Q2014, a quick and dramatic reversal from the larger-than-expected loss it reported in the previous quarter. This was due mainly to an increase in subscription charges for Prime. 
 
 After an initial pouring of discontent, the hike was accepted by most consumers, while Amazon has tacked on several new services, including the Dash Button and instant delivery. Prime Day may help convince more consumers to pay the $99 annual fee (or at least sign up for the one-month trial). ||||| Amazon puts headphones, unrated 'Fifty Shades of Grey' and 55-gallon barrels of lube on sale. 
 
 Amazon's #PrimeDay launched on Wednesday as the company bragged the sales would be even better than Black Friday's. 
 
 However, Amazon users were not impressed with the sales the e-commerce site offered, and many users took to Twitter to express their displeasure. #PrimeDayFail and #PrimeDay both trended as the complaints poured in. 
 
 "Either I'm missing something or the @amazon prime sale is a joke. Everything I want is full price. #PrimeDayFail," said one user. "This #PrimeDay sucks ... its like a digital garage sale," said another. 
 
 Despite the complaints, Amazon's sales soared. “Prime Day peak order rates have already surpassed 2014 Black Friday,” vice president of Amazon Prime Greg Greeley said in a press release on Wednesday. “Prime members have already bought tens of thousands of Fire TV Sticks, 35,000 Lord of the Rings Blu-Ray sets, 28,000 Rubbermaid sets, and 4,000 Echo devices in 15 minutes. The Kate Spade purse was gone in less than a minute. We also sold 1,200 of the $999 TVs in less than 10 minutes." 
 
 Third party data analyst ChannelAdvisor reports sales for Amazon were up by 80 percent at noon ET, according to TechCrunch. 
 
 Here's a look at what people had to say: 
 
 Prime day deals are just like Black Friday .. A few good deals sprinkled all over a metric ton of crap. #PrimeDayFail — joped (@joped) July 15, 2015 
 
 Wow. I was really worried about spending too much on #PrimeDay ... AND nothing to worry about. #PrimeDayFail — Emily M. Evans (@emilymevans) July 15, 2015 
 
 So #PrimeDay just like Xmas. Without Santa, or Turkey, or family, or presents or a tree or anything. #PrimeDayFail — Will Wilson (@theMojoWill) July 15, 2015 
 
 That feeling when you're craving an oreo, only to find someone put an empty box in the pantry? That's how #PrimeDay feels. #PrimeDayFail — Tyler H. Jolley (@DocJolley) July 15, 2015 
 
 Was pretty geeked for #PrimeDay...and it sucks. It's like Black Friday at K-Mart. A bunch of crap nobody wants anyway...for 15% less. — Amanda Goldberg (@GoldbergSays) July 15, 2015 
 
 #PrimeDay kinda sucks right now. Unless you want a Kindle. Or granny panties. — Rick D. (@ricardodlp) July 15, 2015 
 
 I almost want to cancel my Prime membership and start paying for shipping. #PrimeDay sucks. — chris stuberg (@cowsnipers) July 15, 2015 
 
 I bought a wifi dongle. This is what you reduced me to, #PrimeDay. I went in expecting diamonds and I got dongles. #PrimeDayFail — alyson (@alysonenglish) July 15, 2015 
 
 @amazon great job on this #primeday sale. Did you guys decide to clean out your junk drawer? I'll just go to the dollar store instead. — nick. (@nicktation) July 15, 2015 
 
 LOL #PrimeDay is so trash man. Had me hyped up to buy a TV. All the sales are on paper towels & headphones. — DJ (@LordDerrick) July 15, 2015 
 
 $1 off a "deal of the day"? Come on Amazon you can do better than that #PrimeDay fail pic.twitter.com/6ZvHVyFkqa — Scott Richards (@Scott_Richards) July 15, 2015 
 
 It's really cool that @amazon was able to raid a Rite Aid and an abandoned Circuit City for this #PrimeDay sale! #PrimeDayFail — Matthew James Morgan (@MattMO2Go) July 15, 2015 
 
 Oh goody, the unrated edition of 50 Shades of Grey is 60% off...in the Toys & Games section #PrimeDayFail #PrimeDay pic.twitter.com/IAIRIxIsmB — Vee Ann (@alteredandtorn) July 15, 2015 
 
 As much as I would like to agree that gummies at 12% off is a good deal, it's not @amazon. #PrimeDay fail. Why did I stay awake for this?! — Amber Hecht (@amberhecht) July 15, 2015 
 
 So far #PrimeDay looks like "Amazon has alot of shit cluttering their warehouse that no one wants" Day. — Jon (@JonFrat) July 15, 2015 
 
 Everyone who just woke up is about to realize what we who stayed up all night know.. Tupperware & granny panty deals galore #PrimeDay — Amazon Prime (@PrimeDayFail) July 15, 2015 
 
 A Diane Keaton T Shirt, with a 5 pack of brass knuckles AND ham?!?! DREAMS CAN COME TRUE #PrimeDayFail pic.twitter.com/hE1X6lhGb5 — Roy Buckingham (@shave_my_lemon) July 15, 2015 
 
 Somewhere out there, a UPS driver is loading up a 55-gal drum of lubricant and 64oz jars of Skippy Peanut butter thinking #PrimeDayFail — Matthew Harris (@MattHarrisAZ) July 15, 2015 
 
 These deals are so random. A bottle of Vitamin D! A hole punch! FIVE POUNDS OF DRY GARBANZO BEANS! #PrimeDayFail — Tippi Blevins (@TippiB) July 15, 2015 
 
 Feels like #PrimeDay is a Goodwill Outlet store in the Cloud, only I have to wait 2 days for shipping. #PrimeDayFail pic.twitter.com/cYBuUPuJjs — Julie Riley (@planetvoisin) July 15, 2015 
 
 The refresh button isn't making the Tupperware disappear. #PrimeDay — Charles Koh (@charleskoh) July 15, 2015 
 
 Congrats @Amazon - you win the "Biggest Internet Troll of 2015" award. In other news, I'm good on Tupperware now. #PrimeDay #PrimeBust — The Gamer's Dome (@TheGamersDome) July 15, 2015 
 
 Knee brace, shoehorn, blood pressure monitor. @amazon is killing it with the #PrimeDay deals, said my arthritic grandmother. — Emily Johnson (@emilyjnyc) July 15, 2015 
 
 July 16 9:30 am PT: Updated to reflect new data on Amazon's sales.
– Black Friday is so 2014. That's the gist of Amazon's announcement of Prime Day, a "global shopping event, offering more deals than Black Friday" only to Prime members to celebrate its 20th anniversary next week, reports CNNMoney. "Step Aside Black Friday—Meet Prime Day" is the header of today's gently trash-talking press release, deeming July 15 the day when new and existing members in the US, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Japan, Canada, and Austria will be able to take advantage of said deals starting at midnight, with new bargains popping up as often as every 10 minutes. "Members tell us every day how much they love Prime and we will keep making it better," the VP of Amazon Prime promises. TechCrunch notes that Amazon's swagger doesn't specify if by "more deals than Black Friday" it means if there will be more deals quantity-wise, if the value of the deals will surpass that of the day after Thanksgiving, or "if it hopes Prime Day eventually trumps Black Friday as each year's main celebration of consumerism." The site adds, though, that Amazon has definitely had a significant effect on both Black Friday and Cyber Monday by reducing prices on 80 million or so of its products (which, subsequently, put more pressure on competitors). If you're not a Prime member and aren't sure yet if you want to cough up the $99 yearly membership, the company is offering a free 30-day trial so you can take part in Prime Day. The big question: Is this a one-off, or is Amazon planning on celebrating Prime Day every year? A spokeswoman says the company "doesn't have any future plans to share" that information, per CNET. (Amazon is still trying to give flight to its drones plan.)