​We Tried to Buy 21 Things on Amazon Spark to Test Its Accuracy

Here's a guy who has this whole summer casual style down: gray Vans, khakis, and a simple blue shirt. We tried to buy the Vans Unisex sneakers in our size, but that wasn't an option. Instead, we'd have to settle for another color. Next up: the pants. There were 11 colors available, and most had our size available. And the shirt —a short-sleeved button-down, looked exactly like the one in the photo, and it comes in blue and gray for only 29 bucks. The problem: We could only buy it in small, and we're not willing to show off our time in the gym that much.

We also saw this dude jumping with an umbrella and wanted to copy his style. And Amazon gave us what looks like some solid gear to buy, from familiar brands we already are fans of, like this North Face jacket, and a pair of Adidas Stan Smith sneakers (you gotta have a pair of white sneakers). Plus, it's pretty practical and told us we could buy an umbrella, though we couldn't tell if it's the same one.

We're still a ways out from fall and winter, but this photo caught our eye. We liked the whole fit, and it gave us the option to purchase some Danner boots. (Click on the water, though, and you're given a Sony a7R II. Come to think of it, we do need a new camera...)

We did run into some minor sizing issues, which you've probably already experienced on Amazon. The blue and white gingham shirt? An easy buy with a variety of sizes. But the denim jacket? Only available in XXL and up.

It's also a decent place to find out about new athletic apparel, like these shorts.

We love new sneakers, and Spark had a fairly wide selection to buy, like this pair.

Amazon Spark also has no shortage of unexpected items. Some are more subtle and wearable, like this Vans Off the Wall short-sleeve button-down.

And some don't quite get your style or the filters you set up. Colorful women's leggings weren't one of the areas of interest we selected upfront. But there it was, ready for us to add to our cart and wear to ... the gym?

We also ran into some really random items, too. Unfortunately, we couldn't buy this guy's tattoo, but turns out we could pay $35.90 to get this tattoo bandage.

Bottom line: 

So the coolest thing about Spark—finding style ideas and possibly getting to buy specific items you like—is also one of its downsides. Even though it gives you some style inspiration, it's only convenient part-time. And the feed is pretty annoying to use. If we found something and then clicked back to the feed, we sometimes had to start at the top and scroll until we got to that specific pair of pants again. That said, you still can use the search function if you know what you're looking for. Overall, we didn't experience too many issues with completely sold-out or unavailable items during our brief test like Business Insider did. Still, there were several times where something about the gear in the photo and what we could actually buy didn't quite match. Most likely, if you like a look, you will have to do some extra digging in the depths of Prime to find the right jacket or pair of sneakers. It might not have your size or the right color and direct you to something you ultimately will decide not to buy. Or maybe you'll search and search some more. And really, no one wants to do that on Amazon.