To be honest, bad sale is bad sale.
Previous years, I always bought a few games but so far, the sale is extremely disappointing. Gamersgate picked up the slack and offered some great deals not to mention Amazon.com but the "sales" Steam now offers, is borderline offensive to us Europeans - I bought Far Cry 1 & 2 both for €6 over at Gamersgate and Steam asks a massive €20 and this is just a small example. Full edition Saints Row 3 for €5 on Amazon, Steam asks €15. The list goes on and on and I can't find a single game which I didn't see for a lower price on another site.
But hey, why am I complaining? I much prefer Gamersgate and if I can buy games dirt cheap there or on Amazon (they usually sell Steam keys) then good for me - I kinda like how the tables are turning and the Steam sales is being dwarfed by other digital services. We may finally see some proper competition as a result!