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Amazon Admits Prime Day Deals Not Necessarily the Cheapest (bbc.co.uk)

Posted by msmash on from the closer-look dept.

Shoppers taking part in internet giant Amazon's Prime Day are being told that the deals on offer may not be the cheapest available. From a report: Amazon said it has never claimed that Prime Day is necessarily the cheapest time to shop on its site. It comes after consumer group Which? warned customers that apparent bargains are not always as good as they seem. It said some goods can actually be cheaper at other times of the year, and advised shoppers to do their research. The 36 hour sale -- aimed at subscribers to the Prime shopping service -- offers discounts on a range of goods. The deals are time-limited, with shoppers being told that some items are only available while stocks last.

9 of 113 comments (clear)

  1. Common sense. by Ecuador · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Good news topic for, I don't know, Cosmopolitan magazine? Not a tech site or generally anywhere where there is no lack of common sense among the audience. We've known this as long as there have been "sale events" in retail. The fact that it is an online store does not suddenly make it different and certainly not "news for nerds".
    Next thing you will tell us, it is not really worth it to stand outside stores for hours for them to open on Black Friday...

    --
    Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS
  2. camelcamelcamel by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Try camelcamelcamel to check the price over the last year and set alerts for the price you want. I have been using it for years.
    (note: I am not associated with them in any way, I just find ti a really useful site!)

    1. Re:camelcamelcamel by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      You can use the chrome extension I made that puts the camelcamelcamel graph above the "add to cart" button, as well as fakespot details. Here's the source code :
      https://github.com/mlsad3/AmznHistoricChart
      Here's the already packaged up extension :
      https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/historic-price-shopper-am/epopkendmjlkmkmcdmbmfnnndfbfdhbc?hl=en

  3. outrage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What? A retailer puts something on sale but they might put it on MORE sale some other time? Unheard of! Nobody in retail EVER does this.

    Oh wait, this is normal practice. But "Amazon" - so somehow we need a mob with pitchforks.

    1. Re:outrage by will_die · · Score: 4, Funny

      You will have to provide the mob yourself but pitchforks are available here https://www.amazon.com/Pitchfo...

  4. Duh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I used to do pricing at Best Buy. 9 times out of 10, when something was put on ad, the only difference on the price tag was that it said "As Advertised" above the price, the price itself didn't change one cent.

    The phrase 'on sale' doesn't actually mean 'cheaper', just that special attention is being brought to it. Yes, sometimes the special attention is a price reduction, but if you regularly watch prices you see that frequently it just means that they're featuring it in ad material.

  5. truth is by oldgraybeard · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I was chatting with a client years ago that was a jeweler (still in business). The subject of sales came up. I asked, so what do you do X% over cost? He said, Heck no! I triple the price then have a 50% off sale and I can't keep the shelves filled.;)

    Just my 2 cents ;)

    1. Re:truth is by Anubis+IV · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You know what? Fair point. In fact-checking myself, it looks like this form of regulation is not nearly as widespread as I thought. Most places refer to this sort of practice as using "fictitious prices", and California has fairly strict laws against their use and there are a number of lawsuits (notably: NOT criminal cases, as I implied might apply) that have been initiated, but there isn't the federal level of regulation in the US that I thought there was, so thank you for calling me on that. As for the EU, I don't check any further, but given how off-base I was about the US, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that I was wrong there as well.

      So, I was wrong. Very wrong. I got some things right, but not nearly as well as I thought. Thank you again for calling me out on it.

  6. Boycotting for the week by Dixie_Flatline · · Score: 3, Informative

    I saw something on Twitter where workers in some countries were going on strike for better working conditions, asking consumers to boycott for the week, which I happily did. I use Amazon and appreciate that I can get some stuff there that I can't find for love or money locally, but the conditions their workers have to endure sound like they contravene a lot of labour laws, and boycotting during a mediocre barely-sale is literally the least I can do. I'm trying to find other sources for the things I want (B&H Photo, Best Buy) but for some things, it's literally impossible to get them anywhere else. Even for items that I CAN get other places, the buying experience is so bad for so many sites. It's really remarkable that almost nobody else has created a purchasing experience even half as good. (For example, I'm in the market for a new iPhone stand, and there's a nice $10 aluminum one on Amazon and I haven't seen it anywhere else yet.)