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Amazon Admits Prime Day Deals Not Necessarily the Cheapest (bbc.co.uk) 113

Posted by msmash 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.
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Amazon Admits Prime Day Deals Not Necessarily the Cheapest More

Amazon Admits Prime Day Deals Not Necessarily the Cheapest

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  • Common sense. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Ecuador ( 740021 ) on Monday July 16, 2018 @10:06AM (#56956388) Homepage

    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...

    • >> Next thing you will tell us, it is not really worth it to

      Hey editors, if you wanted a tech story for this audience, how about it might be that it's not the best idea to sign your managed service contracts while in the VIP room at a Vegas tech conference. Or that white papers (and anything else planted on Slashdot) are mostly bullshit developed by marketing departments with a friendly customers (who is usually getting a price break to put their name on a piece.) And also, hello and welcome to IT - w

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by swb ( 14022 )

      I think the Cosmopolitan version of this story is "What you should be buying RIGHT NOW on Amazon Prime Day!", with a bunch of near-paid endorsements of products whose price is either unchanged or actually up.

      The local TV news channel did a piece on this last night that was almost indistinguishable from a commercial for Prime Day, about as close as they got to something resembling news was to say that "not everything is on sale" and "supplies may be limited".

      What would make this a news-for-nerds story would

    • 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.

      Welcome to Slashdot! It is always nice to see new users on here. I hope you enjoy your stay here and find plenty of insightful and common-sense filled posts.

    • Amazon is starting to (has already?) eclipsed the online sales of all other online retailers combined, which is making this old tactic potentially more relevant. You could certainly say that they've got a monopoly of online sales for online-only retailers, but possibly now that they're 50%+ of online sales including brick-and-mortar retailers like Walmart, you could make the argument that they're unfairly duping customers or wielding monopoly power in an unfair way. (That's not quite true, I'm just saying t

  • camelcamelcamel (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 16, 2018 @10:06AM (#56956392)

    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!)

    • Re:camelcamelcamel (Score:4, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 16, 2018 @11:07AM (#56956878)

      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

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Beware of camelcamelcamel scams though.

      The way they make money is to tell your price alerts to the sellers. They can see that X people are willing to pay âY for this product, and use that to set their selling price.

      Unfortunately scammers can buy this information too and do fake sales where they offer the product at exactly the price you want it. Then they just run off with the cash and you eventually get a refund from Amazon. They sometimes take over existing Amazon shops, other times they set up a new

  • outrage (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 16, 2018 @10:07AM (#56956398)

    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.

  • Duh? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 16, 2018 @10:09AM (#56956414)

    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.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by gnick ( 1211984 )

      The phrase 'on sale' doesn't actually mean 'cheaper', just that special attention is being brought to it.

      "On sale" means "available for purchase." Pretty much everything on Amazon is on sale. Declaring it "on sale", like you say, is just drawing attention.

      • You're thinking "for sale". "On sale" is subtly different, in the way the AC you replied to has described.
    • I've worked places where we increased the prices on some items, advertised the new price, and increased sales on stuff that had been cheaper the week before but merely not been heavily promoted.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      The UK now has permanent sales. Some companies, like DFS (shitty over-price sofas) have become the butt of jokes, using the end of the DFS sale in place of hell freezing over for events that are unlikely to ever happen.

      The law actually requires products to be for sale at full price for at least 28 days before they can be described as discounted, but they get around it by having one insanely expensive shop somewhere in the country and then permanent discounts at all the others.

      Some places are just over-price

    • At Home Depot, we printed out yellow price tags to put on the shelf for items that are "on sale". Regular price tags are white.

      99.99999999% of the time, the yellow price tags had the same price as the white tags we removed from the shelf. They'd just raised the "regular" price in the computer so that they could put it "on sale" for the same price.

      The unfortunate part is it worked very well. A lot more of the items would be bought when we put it "on sale".

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Raenex ( 947668 )

        99.99999999% of the time, the yellow price tags had the same price as the white tags we removed from the shelf. They'd just raised the "regular" price in the computer so that they could put it "on sale" for the same price.

        This practice is illegal [ftc.gov].

        • And I'm sure our Republican overlords will get right around to enforcing that very soon.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Raenex ( 947668 )

            You worked there. Did you report it? Did you document it? Did you raise a stink to the public? Or did you just collect your paycheck and move on?

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Everybody loves a sale. Just look at the endless Presidents' Day car sale ads which somehow manage to run 12 months.

  • Yeah, no shit. (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Some of Amazon's prices are just nuts. A cooler that I bought for $10.99 at my local supermarket goes for $24.99 on Amazon.

    And most of the other seller's that use Amazon market place have ridiculous prices. A box of Oat Bran cereal is $6.00 plus S&H whereas that exact same thing is $1.99 at my local Kroger with no S&H. And the prices change all the time too; which royally pisses me off.

    Prime is just psychological - to get people to impulse buy without shopping. And at $119/year, it is definitely

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      A box of 10 Oat Bran are $34 on Amazon. That is $3.40 per box which is in line with grocery stores. The same box is $3.68 at Kroger. Why do people lie when you can look it up on the Internet.

    • Prime is just psychological - to get people to impulse buy without shopping. And at $119/year, it is definitely NOT a good deal.

      Depends. For me, it's a OK (if not great) deal for the Prime video alone.

      With the free two day shipping (with no minimum order required), it becomes a very good deal for the two things combined.

    • Some of Amazon's prices

      That is correct. You are referring here to prices that belong to Amazon, and indicate possession with the 's.

      most of the other seller's that use Amazon

      That is incorrect. The s by itself is used to denote plural, more than one seller. You have confused the possessive seller's with the plural sellers, which it is clear you intended from the context.

      Minus 10 points.

  • truth is (Score:5, Insightful)

    by oldgraybeard ( 2939809 ) on Monday July 16, 2018 @10:22AM (#56956502)
    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 ;)

    • That jeweler may be running afoul of the law, since that sort of slimy practice is exactly why it's illegal in many jurisdictions (e.g. US, Europe, etc.) to use arbitrary list prices. Generally speaking, the item must have sold at the listed price at some point in the previous X days if the seller wants to use that price as the one that they're marking it down from. So, for instance, if you wanted to sell an item at a sale price of $50 while marking it as 50% off, someone else would have had to have paid $1

      • [citation needed]

        • Re:truth is (Score:4, Insightful)

          by Anubis IV ( 1279820 ) on Monday July 16, 2018 @01:49PM (#56958066)

          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.

      • So, for instance, if you wanted to sell an item at a sale price of $50 while marking it as 50% off, someone else would have had to have paid $100 to buy that same item from you in, say, the previous month.

        There is no way that's correct. Say you order a bunch of widgets and figure you can charge double your cost (because you bought a bunch of them). A month later, none of them has sold. Nobody is going to tell you that you can't discount those widgets until someone buys one at your inflated price.

        • Nobody is going to tell you that you can't discount those widgets until someone buys one at your inflated price.

          That wasn't what I was saying. You can sell them for $50 whenever you want, but you can't advertise that $50 price as being "50% off" the $100 price at which you never managed to sell any. It's a truth in advertising issue, not a "what's a valid price" issue. You can set whatever price you want, but you can't advertise that price as being a discount from a fictitious value that they never actually sold at.

          That said, it's worth pointing out that I was factually wrong about some of the other things I said and

  • What is Prime Day? (Score:3)

    by rossdee ( 243626 ) on Monday July 16, 2018 @10:28AM (#56956562)

    What is "prime" about today?

    Its the 16th of July

    Nothing prime about 16

    Sure 7 is prime, , but that would make for a month long sale.

  • Boycotting for the week (Score:4, Informative)

    by Dixie_Flatline ( 5077 ) <vincent.jan.gohNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Monday July 16, 2018 @11:10AM (#56956914) Homepage

    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.)

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Raenex ( 947668 )

      (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.)

      What, this [amazon.com] one? If that's the case, you can buy it direct [lamicall.com]. Most things on Amazon are available elsewhere, like eBay, direct, or Asian market sites like AliExpress.

  • ... items on "clearance" might not be super cheap!

    (and might not be getting cleared out, for that matter)

    Stay tuned to /. for more hot savings tips ...

  • Tons of stuff is cheaper in local stores (Score:3)

    by Fencepost ( 107992 ) on Monday July 16, 2018 @11:19AM (#56956964) Journal
    Even without the problem of counterfeit items being mixed in with their stock, tons of things sold on Amazon are much cheaper in local stores or even via web ordering from some of those retailers.

    • Re: (Score:1, Troll)

      by 110010001000 ( 697113 )
      OK. Name one.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by swb ( 14022 )

        I'll give you a weird example that makes me shop at Amazon but kind of hate myself for it.

        On my boat, I have occasional use for 3M 4000 Marine Adhesive Sealant. IMHO, there is no substitute for its unique qualities.

        The only local retailer for it is West Marine, and their price is about $15-16 locally. I can get it from other specialty marine product stores for the same price as Amazon (about $13) but I wind up cutting the savings by about half in shipping, plus it will take 2-3x as long to get it.

        So Amazo

        • If you used the 5200 instead, you would have a longer-lasting seal.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by swb ( 14022 )

            If I used 5200, it would never come apart or be reusable. 5200 is a permanent adhesive.

            4000 is ultimately removable and/or stuff can be separated if you want, plus it remains more pliable. Like bedding deck fittings, lights, that sort of thing, where you want a good seal plus some kind of flexibility. I've used it a lot for sealing screw threads -- tap hole oversize, fill with epoxy, let cure, tap to screw size, coat screw with 4000 and seat within a half-turn of flush. Seat flush 24+ hours after curin

      • Comment removed based on user account deletion

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Teckla ( 630646 )
        My new-ish ASUS monitor was $100 cheaper at my local MicroCenter compared to Amazon.
      • I can't provide an Amazon link for it today because when I try all I get is pictures of dogs telling me that something went wrong, but over the weekend I purchased https://www.meijer.com/product/home-improvement-auto/hardware/basic-hardware/adhesives/scotch-extreme-clear-4ft-rf6740/t1/t1-873/t2/t2-10042/t3/t3-588/t4/t4-1850/5114140318.uts

        $13.99 at Meijer, and until Saturday was a BOGO50%off item - so 2 for $21. Amazon's best price for it was $14.99. I don't have links for another recent item, replacement sh

  • Have you looked at what's "on sale"? I have seen less useless junk in 1-dollar stores. Just cheaper.

  • You can invent your own retail holiday, and people fall for it.

    I got to hand it to Amazon, though... this is probably the smartest way I've seen to clear old inventory cluttering up their warehouses since the invention of the "Woot Off" on woot.com before Amazon bought them. Who knows... it might have been the same marketing guy who came up with Prime Day.

    • You can invent your own retail holiday, and people fall for it.

      They are promoting it with concerts around the world ... they really are going all out. It is a pretty amazing thing to watch.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by lgw ( 121541 )

      It was a direct copy of Singles Day, the highest-volume shopping day in the world. Singles Day was created by Alibaba IIRC, as a sort of joke on Valentines day, first on 11/11/11. It was wildly successful in China (and is one of Amazon's big days as well).

      No surprise Amazon wanted a piece of that action, and it turns out people don't need a theme for a shopping holiday, just an excuse.

  • I've been a prime member since 2010. Almost without fail, one item will have auto-selected "overnight" at extreme cost, instead of defaulting to the free 2 day delivery (which is becoming a joke as they add drop shippers who aren't that slick). Anyone who uses Alexa or one click ordering probably never gets a chance to switch back to WHAT YOU ALREADY PAID FOR. I've seen 30-$60 "overnight" rates on $5 junk added to an otherwise $100 order. Watch your back.
  • Early in my career I worked for an online retailer. The algorithm for any sales was always the same and very simple: raise the RRP so that the price after all the sale discounts matches your usual price. I don't expect it to be any different this time.
  • Amazon hails itself as a technology company but at the time you can't search prime day deals on the web nor their app.

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