Amazon’s Pricing Trickery

I’m a huge fan of Amazon.com and shop from them frequently – 177 orders in 2014 to be precise – and generally like most things the company does. However, when it comes to Amazon discount during limited sales, they aren’t entirely…forthright.

Today is Prime Day, and Amazon has some great deals – but before you click BUY because you can’t believe how deep the discount is, be sure to look at the regular sale price. Regular sale price? That’s right – Amazon sells virtually nothing at “regular” price. There’s always a discount, and when Amazon is showing you the discount – it will be off the original price, not the sale price.

For example, the backpack in the screenshot has a full price of $119.99 – but Amazon didn’t sell it for that price yesterday. The regular “sale price” is $76.85. So is this a 50% off deal at $59.99? No, it’s 22% off the sale price it was yesterday. When you’re deciding if a deal is just too good to pass up, look at the real discount, not the number Amazon is putting in front of you.