Amazon accused of ripping off customers with deals TEN times bigger than they really are
An investigation has revealed that sometimes the ‘deals’ on Amazon aren’t always what they seem
AMAZON has been accused of making its discounts seem up to 10 times bigger than they really are.
Research by shopping website latestdeals.co.uk found the website was claiming far larger savings by discounting against their own recommended price of products.
In five examples seen by The Sun Online the discount being quoted by Amazon has been inflated.
A Scholl nail care system was advertised as having a 51 per cent discount off the recommend retail price of £40.
Latestdeals found its current £19.49 price tag is 5.7 per cent cheaper than its average price of £20.69 – meaning the discount is 10 times smaller than advertised.
And a Braun electric toothbrush is advertised at £69.99 and is currently being sold for £33.99 – a 51 per cent discount.
The electrical product has had an average price of £33.52 over the last two years.
Tom Church, who carried out the research, said: “Amazon's daily lightning deals are touted to be some of the biggest and best.
“They promise big discounts of up to 75 per cent off the original price. However, when you look at the historical prices of the products, you find that the discounts may not be as big as you first think."
Amazon and third-party sellers list these products with artificially high recommended retail prices (RRPs) so that the discounts look bigger than they really are.
Products listed on its website either carry an RRP or 'price', which has been set by Amazon or the third-party seller.
Shoppers may find it hard to tell the difference between these prices and the 'deal' price.
Earlier this year The Sun found the RRP of various products listed on Amazon were higher than they should be, making the discounts for shoppers look bigger than they really are.
Mr Church said: "Dirty marketing tricks annoy me because no one wins. Consumers get ripped off and brands damage their perceived value.
It allows customers to put in the URL of an item and check the average price of an item over two years.
This gives shoppers a good indication of whether an item is being sold at higher price - or whether they should wait for it to fall again.
A spokesperson from Amazon said: "Our customers expect to come to Amazon and find the lowest prices.
"We do the hard work for them, finding the best prices out there and meeting or beating them for all customers, every day, across our entire selection.";
What products did Latestdeals test Amazon on
The umbrella
Amazon says this umbrella normally costs £29.99 and is selling it today for £10.09 - claiming it’s a 66 per cent discount.
However, shoppers have been able to buy the item for an average of £11.59 over the last two years and only a week or so ago it was available via third party seller on Amazon for the lowest price of £5.99.
The electric toothbrush
This Oral-B toothbrush is being advertised as a 51 per cent discount but shoppers are actually paying more than the average price.
According to Amazon the RRP is £66.99 and the discount price is £33.99 - but for the last two years it has been sold at an average price of £33.52.
The nail care kit
The Scholl nail care system advertised as a 51 per cent saving but it is only 5.7 cheaper than the average price of £20.69.
The RRP price is £40. That's a discount 10 times smaller than advertised by Amazon.
The wi-fi dongle
This wifi dongle advertised to be a saving of £22 - a discount of 55 per cent according to Amazon. It’s current price is £17.99.
In fact, you're saving just 71p off the historical average price of £18.70.
The make-up brushes
Makeup brushes said to be a 45 per cent saving but actually just 28 per cent.
Amazon lists the price as £19.99 but it has been selling the brushes through a third-party seller for an average price of £15.26.
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