Why some of the deals in Amazon’s Prime Day 2017 sale aren’t very good (and how you can find out if they are legit)
Our snapshot look at Amazon Prime Day deals reveals they aren’t always as good as they may seem
AMAZON promises that its Prime Day event includes “thousands of amazing deals” for shoppers around the world - but some of the deals aren’t as good as they seem.
The online giant pledged its 30-hour-long sale would include over 100,000 items, with discounts hitting every 10 minutes.
Among the legit bargains there are a number items that have previously been sold at a much lower price, either by the online giant or a third party seller.
Online - and high street - retailers are bound by advertising rules which mean that they can use the recommended retail price - or RRP - to work out discounts.
Savings are usually calculated using the most recent price for 28 days, as a general rule.
This means that items can previously have been sold at a much lower - or higher - price and the shopper may be none the wiser.
It's much harder to find out this information when out on the high street or even when buying online.
But some clever bods made a tool to help Amazon shoppers reveal these details for themselves.
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CamelCamelCamel.com allows shoppers to enter the URL of a product to reveal the price history - and whether the item has ever been sold at a lower price.
It also lets shoppers decide whether they want to pay the current price or wait to see if it falls to an all-time low before buying.
So even though Amazon aren’t breaking any rules, some of the deals that shoppers find might not be as good as they seem at first glance.
We spent 30 minutes looking at the Prime Day sale and analysing a small number of items.
In four examples of Amazon Prime Day deals, out of a dozen, the items had previously been sold for a lower price.
For example, a Sony ILCE6300LB Compact System Camera with SELP1650 Power Zoom Lens in Black is advertised with a deal price of £1,002.30. Amazon claims this is a 20 per cent discount on the RRP.
But CamelCamelCamel.com reveals that it was previously sold by Amazon for £929 in April last year.
While Amazon claims that its ION Audio Superior turntable is a 12 per cent discount on the RRP, at £149, even though it was sold for £119.99 in December last year by retailer.
A Motorola MBP365 Digital Video Monitor 3.5inch display is advertised with a deal price of £74.99 today, a discount of 46 per cent Amazon claims.
While CamelCamelCamel shows that it was previously sold for £69.99 in March this year by the retailer.
It’s not just gadgets and electrical items that appear in the Prime sale.
A waterproof silicone bib is in the sale, advertised at £12 - it claims to be a discount of 60 per cent on the RRP.
Data from CamelCamelCamel.com reveals that it was sold for £7.99 by a third-party seller on Amazon last month.
Amazon declined to comment.
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