Summer discounts to Amazon, Walmart and other retailers are not always as deep as they look like it

Summer discounts on Amazon, Walmart and other large retailers are not always as deep as they seem. A handful of scholarships during the last series of sales events was preceded by price increases, an analysis of NBC news from electronic trade pricing.

THE NBC News Price Tracker followed a selection of household items sold online by large retailers. The basket of goods includes everything, from the dishwasher to racing shoes and headphones – items that are not purchased as often as the grocery store but which are common enough to attract buyers during highly announced seasonal promotions.

Out of 178 articles followed on Amazon, Walmart and Best Buy, at least two dozen have seen price increases in the weeks preceding the three sales events of the three retailers. Price fluctuations have come as consumers remain strongly more pessimistic that they were not at that time of last year, with a lot of good deals after months “and economists” executives warnings Increase in prices supplied in prices.

Several items increased by price the week before Amazon Prime Day (July 8-11), then dropped the sale at the start.

• THE Cafeteria At the price of $ 199.99 until the end of June, then increased by about 9% to $ 219.99 in the weeks before the first day. Its price was reduced to $ 139.99 during the first day sale – a discount of more than 36% but only 30% lower than the previous level.

• THE Cannon Eos R50 cameraWho started $ 799 in the weeks preceding Prime Day, reached $ 879 per week before Friday July 4, and has now fell to $ 749. The change transformed which would have been a discount of about 6% on a brand of almost 15%.

“Amazon constantly offers the lowest prices in the widest selection of products, and we continue to respond or beat prices compared to other retailers in the wide selection of products in our store,” said a company spokesperson.

Best Buy has also increased certain prices with the approach of its sale of Black Friday in July (July 7-13).

• A Yamaha outdoor speaker It started at $ 104.99 jumped almost 43% to $ 149.95 per week before the promotional event starts, to return to $ 104.99 during the sale.

• A Anker Charging Dock Increased $ 79.99 just over a week before the retailer sale, when its price was reduced by 20% to $ 63.99 – the same level as in May. In fact, the device has become as low as $ 52.99 at certain times at the end of May and at the end of June.

A spokesperson for Best Buy said the speaker was at the price of $ 104.99 in recent months, outside a two-day period when he was unintentionally reset at his regular price before being reduced on July 3. sale.

Walmart has made its own price increases for certain items before the Walmart Deals event (July 8-13), although the NBC News hiking handle identified among the 74 Walmart-Sold articles in the price tracker occurred in May or June, rather than summer sale.

• This Barbie Dream Camper The whole started at $ 65, increased at 99.99 weeks before Walmart offers and fell to $ 65 during the sale.

• A Fan oscillating PelonisWho started $ 26.42, jumped at $ 34.99 in early June. During the week of offers, it fell to $ 28.38.

• Even a little expensive Versatile BIC lighter The sale of $ 3.52 in May jumped $ 4.99 in June. During the Walmart offers, he returned to $ 3.52.

A Walmart spokesman said that the company’s promotions of July offered “incredible value on thousands of articles” and that his “commitment to low prices every day extends beyond our transactions”. Walmart does not control the prices of the many products listed by third-party sellers on its site, the spokesperson said.

Several Amazon products monitored by the price tracker have also seen tips starting in May and June at levels that dropped just before the first day.

These price changes are not new. The retailers were criticized for such practices for many years And generally say that they will constantly modify prices to remain competitive with each other and meet the demand for consumer demand.

“Much, but not all, the merchants increase the prices just before the start of the sale just to give them to the same discounts that they had been a few days before,” said Samantha Gordon, chief editor to consume Reports, where she said that these movements were also presented to The exit clean price tracker.

“This can give the impression that you get a better than normal affair when it is really only the selling price of everyday,” she said. “The best way to know how really you save to check prices at least two weeks before the start of the sale.”

NBC news prices identified were not at all levels.

Most of the prices of follow -up items have remained flat before summer sales events, rather than climbing in advance. It is also true that the monitoring of zero prices in a tiny sample of electronic commerce purchases in only five large retailers, each sells a wide range of products both in stores and online. But it is not difficult to find evidence of price jumps from the summer periods on other retail price monitoring platforms.

Keepa, which follows Amazon’s prices, found a pair of JBL noise yield earphones Registered for $ 129.95 in the last two weeks of June. They jumped at $ 149.95 on July 3 before moving to $ 99.95 for Prime Day. Camelcamelcamel, which also follows Amazon, shows a Ninja Air Fryer This jumped at $ 129.99 from $ 100 just before the first day, before falling at $ 89.99 during the sales event.

The appearance of deep price reductions has increased an increase in consumption expenses. US electronic commerce sales exceeded $ 24 billion from July 8 to 11, Adobe analysts said on Saturday, a jump of more than 30% compared to the same period last year which “established a new reference for the summer purchasing season”.

Purchases increased in the key products reflected in the price tracker of NBC News, with online sales of 250%clothing, aircraft up 112%, electronics up 95%and renovation items up 76%, Adobe revealed.

The retailers managed to “look at discounts to stimulate growth” among buyers sensitive to prices, analysts said – so much so that many consumers have “exchanged” higher items that they would give up an ordinary day. The share of purchases made up of the most expensive items increased by 20% during the summer sales period from typical levels this year, according to Adobe, with even higher gains among high -end products in categories such as household appliances (up 36% on average levels), sports items (up 30%) and furniture (up 28%).

But as NBC News reported During the autumn holiday shopping season, consumers who are missing the major retail promotions can always find many discounts all year round.

“Prices are increasing and decreasing due to the evolution of conditions,” noted Trae Bodge, a shopping expert, not just due to planned sales events. “Because dynamic prices exist, I suggest that buyers are looking for price history so that they timed their purchases accordingly.”