The holiday shopping season is here, and stores are pushing their deals out. But is what you’re buying actually on sale?
Many shops launched their first wave of sales in October, with Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days, Walmart’s Deals Week, and Target’s Circle Week all coinciding the week of October 7.
KIRO 7’s Deedee Sun tracked items from all three retailers during those sale windows and examined the price histories a month later to determine if the advertised items were really on sale -- or if what seemed like a deal was more of a dupe.
The dozen-or-so items were all advertised as being on sale, right on the home pages for each website. We selected items from clothing, to electronics, to jewelry. Amazon touted items as being heavily discounted, with red tags that said the percentage off for the item on sale. Walmart didn’t list the percentage off, but advertised the amount of money you were supposedly saving instead.
Spoiler alert: turns out most of those “sale” items were not much on sale at all. One month later, the majority of the items we tracked – particularly from Amazon and Walmart – were still the same price, or in some case, even cheaper during a random day in early November.
Here are a few examples:
- On October 7, Amazon featured a pair of Ugg-style Litfun Women’s Fuzzy Memory Foam Slippers for $16.99. It said the item was a “Prime Big Deal” and 54%. When we checked back in on November 10, the item had an even cheaper price tag of $13.99 – meaning shoppers who thought they were getting a deal during Prime Big Days didn’t really score a deal at all.
So was the item really on “sale”? Checking the price history on CamelCamelCamel.com, we found there appeared to be a couple of days after the October sales event where the price of the slippers were set at the “original” list price of $35.99.
- A Shynerk Baby Car Mirror was advertised as 37 percent off during Prime Big Deals, listed for $16.47 (compared to $25.99 for full price). About a month later, the item was $17.59, just over a dollar more expensive – and still advertised as 32 percent off. So shoppers during Prime Big Deals weren’t getting full deal they thought they were getting.
Another way to check the price history is to ask “Rufus”, Amazon’s AI tool that helps you answer questions about an item. You can also ask about the price history. We asked, “When was the last time this item was sold at the list price of $25.99?” The AI Chatbot answered: “I can only provide price history data for up to 90 days, and within that timeframe the Shynerk Baby Car Mirror has consistently been priced between $16.47 and $17.59 - never at the full list price of $25.99.”
As for Walmart, KIRO 7 tracked three sale items advertised on its home page. A luggage set for $119.99 (advertised $480 off), earrings for $22.99 (advertised as $107 off), and Apple AirPods4 for $89 (advertised as $41 off). None of the items went back up in price after the so-called Walmart Deals October sale event when we checked in in November. In fact, the AirPods even dropped by a few bucks.
However, ahead of Black Friday sales, the price of the AirPods shot back up in price to $119 – possibly to be lowered again in time for Black Friday.
Shoppers say they’ve wised up.
“I don’t really believe in the hype of deals,” said Callum Crist, a Renton shopper.
“It’s unfair but at the same time, what can we do?” said Aire Dumag, another Renton shopper.
Seann Colgan heads up consumer protection with the Washington Attorney General’s Office. He reminds people that Washington State’s Consumer Protection Act protects shoppers from fake sales.
“What does it say to you that customers are getting used to the alleged deceptive pricing?” KIRO 7’s Deedee Sun asked Colgan.
“I think it’s really, really unfortunate,” Colgan said. “What the law is trying to do is make sure that if a consumer thinks they’re getting a deal, they’re actually getting a deal,” he said.
In fact, now there’s a class action lawsuit filed in September that accuses Amazon of breaking the law. It calls the Prime Day sales event “a marketing ploy” and says shoppers who bought stuff during Amazon Prime Day in July “felt bamboozled.”
The suit claims Amazon was, “Deceiving and misleading customers into believing they were getting a promised 40 percent discount specifically for Prime Day, when in fact they were paying the usual price of the item.”
It also accuses Amazon of jacking up the price on products “for an extremely short period” so the company can set that as the “fake” list price.”
Colgan says the pre-sale price is supposed to be offered to the public for a “substantial period of time”, though the length of time is considered a gray area.
“You can’t just jack a price up the day before and then cut it and say 50 percent off,” Colgan said. “We would love it if consumers would reach out to us,” he said.
Here are tips to make sure you’re getting a real deal this holiday season:
- Use a price tracking tool, like camelcamelcamel.com to know how much an item is really on sale. You can even ask “Rufus”, Amazon’s built in AI chatbot.
- Download a browser extension or app like Honey or Google Shopping to price compare the item you’re looking for across multiple websites.
- Avoid shopping right before or right after an advertised sales event like Prime Day or Black Friday. We found items tend to increase during those time periods.
- When you feel duped, report it to the Washington State Office of the Attorney General – it is their job to protect consumers. You can file a complaint online here: https://fortress.wa.gov/atg/formhandler/ago/ComplaintForm.aspx
“You have a right under the law to believe what you’re being told,” Colgan said. “that’s why the law exists.”
KIRO 7 reached out multiple times to Amazon, asking if the company has a response for customers who feel mislead by the advertised sales. Amazon said it has no comment.
Walmart asked for details about which items KIRO 7 tracked, but then did not respond with a comment in time for this story.
As for Target, that retailer had the most authentic sales. Three of the four items KIRO 7 tracked (a baby PJs set, Beats headphones, a swivel accent chair) were back at full or almost full price when we checked in a month after the sale ended. A Vera Bradley purse was still on the so-called sale a month after the Target Circle Week October sale event.
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