These Amazon Customers Are Calling Prime Day Deals a Scam: Should You Worry?

On Day 1 of the Amazon Prime Day sale, many headed to Amazon's website and app to grab the very many deals. However, this TikTok user has fired at Amazon by saying that the deals aren't that great after all. TikTok user @offthelowlow took to the video-sharing platform and showed an iRobot mop that she claimed has been with her for quite some time now. The listed price for the mop was $299, an amount she claims is consistent. The same product was listed on Amazon as a part of their sale, claiming that the price was cut down from $500 to $299. "That’s simply not true," the TikTok user said in the video. "It has been $299 for the past year. It was never $500," she revealed.

Shoppers are calling out Amazon Prime Day deals  

Many took to the comment section of the video which had more than 418K views to share similar experiences. Madison Mason 757 REALTOR writes, "The patio furniture I’ve been eyeing I just decided to buy. It said it was 20% off but it’s the same price it has been since I’ve been looking at it." Haybelle89 shares an astonishing fact that her friend just told her that her cart price went up during Prime Day. Another user, Hannah Rosetta wrote, "These cute coupe glasses I wanted were 69 yesterday & 84 today but on sale" "Prime Day isn’t priming anymore,” a user pointed out.

People on other social media platforms like Twitter also expressed their disappointment in the deals. "Amazon Prime Day just tried to scam me. They showed me an item that I bought before but raised the price artificially then told me that they lowered the price making it the same, but tricking me that it’s cheaper," tweeted a user. Another user simply expressed her will to cancel the membership and called it a scam. 

The reason behind the price fluctuation

In a thread started on Reddit that asked people if they thought Prime Deals are fake, a person shared insights on the technical aspect of it. They talked about how Amazon has no direct control over the price, and that it's the brand managers and sellers who actually set the prices "Brand managers(like myself) and sellers submit products and their prices several months in advance." Amazon simply accepts or rejects these submissions.

The user also talked about how the algorithm "aggressively price matches online retailers by using web crawlers." These web crawlers are then reset for the prime sale and hence, sometimes there are items that are cheaper prior to the sale because they were being price matched before the Prime Day sale. The user also elaborated on how certain products are always promoted so it's just another regular sale day for those brands. 

"About 30%-35% is what most consumers would see during any promotion whether it's Prime Day or not. Those are the kinds of deals brands and sellers tend to run as that still leaves a small amount of profit after Amazon takes their cuts," the user wrote. If the businesses were not so expensive to run, consumers would see better deals, per the user.

Be wary of scams while Prime Day shopping

Phishing increases during busy shopping days like Prime Day or Black Friday hence, the Better Business Bureau warned shoppers about phishing scams, misleading advertisements, and lookalike websites, per Fox Business. Unsolicited emails, texts, or phone calls with some messages claiming there is a gift waiting or a problem with delivery are tell-tale signs of impersonation scams. "Know what you’ve opted in and out of before you click," the Bureau advised, asking customers to track their purchases.

Despite some shoppers not finding their desired deals, Prime Day sales touched a record high this year, at $6.4 billion. Home appliances seem to be hot favorites and can be great gifting options.