Black Friday and Cyber Monday are right around the corner (Nov. 23 and 26, respectively), and that means the holiday “sale” season is upon us. But as the sales comes, so do the annual reports that the goods aren’t actually discounted that much or worth the price, anyway. How do you know when it’s the right time to buy? According to Consumer Reports, the answer is to “never assume sale pricing is accurate.”
Deceptive pricing techniques, in which stores advertise the wrong original price on their sale items to make the sale price look like a better deal, have been on the rise, writes CR. “Since 2014, more than 150 lawsuits have been brought against more than 80 retailers, alleging that they duped consumers.”
How does that work? CR writes that state and federal laws typically ban stores from comparing a sale price to another price “unless that ‘anchor price’ was offered to the public for some reasonable period.” That reasonable time period, however, has not been firmly established, meaning states decide depending on each individual case.
And that gives stores a lot of leeway. An independent analysis of prices of certain items by nonprofit advocacy group Consumers’ Checkbook found that items at stores like JCPenney, Kmart, Macy’s and Sears were offered on “sale” almost every week, meaning they were never listed at that “original” price, per CR. The sale price was more or less the “real” price.
Other types of “sales” to avoid: Doorbuster deals, which are meant to get consumers into the store to buy other items but are typically limited and not great deals; BOGO sales, which we typically equate to a full 50 percent off when they are often buy one [at full price] get one 50 percent off; and bait and switch tactics in which advertised merchandise is not actually available at your local store.
So rather than basing your buying on the sale prices, make notes of the things you actually want to buy, and compare prices across different retailers. There are plenty of browser extensions and apps that can help you do that, including CamelCamelCamel (which specifically tracks Amazon), Coupon Sherpa, Earny, Honey and Price Tracker.