Experts warn shoppers over Prime Day prices

12 July 2023 , 08:02

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Shoppers who don't use price trackers during huge online sale events, like Prime Day, could risk paying more for an item (Image: Getty Images)

It’s the final day of Amazon Prime Day, the global sale event which sees the online retailer drop prices across its site. Despite the sale ending in less than 24 hours the shoppers that choose to wait could end up saving money, as much as £300.

Official Prime deals will stay live until 11:59 pm, Wednesday, July 12, not leaving much time for shoppers to bag a money-saving offer. Lightning deals are likely shoppers' best chances to get the cheapest prices, like the Fire TV 4-series which dropped to £120 and sold out in minutes, but they don't stick around for long.

Amazon’s own brand of tech, smart devices, air fryers and smartphones have been the latest ‘craze’ products with hundreds of pounds taken off the final checkout price. According to consumer experts, it's not always as cheap as it may seem and left shoppers in 2022 paying as much as £130 more than outside of the sale.

The figures show beauty fans who bought a Dyson Supersonic Hairdryer during the 2022 Prime event would have overpaid by £125, as it dropped from a £364 sale price to £239 once the sale had ended. The Dyson V10 Absolute Vacuum was another 'overpriced' product as it could be found for £77 cheaper after the sale had ended.

Pricing collected by idealo shows how some products could be cheaper after Prime Day

Ninja Air Fryers, Ninja Ice Cream Makers and Nintendo products were also found to be slightly more expensive, based on prices listed across idealo's sites between the 12-13th of July 2022.

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Katy Phillips at idealo said: “Amazon Prime Day is undoubtedly a good time to buy, as long as people price track before jumping into the heavily advertised flash sale. We hope our discount analysis gives shoppers an indication that not all purchases are worthwhile.

“It’s important to price track days before the main event to see if you can buy at a cheaper time."

This is where comparison tools come in as it shows the full price history of items, giving shoppers an idea of value for money. CamelCamelCamel is a tool we've used to compare prices and after having a quick look and current trending items in the 2023 Prime Sale we'd urge all shoppers to have a look before heading to the checkout.

After searing for products in the search engine of CamelCamelCamel there are a few products 'on sale' which are actually a lot more expensive. Like these Beats Solo 3Wireless listed as a Prime Day deals for £122, at first glance it may look like a good deal at £77 cheaper than the original price but history shows they've actually sold for £94.99 on Amazon before, during Black Friday.

This Nespresso Vertuo Pop Coffee Machine is currently on Prime offer for £59, again history shows that it's cheapest price ever recorded was £49 in April this year. Amazon's own branded products also feature as slightly more expensive, although by not as much.

This Kindle Oasis is currently £209 in the sale, £9 more expensive than the cheapest price in November last year a few months after the 2022 Prime Day sale.

It goes without saying that not everything is more expensive, using the price tracker we have found products we know are currently the cheapest ever seen, and it's why we guarantee shoppers to use the tool before going to the checkout. For instance this Google Pixel 7 Pro is £759 in the sale, currently £16 cheaper than the lowest £775 price during Amazon's Spring Sale.

Harriet Morphy-Morris