Humor

Recently we told you that JC Penney was doing away with phony price comparisons in its stores. Other sellers, however, still need to clean up their act.

A little over a year ago, Mouse Print* spotlighted a number of grocery items at Amazon.com that they claimed were 90% off, when they were not. The company used grossly exaggerated “regular” prices to make it appear that the goods were 90% off.

After we called them on the carpet, influential blog that Mouse Print* is, the company cleaned up its act, right? Well, not quite. A quick look through their listings turned up hundreds of questionable discounts.

Here, they are claiming that 24 boxes of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese normally sell for $791.76 — or $32.99 a box.

*MOUSE PRINT:

The actual regular price at a local supermarket was $1.59 a box, or $38.16 for 24, not nearly $800 as Amazon claimed.

Here are some more examples of wildly exaggerated regular prices used to provide an illusory discount of over 90%:

*MOUSE PRINT: Supermarket price is $2.50 a box; with four boxes costing $10, not $239.

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*MOUSE PRINT: Supermarket price is $1.34 a box, not over $140.

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*MOUSE PRINT: Supermarket price is $4.69 a box, not over $90.

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*MOUSE PRINT: Supermarket price is $1.89 a bottle, not over $47.

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*MOUSE PRINT: Supermarket price is $1.79 a can, not almost $45.

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*MOUSE PRINT: Supermarket price is $1.59 a box, not $55.

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*MOUSE PRINT: And in one of the craziest savings claims ever, how could a single small package of licorice ever cost over $72, thus forming a basis for a $2599 regular price for three dozen?

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In many of these cases, a third party seller has established the regular and sale prices, apparently with little oversight by Amazon. So, a word to the wise is to ignore Amazon’s savings claims, and do your own comparison of actual selling prices at a variety of stores.

You can see more wild price comparisons scattered here.