Think You’re Scoring Great Holiday Deals? Think Twice
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(NEW YORK) — With nearly two weeks till Christmas and holiday shoppers starting to feel the crunch, it may feel like bargains are at every corner, but retail experts are saying “Not so fast.”
“The bait is that emotional impact of seeing word ‘deal,’” said Cesar Torres, the managing editor of the product review site The Wirecutter. “There’s an amazing array of products. There’s really great products, but not many good deals.”
The team at The Wirecutter scoured thousands of products on the Internet, crunched the numbers and found that a lot of average offers were masquerading as deals of the century.
“We’ve scanned more than 54,000 … this season and only less than 1 percent are good deals,” Torres said.
A Breville Smart Toaster BOV800XL on sale at Macy’s for $250 — compared to its regular price of almost $417 — seemed like a huge discount until retail experts uncovered that the same toaster had been available at Best Buy, Crate and Barrel and Amazon for that price for nearly a year.
The Wirecutter suggested that consumers track prices with websites like Camelcamelcamel, which lets consumers see prices on products over time.
Consumers can also use apps like RedLaser, which scour thousands of deals on the Internet so consumers know they’re getting the best price.
“We actually want people to not take the bait. We want them to find really great products and buy the best ones, which is why we do what we do,” Torres said.
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