Products may not actually be cheaper during big sales like Amazon's Prime Day.
Amazon holds major sales around the world, such as Prime Day, Prime Thanksgiving, and Black Friday. However, Washington Post technology columnist Jeffrey A. Fowler tracked prices before and during the sales and found that there are many products whose prices after discounts are the same as their original prices, and some products whose prices have actually increased.
Amazon's Prime Day deals could actually cost you more - The Washington Post
In the United States, a major sale called ' Prime Big Deal Days 2025 ' was held for two days starting on October 7, 2025. Fowler compared the prices before and during the sale of approximately 50 non-food products purchased on Amazon.com over the past six months. As a result, in addition to 'products that became cheaper,' he found that there were also 'products whose prices after the discount were the same as their original prices' and 'products whose prices became more expensive.' Fowler gave the following examples.
・Products that have become cheaper
| product | Original price | Sale prices | The displayed discount rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mucinex (cold medicine) | $38.17 (approximately 5,819 yen) | $26.49 (approximately 4,039 yen) | 20% |
| hair clip | $6.99 (approx. 1,066 yen) | $5.59 (approx. 852 yen) | 20% |
| toy truck | $24.95 (approximately 3,804 yen) | $22.46 (approximately 3,424 yen) | 41% |
- Products with the same price after the discount is applied
| product | Original price | Sale prices | The displayed discount rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| coronavirus test kit | $27.43 (approximately 4,182 yen) | $27.43 (approximately 4,182 yen) | 39% |
| shirt | $14.99 (approx. 2,285 yen) | $14.99 (approx. 2,285 yen) | twenty five% |
| Doormat | $31.99 (approx. 4,877 yen) | $31.99 (approx. 4,877 yen) | 20% |
・Products that have become more expensive
| product | Original price | Sale prices | The displayed discount rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| toy truck | $14.99 (approx. 2,285 yen) | $16.09 (approximately 2,453 yen) | 9% |
| Book | $33.30 (approximately 5,077 yen) | $41.50 (approximately 6,327 yen) | 19% |
| mattress | $119.95 (approximately 18,287 yen) | 149.95 (approximately 22,860 yen) | No discount |
| printer ink | $47.99 (approx. 7,316 yen) | $52.99 (approx. 8,079 yen) | No discount |
If Fowler were to buy all of the approximately 50 products he'd purchased in the past six months during Big Deal Days, he'd save just 0.6%. 'If you want to save money when shopping online, comparison shopping is key,' Fowler said. 'Browser extensions that notify you of sales are useful, but be careful because some of them try to steal your personal information.' 'Don't overlook brick-and-mortar stores either. My dentist is selling electric toothbrushes for $10 less than Amazon's sale price, and my local toy store is selling toy trucks for half the price of Amazon.'
By using the browser extension 'Keepa,' you can display a price trend graph on the Amazon.co.jp product page, as shown below, to check whether the current price is really a good deal. Below is the result of displaying Keepa's price trend graph using an Xbox controller . You can see that the price is usually around 9,000 yen, and at its lowest, it is around 7,000 yen.
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