Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Isn't government supposed to protect the consumer? -----The Dirty Secret of 'Discounts'—Black Friday and Beyond

The Dirty Secret of 'Discounts'—Black Friday and Beyond - WSJ.com:
Amazon.com Inc. AMZN +0.42%is featuring a Samsung 005930.SE +0.96%60-inch HDTV in its 2013 Holiday Gift Guide.
The TV is selling at a 45% discount to its list price of $1,799.99.
But, according to Decide.com, a price-tracking firm owned by eBay Inc., the TV hasn't sold for anywhere near the list price in months. 
The most it has sold for in the past eight months is $1,297.85, according to Decide.com. 
As recently as October, it was priced at $997.99, about the same as its current sale price.

Another tactic involves raising selling prices ahead of the holidays before the discounts kick in. 
In an analysis for The Wall Street Journal, price-tracking firm Market Track LLC looked at the online price fluctuations of 1,743 products in November 2012. 
Prices climbed an average of 8% in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving for 366, or about a fifth, of the products; the items were then discounted on Black Friday. 
Toys and tools had the biggest pre-Black Friday price increases—about 23%.

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