I posted this morning about “anti-prime” day and how companies use marketing tricks to get you to spend more money. ONE of those tricks popular on both prime day and Black Friday, is to mark UP the normal price, then cross it off putting a discounted price back to the original price.
Back in the stone ages before the internet, it was hard to tell when that was happening if you weren’t personally closely tracking the price of an item. But thanks to our clever friends over at camelcamelcamel.com, you can simply paste in a link to an Amazon item and it will show you the exact price history of an item. Of course, this doesn’t tell you the FUTURE price history, which is what you really want to know. But at least you’ll know if this “prime day” price really is the screaming deal the flashing lights on the site make it seem.
When I go to camelcamelcamel, it often discourages me from buying something at all. I figure I can wait until the price comes down. When looking at stock charts, this is a terrible idea because sooner is almost always better when buying an investment. But when buying a liability, the longer you wait, the more you save! You can even sign up for a notification if the price drops below a desired level. And maybe by the time you get that notification, you won’t even want the item anymore! 100% off deal!
Happy non-buying, my frugal friends!
As always, reminding you to build wealth by following the two PFC rules: 1.) Live below your means and 2.) Invest early and often.
-Jeremy
