Sun probe reveals retail web giant Amazon is ripping you off with wrong RRPs to exaggerate savings
Retailer hikes RRPs on items to exaggerate reductions
AMAZON has exaggerated the savings it offers on products by up to 500 per cent, a Sun probe found.
It inflated the recommended retail price in comparison to the cost of buying from Amazon.
Items ranging from TVs to toys have been affected. A £19.95 box of Lego Duplo bricks was said to be £6.51 cheaper than the RRP of £26.46.
But the RRP figure should have been £20.99 — meaning the saving was ramped up by 526 per cent. Amazon claimed that £499 Sony TV offered a saving of £301 when it was really £150.
And the firm said a £317 Apple sports watch offered a £22 saving — when it actually cost £18 more than its £299 RRP.
related stories
In some cases the items were being sold by third party sellers. Amazon removed or corrected inaccurate RRPs after The Sun contacted bosses.
Our findings come amid reports of Amazon quietly axing RRPs after facing US lawsuits and instead showing just one price.
The consumer group Which? also uncovered similar examples of bogus savings on Amazon in 2013.
Last night Alex Neill, the director of policy and campaigns at Which?, told The Sun: “This is a cheap tactic that could cost people dearly.
“Our own investigations have also found retailers using dodgy discounts to lure people into buying goods they could have found cheaper elsewhere.
“Following action by the Competition and Markets Authority to tackle misleading supermarket pricing, it’s time for all retailers to play fair and ensure special offers really are special.”
An Amazon spokesman said the firm aimed to provide the most up to date information on its products.
He said: “We work together with product manufacturers to provide our customers with a wide range of information about any given product including RRPs.
"We aim to provide the very latest information as well as every day great value on the tens of millions of products available at Amazon.co.uk.”
The firm removed or corrected inaccurate list prices after being contacted by The Sun.