PSA: Stores Inflate Prices before Black Friday Sales

LWheelieGoodTime on 18/11/2025 - 13:19

For some this will already be common knowledge, for others it might save you some dollarydoos.
Many stores inflate their prices (sometimes slowly over a month or two) in advance of Black Friday, so they can then discount the new price back to the regular price and label them "Black Friday" sales. It's a bit crap…

You can usually check old prices using The Internet Archive: https://archive.org/, and websites/extensions like CamelCamelCamel (this one's for Amazon).
If you know of other price trackers that are half decent, please drop them in a reply.

That's all, folks.

This is part of Black Friday / Cyber Monday deals for 2025
General Discussion Black Friday

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  • Ryanek on 18/11/2025 - 13:21
    +6

    A tale as old as time

    • Brakus on 19/11/2025 - 10:31

      True as it can be

  • Jimothy Wongingtons on 18/11/2025 - 17:45
    +5

    I just search item on ozbargain - most items I want/need usually have some kind of price history here to gauge ATL or otherwise decent price

    • WheelieGoodTime on 19/11/2025 - 10:14
      +1

      Likewise. Since there is a product database of some kind on here (or just smart search?), I wonder if a price history feature could be built into Ozbargain someday…

    • ninohax on 18/11/2025 - 19:48

      I also do the same. ozb gives a good measure but it is not a reliable metric compared to a robust price tracking extension.

  • payless69 on 18/11/2025 - 13:32
    +4

    Proudfoot is way to proud to do anything about it.
    When Alan Fels was in charge this did not get unpunished!!
    The CEO of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is Sarah Proudfoot, who was appointed to the permanent role in May 2025 after serving as acting CEO since February 2025. She has been with the ACCC since 2005 and previously held senior roles, including Executive General Manager of the National Anti-Scam Centre and the Infrastructure Division.
    Appointment: Appointed CEO in May 2025.

  • tenpercent on 18/11/2025 - 14:13
    +2

    You can see some price history on www.buywisely.com.au.
    Pricehipster.com as well.
    Those two track multiple stores, as well as Amazon (but I find their Amazon tracking to be unreliable - 3Camels is better for Amazon).

    Just like 3Camels they don't pick up every single price change. For example some flash sale prices can be missed. And you won't see subscribe and save prices or prices that get discounted only after you add to your cart or enter a code.

    So I also look up the specific product I'm interested in here on Ozbargain and sort results by post date. You can usually get a good feel for prices.

  • ninohax on 18/11/2025 - 17:35
    +2

    CamelCamelCamel is just horrendously bad for Amazon. I really hope we had better price tracking extensions in Australia.

    • Jimothy Wongingtons on 18/11/2025 - 17:45

      It’s definitely fallen off for some time… used to be a reliable tool

  • apsilon on 18/11/2025 - 14:29

    This really only catches out impulse buys. Anyone who has been considering/planning a purchase will already be aware of what the normal price is. My list has been ready for a couple of months.

  • skibidigrimacmoggr67 on 19/11/2025 - 21:00

    I don't know about the inflate prices before (but they do this all the time, like for every sale).

    but BF is really only properly big and done in the US. it's meant to start on the 28th as well and for some reason Australia has it's own version of it which is crappy and normally never ATL.

  • dimes on 20/11/2025 - 03:56

    I've been keeping an eye on Foot Locker, Throwback and Adidas the last few months. Every sale they have had is the same as what they're having now.

    • skibidigrimacmoggr67 on 20/11/2025 - 19:21
      +1

      yeah this is what I always consider "not even trying".

      they seem to be perfectly happy with the sales they are making with those prices. no need for proper price drop. still riding the covid wave I assume. 😂

  • coffeeinmyveins on 20/11/2025 - 21:22

    or don't buy crap on black friday sales which is an american consumer thing that doesn't actually save you any money.

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