“They’ll fake the discount”: Man explains why you shouldn’t buy anything on Amazon during October

A man warns shoppers to avoid making purchases on Amazon for at least six weeks before Black Friday to avoid artificially inflated prices. He explains how sellers set their prices to “fake discounts.”

Why should shoppers avoid Amazon in October?

In a video with over one million views, TikToker Rarely Co. (@rarelytok) explains that Amazon asks sellers to “take the average price of the previous six weeks” in order to determine the Black Friday discount.

Amazon sellers typically boast extreme discounts up to 50% off during the post-Thanksgiving shopping holiday. However, shoppers may not get a real discount, the TikToker warns.

“Before October 1, they start jacking up their prices because they want that six-week average to be as high as they possibly can so that they can fake the discount,” he says. “They’ll double their price just so they can cut their price in half for Black Friday.”

@rarelytok
Don’t buy anything from Amazon in October. Here’s why. There’s a secret rule most consumers don’t know about. Amazon requires six weeks of price history for setting Black Friday discounts. That means sellers on Amazon will artificially increase prices through October so they can hit it big with fake discounts on Black Friday.
♬ original sound – Rarely Co.

He suggests purchasing Christmas presents before the end of the month or waiting until Black Friday, so you can get them at a normal price.

Have shoppers noticed the fake discounts?

In the comments, viewers report noticing inflated pricing on Amazon just before the holiday season.

“Yeppp, there are things I have followed the price of for months and came to find the ‘Black Friday sale’ was actually more than the original price. It’s all a scam. Stop shopping on Black Friday altogether,” a commenter writes.

“So THAT’S why Black Friday deals have totally sucked the past several years!!” another suggests.

Others share their strategies for avoiding fake discounts.

“I take screenshots of my wishlists months in advance and then cross-check if the deals are real,” one says.

“I screenshot the price early in the year if I’m waiting for Christmas time to see if it’s even worth the sale or not now,” another writes.

“We track the prices up to the prime deal days. If it’s not cheaper than the last few weeks, we don’t buy!” a third adds.

The Daily Dot reached out to Rarely Co. for further comment.