You may be ripped off on Amazon. Do yourself a favor and check other retailers’ prices

I noticed that there were a few products that were much more expensive on Amazon than from other retailers. Take Choc Zero chocolate and hazelnut spread as an example. This is a product I really like because 1/ it’s chocolate and 2/ it’s keto. While a 12oz jar is sold for $9 on Choc Zero’s website, you’ll have to pay $20.81 for the same jar on Amazon, whether you have a Prime membership or not. Sure enough, with Prime, you don’t have to meet a minimum order requirement from the manufacturer itself, but after including the shipping fee of $5 from Choc Zero, the whole order will still be much cheaper than what is available on Amazon.

Another product that has the same issue is Fromm Tunachovy Cat Dry Food. A 5lb bag of Fromm Tunachovy Grain Free Salmon Dry Food costs around $20-$21 at normal retailers. The same product is running at $35.49 on Amazon with or without Prime.

The difference in price likely results from multiple fees and commissions that retailers have to pay for the privilege of being on Amazon. To keep the same margin, retailers have no option but to raise prices. However, increased prices make their products look less competitive and friendly to consumers. How many consumers wanted to buy the two products above on Amazon but abandoned the plan because they look too pricey? I mean, how many are not deterred by a jar of chocolate spread costing $20? I sure was. Much as I like the convenience of shopping with Amazon, I’d rather buy more in quantity than what I actually need at the moment to save me quite a bit of money.

The lesson here is that: check the prices of what you are about to buy with other retailers before hitting that “Order” button on Amazon.