3 On Your Side: Big Summer Sales Online
By Jim Donovan
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas for online deal hunters. Amazon, Walmart, Target and Best Buy are all holding big summer sales. 3 On Your Side Consumer Reporter Jim Donovan sorts through who's offering what and how to make the most of these mid-July deals.
Amazon celebrates its 20th anniversary Wednesday with what it's calling "Amazon Prime Day", which promotes the company's $99 membership service. Amazon says Prime Day will offer more deals than Black Friday, with new sales announced every ten minutes.
"They say they're going to offer more deals, but does that mean better deals or does it even mean as good a deal as Black Friday?" says consumer advocate Edgar Dworsky. Dworsky runs the site ConsumerWorld.org and isn't tempted by the Amazon hype. He says, "They say coming up in ten minutes the following item is going to be on sale and it's kind of hurry, hurry, hurry, do your research and you've got to grab it before it's gone, because it's a limited quality. That's not my idea of fun frankly."
Not to be outdone, Walmart has launched an online "dare to compare" sale discounting 2,000 items. The lower prices, known as rollbacks, will apply to electronics, home, baby products and toys and will last 90 days. Walmart is also reducing the minimum order for free shipping to $35 for at least 30 days.
Best Buy is getting into the act this month too. They're holding a Black Friday sale on July 24 and 25 offering deals on electronics and appliances.
Meanwhile Target is currently offering up to 65% off certain kids clothes and shoes. Shoppers can get an extra 20% off using the online coupon code "extra20." through July 18. Target rarely discounts by this much and usually their online coupons aren't this flexible. So it goes to show you that everyone is stepping up their game.
Whether it's July or November, high-profile online shopping days tend to attract the attention of scammers. So use online safeguards like secure WI-FI connections, and beware of phishing scams in your inbox.
