Fake Reference Price (Pre-Sale Markup)
A sale discount can be manufactured by raising a product’s price before the event, then trimming that inflated price. The crossed-out number creates an [[anchoring|anchor]]; it does not prove that you are saving money.
During a major online sale, you can pay more than you would have paid a month earlier—even while the product is presented as discounted. The trick is simple: raise the price a week before the sale, then lower it only slightly when the banners go live.
E1The discount is built backwards
The seller first changes the reference point, then calculates the apparent saving against it. Once the inflated pre-sale price is crossed out, your attention shifts from the product’s longer-term price to the dramatic gap displayed on the screen. The comparison may be mathematically correct yet economically misleading: you are saving against a recently manufactured benchmark, not necessarily against the price previously available.
E1Where it shows up
The sale that costs extra
A product is marked up shortly before an Amazon or Flipkart sale and reduced only a little during the event. The shopper sees a discount; the longer price history reveals a premium.
E1A crossed-out price is not automatically fake
This mechanism describes pre-sale inflation, not every promotion. A lower event price may still be a genuine saving. The claim you must test is narrower: whether the displayed reference price represents a meaningful earlier price rather than a temporary markup.
Compare dates, not labels
Before buying in a sale, check the product’s price from several weeks earlier and compare the amount you will actually pay with that history. Ignore the percentage-off badge until the current price beats the ordinary pre-sale price.
Episodes that teach this
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The Dirty Tricks Behind Amazon & Flipkart Sales - Future IQ
· explained at 7:23
61,201 views
"a week before the sale they will increase the price of that product and during the sale they will decrease it just a little. So for a fact you are paying more than what you were paying a month earlier."