News Summary

• Of 178 tracked items at Amazon, Walmart and Best Buy, at least two dozen saw price increases in the weeks before each of the three retailers’ sales events kicked off.
• The price fluctuations come as consumers remain sharply more pessimistic than they were this time last year.
• Several items rose in price the week leading up to Amazon Prime Day (July 8-11), then fell once the sale started.
• Many, but not all, merchants increase prices right before the sale begins just to drop them back down.