Fake discounts are rampant even before Amazon Prime Day's kick-off

pcgamer.com:

As Amazon Prime Day creeps ever closer, there's already a good deal of Karen-baiting going on when it comes to PC gaming deals. While filling up the deals hubs, myself and the rest of the hardware team have spotted some sellers manipulating a product's original pre-sale price tag, in order to make the so-called discounts they're running look more enticing. Some will, at the same time, increase the discount price so they can charge more while still having it look like a good deal.

Frankly, it's upsetting to see, especially when so many of us are struggling money-wise. Don't worry, though, I have heard your earnest calls for someone who is good at the economy to help you budget. Your family need not starve in the face of your needing a current-gen gaming laptop.

Thankfully there are a few ways to get around fake discounts, but the first step is getting wise to the official recommended retail price of whatever product you're looking to buy. There are several sources to find the RRP of a product, including the boxouts in each of our reviews, so go ahead and double check when you spot something that's meant to be discounted. 

Once you're armed with that knowledge, you can cross reference it with the retailer's reference price, and with the age of the product. A big factor in whether a product is still worth the RRP is whether it's been superseded by a cheaper, better product. Our buying guides will keep you up to date there.

There are a couple of less involved ways to see if the price tracks, or if its been artificially inflated, which we'll talk about in a moment. First lets go over some examples so you know what to expect.

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