Social media users have been pointing out that certain items such as an Air Fryer and Negative Ion Fan have had their prices slashed down by over 90% to a mere £3.99, leading many to suspect there is a scam afoot.
When such incredible deals appear online, we always ask people to put on their sceptical hats. Is this really too good to be true? Because if it’s online, it probably is.
The below is a screenshot of an air fryer that was earlier being sold for £3.99, down from £47.99.
Ahh but what if it’s a scam?
Thankfully, as we always point out, there are advantages to using legitimate marketplaces and websites when making your order. And that is that you’re covered if you unwittingly purchase from cyber criminals looking to make a quick buck.
Yes, third party marketplace sellers use Amazon to sell you their wares, meaning you’re not always actually purchasing a product from Amazon directly. But, because you’re going through the Amazon marketplace to make your purchase, you are covered by the A-Z Amazon Marketplace Guarantee.
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The A-Z Guarantee protects buyers when purchasing items from the Amazon marketplace that are sold and fulfilled by third party sellers. It protects people in both the UK and USA and other countries. It reads in part –
You may be eligible to request an A-to-z Guarantee refund in the following cases:
– Your item hasn’t arrived three days after the latest estimated delivery date.
As such, if you purchase an item and nothing shows up, you will be eligible under this guarantee to receive a refund. It also protects against received items that are “not as described”.
If it is a scam and the crooks are setting up unrealistic prices and not sending anything out, that’s bad news for Amazon, because as we point out above, they’re tied into refunding the end customer. And unless they can recoup the money from the seller, it is Amazon who stand to lose out.
A cancellation is the most likely outcome here.
Alternatively the sellers could be legitimate and mistakenly priced items with the wrong price tag. In which case the order is most likely going to be cancelled, and some social media users have reported that their orders were cancelled. In fact we decided to put our money in the hat and went for the negative ion fan, and… 30 minutes later the order was cancelled.
At least we tried.
Or, of course, it could just be one of those rare occasions where you get a great deal… and you’re going to get an air fryer or negative ion fan for a few quid. But don’t hold your breath.
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But have I given by payment details to crooks?
No. Payments for purchases on Amazon are taken by Amazon directly, regardless of whether its Amazon or a third party seller you purchase from. Amazon then pass the money onto the seller.
As such, no, your payment details are not given to the seller, so there is nothing to worry about.
This might fly on Amazon, but not on other websites.
Being the number one retailer on the Internet, Amazon has certain guarantees to its customers that other websites – especially sites you’ve never heard of – will not.
So while many have taken a punt at these knock-off deals, thinking what’s the worst that can happen, this isn’t something we’d recommend for other websites. For example if you see an air fryer for £3.99 on some site you’ve never heard of, there will be no guarantees or insurance if you purchase it and it turns out to be a scam. The crooks will just take your money and run.
So be careful out there.
At the time of writing the products with slashed prices have had normal prices reinstalled or are currently unavailable.