1-day send me a daily email offering me three products sold at what is claimed to be a very discounted price. On the surface it looks great, and today I was almost tempted to purchase.

Even though I didn’t really need what they were offering the sense of urgency overtook any practicality. A Canon MD160 Camcorder, down  from $799.95 to $399.95, a whopping saving of $400!

Now, if I believed the hype I would now be the owner of a camcorder. But I decided to compare prices, to see if this really was a great deal.

PriceSpy compares the price of goods between retailers. The lowest price offered for the Canon MD160 was $367.93. The highest price found was $758.88.

So, 1-day doesn’t really offer the cheapest price all the time. And nor do they advertise what is the actual RRP. It’s obvious from PriceSpy that I could buy this same camcorder from reputable retailers for a price much lower than the advertised $399.99 ($400 off the RRP).

The illusion of scarcity is a powerful force to beat. But spending a few minutes to compare prices shows that if it looks too good to be true it probably is.