r/frugalcanada

The cheapest of these baskets came to $103.76 and the priciest to $165.75, and both are in Canada this week. Same 21 brands, same pack sizes, no substitutions.

Every Thursday I price that list at every grocery chain within 15 km of downtown in a few Canadian cities. Seven cities this week - the full tables are in the images.

What surprised me: the gap inside one city is bigger than the gap between cities. And in both Ottawa and Toronto, the cheapest basket and the priciest basket are Loblaw banners - same owner, roughly $30 apart. Which banner you walk into is doing more work than which company you're buying from.

Prices come from the stores' own websites and flyers, read today, sale or regular, whichever is lower. Where a store didn't list an item, it's charged the highest price anyone in that city listed for it, so a gap never makes a store look cheap - each image says how many of the 21 that store actually listed. In-store prices can differ from listed ones.

Want a city or an item added? See my comment below.

"Discounts" that are just the normal price (as of 8 am ET today):
- Shark PowerDetect robot vacuum: Amazon shows 50% off a $1,149.99 "was" price. It's $577.95, which is what it has cost on most days for the last two months.
- HP DeskJet 4255e printer: "48% off" $134.89. It's $69.99, its usual price.
- HP Chromebook 14": "33% off" $339.99. It's $229, also its usual price.
- Samsung 34" ViewFinity S6 monitor: "28% off" $549.99. It's $398, the same as its usual price.

Real drops, measured against the actual price history:
- TCL 85" F8D QLED: $1,329.99. Usually about $2,000, so $670 less, and the lowest we've tracked. Amazon's badge only says 5% off.
- Samsung 85" M70H Mini LED: $1,098. Usually $1,698, so $600 less, with no badge at all.
- LG S77TY Atmos soundbar: $399.99. Usually $899.99, so $500 less.
- Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE (128GB): $499.99. Usually $779.99, so $280 less.
- Ring Battery Doorbell (newest model): $139.98. Usually $279.98, so half off for real.
- Ninja DualZone 10 qt air fryer: $199.99. Usually $319.99, so $120 less.

What June's Prime Day showed (3,376 Amazon.ca products we'd tracked since before June):
- 71% got no meaningful discount (less than 15% below their usual price).
- Of the ones that did drop 15% or more, 95% were genuine lows. The event isn't a scam, but most of the catalogue simply doesn't go on sale.
- About 1 in 4 of those real deals came back at the same price or lower within three months. If it's not urgent, you may get another shot.
- The dollars are in big-ticket items: discounted items over $1,000 averaged $343 off. Under $50, it was $6.

Tips if you're shopping today:

1. Ignore the badge and check the price history. The badge was wrong in both directions above.
2. Before buying something expensive, check Best Buy and Walmart. They often price-match or run their own sale.
3. If it's not on your list already, a "deal" on it isn't saving you money.I run a small Canadian price tracker (disclosure below) that has been recording Amazon.ca prices daily since the spring. For Prime Big Deal Days I'm comparing each price with what the same product actually sold for over the 60 days before the event, not with Amazon's crossed-out "was" price.

Check and verify the prime day deals here - https://lowvyn.com/deals/prime-big-deal-days