海角大神

'll be the first to admit it: the convenience of buying things on Amazon has led me to make some pretty poor financial decisions.聽

As an聽Amazon Prime聽member, the fact that I can get聽almost聽anything delivered to my front door in two days or less had made me especially vulnerable to the siren's call of the impulse buy. Whether it's a new hairdryer, vacuum or a birthday present for my mom, everything is just one click and two days away from being mine. And because it's so easy to buy stuff on Amazon, I often end up spending more on聽items I could get聽for MUCH less elsewhere--if I ever bothered to do my homework before pressing the checkout button.

Don't get me wrong,聽Amazon has some terrific deals, but that doesn't mean that all of their聽prices are fair. In fact, there are entire (totally legal) multi-million dollar businesses devoted to buying things at stores like聽Target,聽Toys R Us聽and聽Walmart聽and reselling them on Amazon and eBay聽for a premium. Sometimes it's subtle--just a few dollars more than what you'd pay at the store, but sometimes,聽especially around the holidays,聽the prices can rise to insane levels, and聽if you're too lazy to price check,聽you can get聽seriously ripped off.

The NPR podcast聽Planet Money聽just did an entire episode聽on this practice, and when I heard it, I realized that if I, a Brad's Deals employee who is thoroughly trained in the art of聽finding the best possible price, was falling victim to these sorts of schemes, the general public didn't stand a chance. So here's my guide to how (and why) you should go about price checking your Amazon purchases.

Don't try and rationalize a price that seems聽excessive.

Let's say I want to buy a birthday present for my 10-year-old nephew, an Avengers enthusiast who's beaten me at Monopoly more times than I'd like to admit. While trolling Amazon, I come across聽the PERFECT present: Avengers Monopoly! It's listed at $45.79, which does seem high, but hey, it's a special edition聽so it's bound to be a little pricey, right?

WRONG. So, so wrong.聽According to the Planet Money podcast,聽people who make a living off this kind of legal price gouging actively search retail stores for unique-looking items like this to flip online for a major profit. They can't do this聽with regular Monopoly because most people have a general idea of how much that should be, but with so-called "specialty" items like, say, Avengers Monopoly, they bank on the fact that potential buyers聽will assume the聽item is rare, and聽thus worth the price. In reality, though...

A quick Google Shopping search can save you big time.

Instead of hitting "Add to Cart"聽without a second thought like I normally would, let's put some of my deal-sniffing skills to work, shall we? Copy and paste "Avengers Monopoly" into Google, then click on the "Shopping" tab located below the search bar. This is the first listing:

Well, this is awkward.

The same game is going for $19.99 at Target, and even with the $1.85 tax and $6.99 shipping fee (which can be bypassed if you spend more than $25 online or just shop in-store), this is a far cry from the $45.75聽Amazon price tag.

Check the seller

This is a pretty obvious up-sell,聽but it's not Amazon's fault.聽Notice how it says "Ships and sold by WarehouseWiz" below the price--that means the seller isn't Amazon, it's a聽company called WarehouseWiz.聽Amazon聽actually does sell Avengers Monopoly directly, and lo and behold, they're pricing聽it at聽$18.71. If you come across an item you want to buy on Amazon, always take a look at where, exactly, it's coming from. Your best bet is to buy directly from Amazon or officially sanctioned brand stores.

I can't聽say for sure whether聽WarehouseWiz is in fact the kind of company outlined in the Planet Money podcast, but a quick glance at their inventory leads me to believe it probably聽is:

Something's not quite right here...

All of these products are being sold for significantly more than their retail cost.聽Want a Gardman bird feeder? You can either buy it from WarehouseWiz for $69.20, or from BloomingWay.com for $33.88. How about the Skylanders Trap Team Love Potion Pop Fizz character doll? Why spend $36.08 on something you can get for $8.99 at both Walmart AND the official Amazon store? The list goes on, and the message is clear: buying something on Amazon--especially from a seller you don't recognize--without double checking whether the price is right is a big mistake.

If you don't feel like doing your homework, Brad's Deals聽will do it for you.

I know, if you're a big online shopper, doing in-depth research on every tempting item you come across is a bit of a hassle. Luckily, Brad's Deals is a thing, and when you shop with us,聽you're getting the best prices on the internet--always.

For more information on Amazon prices, check out our editor Rebecca Lehmann聽recent post about whether buying IKEA products on Amazon is worth it.

This article first appeared on Brad's Deals.