To help you follow developments that may affect your family’s bottom line, we’ve been monitoring prices on 16 popular products—everything from a tub of ground coffee to laundry detergent, diapers, an infant car seat, and a popular pickup truck.
In the past week, four of the items have dipped in average price. The Shark vacuum we’re watching is now selling for $60 less than it was in early June, thanks to a dads-and-grads sales event. And the 65-inch TV from TCL dropped by $50. In total, that set has declined in price by $100 since mid-May. That kind of price drop isn’t uncommon for a model introduced earlier in the year. Overall, though, average TV prices are rising, according to market intelligence firm OpenBrand.
We’ve also started to see products becoming unavailable. When we checked on our Panasonic microwave on Friday morning, Walmart was showing a $34 price drop—but the product wasn’t actually available. It’s out of stock at Home Depot, too.
Similar things happened with other items. Home Depot has lowered the listed price of the portable generator we’re following from $1,035.99 to $1,015.97, but you can’t actually buy it. (For the record, ACME Tools has been selling the same model for $999 for five straight weeks now.)
Samantha Gordon, a shopping and deal-hunting expert here at CR, says that’s not unusual. She’s seen price cuts listed for out-of-stock items at other retail sites, too.
The Asus laptop was no longer available at Best Buy on Friday, and Amazon had lowered the price by $60 with just seven models left in stock. But the laptop is still available through the Asus website for $200 less. (We reached out to the manufacturer to ask about availability and that pricing gap but haven’t yet received a response.)
We’ll continue to track those shifts in price and availability each week to help you gauge where prices are really rising—or falling—and make better shopping decisions.
The full list is below, arranged by average price, along with data from the first four weeks of tracking. Below that, you’ll find our tips to help you shop smart in the days ahead. For more on the latest bargains, check CR’s Deals Hub.
