SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — As the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated stay-at-home orders continued, many consumers turned to online purchases for basic needs such as groceries. However, Dr. Julio Licinio, a professor at Upstate Medical University, was surprised when he decided to order from Amazon instead of Wegmans.
“Then the third time, I ordered $250 worth of food [from Wegmans], and they brought half a small shopping bag,” said Licinio. “They said the shelves were bare and there was nothing that they could bring. That’s when I went online and that’s when I saw the price difference.”
NCC News conducted a spot check of two different staple food products on Amazon and Wegmans, and found a considerable price difference between the two. Amazon listings for certain types of food could be more than twice as expensive as their retail counterparts. Additionally, some Amazon listings seemed to match retail prices but end up costing far more per pound.
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Wegmans lists this pack of rice as costing around $1.90 per pound.
© 2020 Wegmans -
Similar listings on Amazon have a 10 pound bag of rice listed at $4.90 a pound -- more than double the price.
© 2020 Amazon -
Similarly, this 1 pound pack of spaghetti costs $1.49 at Wegmans. (Image taken April 1st)
© 2020 Wegmans -
This listing on Amazon has a comparable price, demonstrating that prices on Amazon are not always vastly different.
© 2020 Amazon
According to Guy Hart, a managing partner at Hart Lyman, a real estate development and consulting firm based in Syracuse that is responsible for leasing retail space to companies across the United States, the comparatively low prices of products from local retail chains is due to a desire by these companies to avoid price gouging for both legal and practical reasons.
“Anywhere where people can be prosecuted for doing that, they will be,” says Hart. “The other thing that you’ll see is those who did it will get outed and it will permanently damage their business. I would not want to be the person who is unfairly overcharging people.”
Licinio recommends that consumers compare prices between Amazon and their local retailers and to wait for supermarkets to restock shelves before buying groceries if possible.
