What could possibly be better than shopping amazon? How about shopping the online Amazon Outlet?!  Sounds amazing, right?  I thought the same so last night I spent my evening flipping through the outlet offerings and here's my opinion:

First, let me answer the questions you have:

Yes, it is owned by Amazon

Yes, it is part of Prime

Yes, shipping is still free on all Prime items

No, you do not pay any extra for it

No, there is no catch. Seriously, none

Yes, it's available every day of the year as long as you know how to get to it

To get to it, click here: The Amazon Outlet

Ok, now onto the article

The Amazon Outlet claims to be a place where amazon prime members can shop overstocks and get extra, extra deep discounts...which, as a wholesaler, I am very familiar with.

When I first arrived at the amazon outlet I immediately clicked on the Shoes category.  I'm not sure how often inventory is changed or added but I have to admit, nothing excited me. I figured maybe the "$10 and under" category was a better fit for me so I began scrolling.

Quickly my eye caught this listing for windex:

I immediately noticed the price....almost $10. I immediately thought this price must be for multiple bottles, especially because the listing shows the original price was over $14, but to my surprise, nope. The price is indeed for a single bottle. After thoroughly reviewing the listing I could not find anything that makes this specific bottle of window cleaner any more valuable than it's listing on Amazon (not the Outlet section) for under $3:

I chalked it up to a listing error and I continued to browse. A minute later I found this listing for ice breakers brand gum:

I don't know, man; maybe I'm crazy but this seems really expensive to me. 

I then saw a 3-pack of Blu-Ray Despicable Me DVD's that seemed like it might be a good deal:

However this identical set is $14 on Amazon (Ok, the cover art is different, but the actual set is identical):

The more I looked the more bizarre pricing I found...heck, can you even call it "bizarre" when it seems more so "deceptive"?  But then I realized that I can refine search results based on savings percentage by using the side bar:

And this seemed much more promising.  I looked over the page and chose this listing to price compare:

However, when trying to price compare, I realized this set is not Fisher Price, or any "brand name" because the manufacturer is "Hzziley", so there is no way to truly know if this is a good deal or not.  I then went back and scouted for a brand name that is also in the 70% Off section.  Unfortunately, after viewing 8 pages of listings, it appears all of the 70% off deals are fashion brands.  Being that there isn't any brand names it is essentially impossible to weigh the real level of savings. 

After a half hour of poking around the amazon outlet I had these couple realizations:

1. The amazon outlet is bad IF you're not familiar with the price point of a specific item that you want to buy. If you didnt know gum was $2 at the gas station you might be tricked into this online outlet store fraudulent pricing. Deceptive pricing at outlets is nothing new. In fact, dozens of big chain outlet stores have been busted using this scam tactic to trick people into buying things at-or-above full retail price.

2. It's possible, if you do know pricing, that you could find a good deal. However, I discovered that at least 50% of the amazon outlet items were actually cheaper if NOT purchased through the outlet and instead purchased directly through Amazon (or at places like Walmart).

3. Approximately 60% of the outlet items we looked at were priced at $1-$9 more than the identical item, sold under a different name, by a different seller. For example, at the outlet store a generic clear cell phone screen protector called "XYZ Deals Screen Protector" is $12.99, but the same protector, instead called "ProMax Screen Protector" is $4.99 on standard Amazon (or Ebay). 

4. It's complately possible that what you purchase off Amazon is a good deal in the Outlet.  Just because the items I looked at appear to be lacking-savings, you may find items that you feel are an amazing deal, so form your own opinion and if you find an incredible deal, send us a screenshot and if we agree we will gladly add it to this post! (Support@BigBrandWholesale.com). Check out the Amazon Outlet here.