So I was shopping with my wife today and I said “oh let’s see if my membership helps out.” So we went and added the same item to each of our carts, and to our surprise, the total was the same! So what is it exactly that I’m paying for in this membership if the items “original price” is higher for me than it is for regular shoppers?
Edit: yeah, I am derp, the protection plan is part of the cart and is what makes the “member” price higher without the discount. Leaving my original response in case anyone doesn’t know what would be illegal, if it was actually happening here
~~This is, in fact, actively illegal. Companies cannot advertise a “sale price” under a number of circumstances, such as when the price is the same absent the sale (e.g. there’s no actual discount) or when the price was artificially raised just prior to the “sale”: https://content.next.westlaw.com/practical-law/document/I6dfb3ee4077511e89bf099c0ee06c731/Beware-of-the-Sale-Complying-with-Promotional-Pricing-Guidelines~~
In this case, the “regular” or non-member price was raised precisely 0 seconds before applying the uh… “discount”. Pretty cut-and-dry violation by any metric.