by Fred Fuld III
You might have noticed price increases at the pump. In California, if you can find gas for less than $5 a gallon, even regular, it’s a bargain.
Or maybe when you checkout at the supermarket, you noticed that your bill is a bit higher than normal.
If you have noticed these things, then you are starting to feel the effects of inflation.
According to the United States Government Bureau of Labor Statistics, in October, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers rose by 6.2 percent over the last 12 months.
I personally think that that rate may be a bit too low. Why? I did my own analysis of a random sample of purchases made through Amazon (AMZN) over the last twelve months, comparing what I paid in the past to what the current price is now, and the results were shocking.
These items included such things as office supplies, food, vitamins, toothpaste, book, disposable masks, garden hose, and even a robot vacuum.
The lowest increase in price was for a 40 ounce bag of raw whole natural Blue Diamond almonds, which increased in price by only 5%.
The next lowest increase had a substantially higher price rise. Scotch Heavy Duty Shipping Packaging Tape went up by 15%.
Now for the big increases. Surprisingly, snack foods had the greatest rise in prices. Crunchmaster Multi-Seed Crackers almost tripled in price by rising 194% and Sensible Portions Garden Veggie Chips spiked by 173%.
Both BROOKSIDE Dark Chocolate Candy with Acai & Blueberry, and a 21 Ounce Bag Dulzura Borincana Sesame Seed with Honey and Almonds doubled in price. (I guess now you can see the kinds of snacks that I like.)
However, what is most interesting is the overall average of the price increases. Based on the rate of increase in cost over the last year for more than 25 different items purchased on Amazon, the average of those percentage increases is 68%!!!
Even if you exclude the high increase outliers, the ones that more than doubled, the overall average price increase of the remaining items is 38%, still extraordinarily high, and way above what the government reported.
Here is a list of the items below:
| Anycolor Compatible Label Tape Replacement for Brother M Tape | 39% |
| Blue Diamond Almonds, Raw Whole Natural, 40 Oz | 5% |
| BROOKSIDE Dark Chocolate Candy , Acai & Blueberry, 21 Ounce Bag | 148% |
| BUMBLE BEE Premium Light Tuna in Water, Ready to Eat Tuna Fish | 21% |
| Columbian Clasp Envelopes, 10 x 13 Inches, Brown Kraft, 100 Per Box | 44% |
| Crunchmaster Multi-Seed Crackers, Artisan Cheesy Garlic Bread, 4 Ounce | 194% |
| Disposable Filter Masks, Eventronic 3 Ply Face Masks, For Home & Office (50 Pcs) | 20% |
| Dulzura Borincana Sesame Seed with Honey and Almonds | 134% |
| FIJI Water Artesian Water, 16.9 Fl Oz (Pack of 6) | 34% |
| Filexec, 93630, Art Presentation Book, 24 Pocket, 11″ x 14″, 1 Each Black | 25% |
| Hammermill Paper, Copy Plus Paper, 8.5 x 11 Paper, Letter Size, 20lb Paper, 1 Ream | 53% |
| Hermard 50ft Expandable Garden Hose with 9 Function Nozzl | 32% |
| KIND Bars, Dark Chocolate Mocha Almond, Gluten Free, 1.4 Ounce, 12 Count | 26% |
| Krazy Glue Home and Office Brush-On Glue, 0.18 oz | 74% |
| NOW Supplements, Vitamin D-3 5,000 IU, High Potency, 240 Softgels | 32% |
| Polysporin First Aid Topical Antibiotic Ointment with Bacitracin Zinc | 54% |
| Puritans Pride Lutein 20 mg with Zeaxanthin Softgels, 120 Count | 94% |
| Samsung POWERbot R7040 Robot Vacuum | 159% |
| Scotch Tape Heavy Duty Shipping Packaging Tape, 1.88 Inches x 800 Inches, 1 Pack | 15% |
| Sensible Portions – 30357 Garden Veggie Straws, Sea Salt, 1 oz. (Pack of 8) | 20% |
| Sensible Portions Garden Veggie Chips, Sea Salt, 7 oz. | 173% |
| Sensodyne Pronamel Intensive Enamel Repair Toothpaste for Sensitive Teeth | 62% |
| Seresto Flea and Tick Collar for Dogs, 8-Month Flea and Tick Collar for Large Dogs Over 18 Pounds | 38% |
| The Family Upstairs: A Novel | 114% |
| Triple Leaf Tea Jasmine Green Tea, Decaffeinated, 20 Count | 25% |
| V8 Juice, Original 100% Vegetable Juice, 11.5 Ounce Can (Pack of 24) | 138% |
| AVERAGE RATE OF INCREASE | 68% |
| AVERAGE RATE OF INCREASE excluding doubling outliers | 38% |
If you are an avid Amazon shopper like me, you can do your own analysis. Just click on the Orders link, choose 2020, click on View Order Details to get the price you paid, then click on the Order Again button to see what the current price is. Once you have that, subtract the price paid from the current price, then divide that result by the price paid, and that is your percentage increase.
Of course, maybe I have a tendency to only buy things that happen to have a way of significantly rising in price. Or maybe not.
This increase in prices certainly doesn’t come close to Zimbabwe’s previous hyperinflation, whereby $100 trillion dollar bills were issued. However, it is a wake-up call.
Let me know what your Amazon inflation rate is.
Disclosure: Author owns AMZN and also has a short vertical call position in AMZN.
I did a calculation on several of the things I bot on Amazon last year, and it came out to 53% increase.