How to prevent online shops from showing you higher prices just because you use an apple device?

It’s a feeling many people know: you search for a product online, put it in your shopping cart, and hesitate. The next day, the price is suddenly higher. Or worse: you compare prices on your iPhone, and your colleague finds a cheaper offer on their Android device. Suspicion immediately arises: Are online shops intentionally showing me higher prices just because I use a supposedly expensive Apple device? This phenomenon, known as “dynamic pricing” or price discrimination, is the biggest concern for many online shoppers.

Common advice is quickly at hand: delete your cookies, use your browser’s incognito mode, or even use a VPN to mask your identity. These technical maneuvers suggest a battle between the user and an all-knowing algorithm set on squeezing the maximum price out of you. But what if this entire focus on your Apple device and your cookies is just a clever red herring, distracting you from the much more real and costly traps?

The truth is more complex and much more manageable for the smart buyer. The real dangers lie not primarily in an “Apple surcharge,” but in psychological pricing tricks, hidden costs, and structural traps firmly anchored in the design of many online shops and comparison portals. Instead of getting lost in a technical arms race, the key to the best price lies in understanding the strategies of the retailers and using their tools against them.

This article will separate myth from fact. We will show you how to expose fake discounts with simple analysis, why the cheapest list price is often a lie, how to identify fraudulent shops by a single detail in the legal notice, and why maximizing points is often worth less than direct cash back. Get ready to turn information asymmetry in your favor.

To see through the complex strategies of online retailers and distinguish genuine bargains from apparent ones, we have analyzed the most effective tactics for you. The following guide leads you step-by-step through the most important checks and methods.

How to use Idealo curves to expose deals that are more expensive than the previous month?

The most tempting trap in online retail is the apparent special offer. A price crossed out in red suggests a one-time saving, but this is often pure price psychology. Retailers use so-called “sawtooth strategies” to artificially increase the reference price. In this process, a product’s price is sharply raised shortly before a discount campaign, only to be lowered back to its original level and advertised as a massive discount. An electronic item that costs €299 for weeks is set to €399 for a few days and then sold for €299 as a “25% discount.” The price never changed, yet the illusion of a saving was perfectly created.

Your most powerful tool against this manipulation is the price history graph on comparison portals like Idealo. These graphs, which show price fluctuations over the last few months or even an entire year, are the ultimate lie detector. Instead of trusting the red percentage sign, analyze the curve. A real bargain is significantly below the average price of the last three to six months. A price that merely returns to its normal level is not an offer, but normalcy.

To systematize this analysis, follow a simple process:

1. Search for the product and call up the price history: Search for your desired product on Idealo.de and open the detailed price history graph.
2. Identify the historical low: Find the lowest price of the last 12 months and compare it with the current “offer.”
3. Set an intelligent price alert: Set a price alert not at the current price, but at a value 5-10% above the historical low. This way, you buy when the price is truly good.
4. Get a second opinion: Use alternative tools like Keepa (specifically for Amazon) or Geizhals to verify the data and rule out portal-specific manipulations.

This method transforms you from a reactive buyer responding to marketing signals into a proactive strategist who buys based on data.

Myth or Truth: Do flights really get cheaper if you delete your cookies?

The most persistent myth in online shopping is the idea that deleting browser cookies or using incognito mode automatically leads to cheaper prices, especially for flights. The theory suggests that providers recognize repeated interest in a product and increase the price to create buying pressure. However, reality is far less conspiratorial. A large-scale study by the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection (BMJV) found no systematic price discrimination based on the device. The measured price differences between iPhones, Android devices, and various browser settings were statistically irrelevant, ranging from -0.04% to +0.03%.

This does not mean that prices do not change. They do, but the reasons are usually different: remaining availability, the booking class of a flight, the time of day, or simply algorithms reacting to general demand behavior, not to you personally. While a study by Consumer Reports showed that in rare cases price differences can occur, these are not the rule. Focusing on technical tricks like deleting cookies distracts from truly effective strategies.

Instead of wasting time clearing your cache, invest it in analyzing flight search engines that allow flexible dates (e.g., “entire month”) or in setting price alerts. The myth of the expensive cookie is a perfect example of how a simple but mostly ineffective action (deleting cookies) appears to replace a complex but solvable task (finding the best price). True power lies not in anonymity, but in knowledge of market cycles and the right tools.

So don’t be distracted by technical ghost stories. The true enemy is not the cookie, but intransparency, and you fight that best with data.

Why is the cheapest provider in the list often more expensive than rank 3?

You have compared prices and found the supposedly cheapest provider. But in the final step of the checkout, the price explodes. This phenomenon is one of the most common “structural traps” in e-commerce. Providers who want to be listed at the top of comparison portals often cheat with an extremely low product price, which they then compensate for through hidden fees in the payment process. The most important factors distorting the final price are shipping costs, payment fees, and minimum order values.

As the consumer advice center (Verbraucherzentrale) points out, online shops have been required since the end of May 2022 to state if prices are personalized, but this regulation does not cover general additional costs. Thus, the final price becomes a nasty surprise.

Since the end of May 2022, online shops and online marketplaces have been mandatory to indicate when prices are personalized by an algorithm using personal data or characteristics.

– Consumer Advice Center, Dynamic Prices in the Online Shop

The following table shows the most common hidden costs that can turn a cheap price into an expensive trap.

A provider at rank 3 on the comparison list with free shipping and no payment fees is therefore often a much cheaper choice than the bait at rank 1.

The missing legal notice feature that tells you a bargain shop is stealing your money

An extremely low price can also be a warning signal for a complete scam. Fake shops lure you in with unbelievable offers, take your money, and either deliver nothing or inferior counterfeits. The fastest and safest way to expose such a shop is via the legal notice (Impressum). A sketchy or missing legal notice is the biggest red flag, but even a seemingly complete one can be forged. The decisive feature that scammers almost never provide correctly is the commercial register number (Handelsregisternummer).

While an address or a managing director’s name can easily be invented, the commercial register number is an official, verifiable entry. If this number is missing or obviously wrong (e.g., wrong format), all alarm bells should ring. Reputable companies are proud of their official registration and do not hide this information.

Before every first order at an unknown shop, perform a quick but rigorous check. This process takes less than a minute and is the best insurance against total loss.

Invest these 30 seconds. It is the difference between a great bargain and losing your money.

Why can a cheap phone from an online comparison cause problems with the German warranty?

Sometimes a low price is real, but it has a catch that only becomes visible later: the “grey market risk.” Retailers bypass price controls and achieve higher margins by importing products not intended for the European market. This is particularly common with electronics like smartphones. Although the EU Services Directive prohibits country-specific price discrimination, an EU directive has been in place since late May 2022 demanding more transparency – however, the grey market remains a grey area.

A specific example is smartphones intended for the Asian market being sold in Germany. You can often recognize these by a specific model number (e.g., with an AET suffix). These devices can have two major disadvantages:

• Technical Incompatibility: They may not support important LTE or 5G frequency bands used in Germany. The result is poor or no reception in certain regions.
• Missing CE Marking: Products sold in the EU must bear a CE mark, confirming compliance with safety and health standards. If this is missing, the device may be unsafe.

The biggest problem, however, is the warranty. The manufacturer’s warranty is a voluntary service and is often tied to the sales region. If you buy a device intended for the Asian market, the manufacturer will likely refuse a warranty repair in Germany. You are then solely dependent on the retailer’s statutory warranty – and if they are based abroad or are disreputable, enforcing your rights becomes nearly impossible. The initial price advantage of €50 quickly turns into a total loss in the event of a defect.

If in doubt, explicitly ask the retailer if it is a device intended for the German market with a full manufacturer’s warranty. A reputable dealer will answer this question transparently.

The trick some hotels use to charge extra for high-speed internet, and how to bypass it

Not only when buying products, but also for services like hotel bookings, cost traps await. One of the most annoying is the tiered WLAN offer. Many hotels advertise “free Wi-Fi,” but this often turns out to be an excruciatingly slow connection barely sufficient for checking emails. For usable “high-speed” internet, hefty surcharges of up to €20 per day are then due. This is a classic “drip-pricing” tactic, where the advertised basic price is subsequently increased by necessary additional services.

Fortunately, there are simple and usually free ways to bypass this fee. The most effective lever is the loyalty programs of the major hotel chains. Free registration often takes only a few minutes and immediately unlocks benefits that would otherwise have to be paid for dearly.

A business traveler reports: ‘The business hotel charged €19 per day for high-speed internet. After registering for free with the Marriott Bonvoy program right in the lobby, I immediately received free premium Wi-Fi for my entire stay – it didn’t even take 5 minutes.’

– T-Online Travel Tips

Here are the four best strategies to never pay for hotel Wi-Fi again:

1. Register for free in loyalty programs: Programs like Hilton Honors, Marriott Bonvoy, or IHG Rewards Club often automatically offer members free premium Wi-Fi. Register before or during check-in.
2. Use smartphone as a personal hotspot: The simplest solution is often the best. Use your smartphone’s tethering. Your mobile data plan is usually faster and more secure than any hotel Wi-Fi.
3. Use a travel router: If you travel with multiple devices, a small travel router can be useful. You pay the fee once and distribute the connection to all your devices.
4. Ask friendly at the reception: Especially if mobile reception in the hotel is poor, many staff members are accommodating and will provide a code for premium Wi-Fi upon request.

Instead of getting angry about the fee, use the provider’s systems to your advantage.

When is direct cash back (Shoop etc.) better than collecting physical rewards?

Bonus programs like Payback or DeutschlandCard promise rewards for your loyalty. However, this is often a “value illusion.” Collecting points that can only be redeemed for a limited selection of physical rewards or vouchers is financially less attractive in the vast majority of cases than using pure cash back services like Shoop or Rakuten. The reason is simple: cash back is real money that you can use flexibly. Points are an internal currency with a poor exchange rate and an expiration date.

Studies show an annual value loss of reward points of 15-20% due to inflation and program changes. Cash back, on the other hand, is 100% value-stable. A Euro today is a Euro tomorrow. The decisive difference lies in flexibility and true value. While you often receive 2-10% of the purchase price back directly on cash back portals, the real value of reward points is often only 0.5-1%.

The following comparison highlights the fundamental difference:

The answer is therefore almost always: direct cash back is better. Only opt for a point system if you can significantly increase the value through special promotions (e.g., 10x points) and can redeem the points very specifically for a high value.

How do you get the maximum Euro value out of Payback points instead of wasting them on unnecessary rewards?

Even though cash back systems are usually superior, many users have accumulated large amounts of Payback points over the years. Wasting these now on an overpriced toaster or an inferior suitcase from the reward shop is the biggest mistake you can make. The art is to extract the maximum Euro value from this tied capital. The key is to find the most direct conversion into cash or highly flexible vouchers.

The standard equivalent value of a Payback point is one cent. Any redemption that offers you less than this value (e.g., a physical reward with an RRP that is far above the real market price in points) is a losing deal. Conversely, any redemption that multiplies the value is a win. MyDealz experts point to an often-overlooked path here:

Converting Payback points into multi-choice gift vouchers (Wunschgutscheine) allows for use at a much wider selection of shops including Amazon and thus bypasses the limitations of the reward shop.

– MyDealz Community, Buy Apple products cheap – Best deals & prices

To avoid wasting your points, follow this priority list for redemption:

• Direct payout to your bank account: This is often the best and most honest option. You receive exactly one cent for every point. Check your Payback account to see if this option is available.
• Targeted use of 10x point coupons: Activate high multiplier coupons specifically before buying gift cards (e.g., from REWE or dm). This way, you maximize point growth for expenses you would make anyway.
• Conversion to Miles & More: This only makes sense for strategic frequent flyers. When booking business or first-class flights, the value of a point can increase to up to 5 cents. For economy flights, it’s usually not worth it.
• Multi-choice gift vouchers (Wunschgutscheine) as a detour: Exchange your points for multi-choice gift vouchers. You can then redeem these at a variety of shops that are not direct Payback partners, such as Amazon.

Think of your Payback points as a savings account with poor interest. Your task is to withdraw the balance as intelligently as possible before it loses value through inflation or expiration. Start applying these tactics today and turn information asymmetry to your advantage.