Consumerist readers and editors alike often joke that electronics retail stores are real-life showrooms for Amazon and Newegg, but tomorrow (December 10) Amazon is offering up to $15 in discounts to customers who do just that. And help them spy on local brick-and-mortar retailers while they’re at it.

If you want to join in the fun, you’ll need an iOS or Android smartphone with location services turned on. Zap items that you’re interested in purchasing, submit pricing information to Amazon, and you’ll get 5% off (up to $5) items in key gift categories like toys, sports, electronics, music, and DVDs if you decide to purchase it from Amazon. You can, of course, securely complete your purchase right from the app.

Independent businesses are not pleased with the promotion. “What’s ironic is they claim they want to work with independent businesses, but all they’re really trying to do is put independent businesses under,” a Pennsylvania record store owner told a local Patch reporter.

A children’s bookstore owner promised to kick out anyone seen scanning items in her store with the app, telling Patch, “[i]t’s disgraceful, and if anybody comes into my store and tries to do it, they’re getting bounced.”

Price Check for iPhone and Android [Amazon]
Doylestown Biz: Amazon’s Price Check App ‘Kind of Evil’ [Patch]

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