OPINION:

I recently saw a sale and it happened to lead to Amazon.
I decided I liked the product and would like to see it, physically..(I liked them)
I decided on 4 of the same product at $20 each..
During payment, I noticed there was a $20 surcharge, PLUS the shipping.
I declined the sale, and sent note to both the company selling them ON AMAZON, and to Amazon.

After a time I got a not and link.  it was from amazon.  it showed that Companies selling on AMAZON must add a $4.95 charge PER PRODUCT Fee(surcharge).  So, that the 4 products I wanted added up to the $20 surcharge.

I went back to the site as I SAW another sale of the product as a 4 pack and a small amount more. Then after the surcharge and shipping was Cheaper then the previous purchase.

I like the product.  LED 60watt bulbs.  Very nice lighting.
But trying to find SALE products that are AMAZON Direct is getting very hard.

Excellent opinion ECA.  Its a base form of false advertising.  All the add on charges should be included in the upfront cost.  Hmmm... I'm gonna look more closely now at those "associated Merchant" redirects that so many websites have - like NewEgg.  Thanks.

I agree that is a bad practice. If anything, that surcharge should be included in the price to avoid false advertising and allow a fair comparison with other stores. I generally do buy at "real" stores, even when they are not bricks and mortar. Market places like Amazon usually don't interest me as much. I don't generally find the deals any better. Sometimes Amazon can match or even slightly beat the price of B&H or Adorama for camera stuff. But, you have to check what's in the box. Sometimes the B&H or Adorama box will contain one or two more things. If you want them, and I usually do, it's a better deal at B&H or Adorama than on Amazon even if the price is the same or slightly higher.

For light bulbs, I generally go to http://1000bulbs.com/ even when they're not the cheapest. What I like there is the choice. It's very hard to find some of the bulbs I like. In our last apartment, we liked 4100K (color temperature) CFL bulbs. In this one, the walls are a whiter white so we switched to 3500K. However, the ones we bought cheaply at Home Despot start out dim and pink and take a long time to warm up. The ones we'd been buying on 100bulbs are a brand I never see in stores, TCP. For the first couple of weeks, they start up instantly. After that, you start to notice a lag between turning them on and getting full brightness. But, it's a much shorter time and the initial brightness is much brighter and the right color. Overall, a much better bulb with a lot of color temp options.

For LEDs, I'm still waiting for more options and better pricing. I agree they are much better overall.