The article was behind a paywall, but in the past few years, the show has been getting away from staple goods to make it more difficult for contestants to win.
The Perfect Bid (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdFKZtZop7A) went over this in more detail after a player and long time watcher (Ted Slauson) managed to win both showcases. For years, the show had used a set of household goods that had a consistent price. Ted memorized all of the prices and won both showcases at the end.
The producer freaked out over the incident and started to use more items and ones that add-ons that made guessing the price more difficult. They did that because they didn't want their winnings budget blown out. In recent years, they have been using more generic items like 'free utilities for a year' to make it more random.