Amazon price games

[jzmtl]

Has anyone amazon has these guerrilla pricing schemes? Quite often they'll reduct the price on some item to some crazy low levels for an hour or less and with maybe a limited number of them available, then quickly say it's no longer available then back to original price levels. Just yesterday, they had a Bosch CLPK22 12v drill/impact driver combo for $80 (yeah, my wallet wasn't too happy about that), which quickly sold out and went back to original price and back in stock.

We keep thinking these may be pricing errors, but it occurred to me it happens way too often to be one, somebody would've been fired long ago. I think these are their viral/social media marketing schemes, they know people are watching and share these deals online, so they are using a couple of insane deals to reel more people in.

[sawman]

It wouldn't surprise me at all if there were such price manipulating going on. I can't recall any specific situation right off the bat but my wife and I do a lot of shopping on Amazon. I have often wondered what actually controls how their prices get set... 

[dks]

I remember reading that they count how many views an item gets. As the views increase the price starts to go up too.

[jzmtl]

This is the one I was talking about, boom, dropped for less than an hour, then back up. If you look at the price history on a lot of items, you'll see this brief period of super low price.

http://ca.camelcamelcamel.com/Bosch-CLPK22-120AL-Lithium-Ion-Accessory-Batteries/product/B00BQV5J08

[AlephZero]

Could have been just a mistake... Nevertheless its the first time I'm hearing someone complain about too LOW prices

PS: Don't really mind me. I'm rather smurffaced

[Nhoj]

Amazon prices always seem to do crazy stuff like this. The fact that other companies sell through Amazon alters the prices too. When I ordered an x-tract essential because of multiple sellers through amazon I could have chosen to pay $15 or $30 for the same knife.

[derekmac]

I've noticed before that on things like that where the price is greatly reduced, I can add it and go to the checkout, but as soon as I log in, it will say it's no longer available. Log out, and it's available again.


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[jzmtl]

Could have been just a mistake... Nevertheless its the first time I'm hearing someone complain about too LOW prices

PS: Don't really mind me. I'm rather smurffaced

Well, sort of, I just bought more crap I don't need. 

I've noticed before that on things like that where the price is greatly reduced, I can add it and go to the checkout, but as soon as I log in, it will say it's no longer available. Log out, and it's available again.


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Some of the people late to the deal had similar thing happen, had it in the cart but was told it's no longer available from selected seller during check out. Half an hour later it's available again, albeit at original price.

[captain spaulding]

I have noticed this regularly. I was not sure why they did it, but if you can get in when they have the deal its always good. 

This is exactly how I got my Sunwayman C15A for so cheap. I saw it for very cheap. Maybe half of what they normally cost. I thought it was a mistake, but figured I would try and order one. Turns out I got what I wanted for half of what I wanted to pay.   

[CanadianLMfan]

Recently, many Gerbers went up in price at Amazon.ca.

[nate j]

As everyone has probably observed by now, Amazon has algorithms in place that automatically change the prices of items to attempt to maximize their profits.  For obvious reasons, they are extremely tight-lipped about how these algorithms work.

There is even some evidence that they experimented with discriminatory pricing schemes, i.e. offering the same item at the same time to different people at different prices, but they caught so much flak and got so much bad publicity when this came to light that I believe they have discontinued this particular aspect.

I also find it likely that Amazon, like many other retailers, sometimes runs sales using "loss leaders", i.e. products sold at a very steep discount in order to bring people "in the door", with the idea that they will buy enough to offset the discounts being given on the "loss leaders".

With regard to beating the system, I think the best bet is to add the item to your cart and check the price regularly.  You will eventually get a good idea of where the price normally runs, and be prepared to place the order immediately if you see the price drop significantly.  It can also pay to at least comparison shop other sites, as I find that Amazon often, though not always, has the lowest prices.

[jzmtl]

Just noticed amazon.com bumped their free shipping minimum to $35, guess the .ca version will change soon as well.

They are really trying to get people to buy the prime eh?

[captain spaulding]

Just noticed amazon.com bumped their free shipping minimum to $35, guess the .ca version will change soon as well.

They are really trying to get people to buy the prime eh?

 


That sucks. They already added tax to there items. 

I give it to Amazon though. They did fight the Government as long as they could on the whole Tax issue.

[Sazabi]

Just noticed amazon.com bumped their free shipping minimum to $35, guess the .ca version will change soon as well.

They are really trying to get people to buy the prime eh?

 


That sucks. They already added tax to there items. 

I give it to Amazon though. They did fight the Government as long as they could on the whole Tax issue.

Tax depends on if you have a warehouse in your state or not.

[CanadianLMfan]

Just noticed amazon.com bumped their free shipping minimum to $35, guess the .ca version will change soon as well.

They are really trying to get people to buy the prime eh?

 

Are there any other cheap sites other than amazon.ca?

[captain spaulding]

Just noticed amazon.com bumped their free shipping minimum to $35, guess the .ca version will change soon as well.

They are really trying to get people to buy the prime eh?

 


That sucks. They already added tax to there items. 

I give it to Amazon though. They did fight the Government as long as they could on the whole Tax issue.

Tax depends on if you have a warehouse in your state or not.

I'm not saying your wrong, but Amazon says they charge tax in all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia. I could just be reading it wrong or understanding it wrong.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200787680

[Sazabi]

Just noticed amazon.com bumped their free shipping minimum to $35, guess the .ca version will change soon as well.

They are really trying to get people to buy the prime eh?

 


That sucks. They already added tax to there items. 

I give it to Amazon though. They did fight the Government as long as they could on the whole Tax issue.

Tax depends on if you have a warehouse in your state or not.

I'm not saying your wrong, but Amazon says they charge tax in all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia. I could just be reading it wrong or understanding it wrong.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200787680

Well that's new.

[captain spaulding]

Just noticed amazon.com bumped their free shipping minimum to $35, guess the .ca version will change soon as well.

They are really trying to get people to buy the prime eh?

 


That sucks. They already added tax to there items. 

I give it to Amazon though. They did fight the Government as long as they could on the whole Tax issue.

Tax depends on if you have a warehouse in your state or not.

I'm not saying your wrong, but Amazon says they charge tax in all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia. I could just be reading it wrong or understanding it wrong.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200787680

Well that's new.

 

[derekmac]

Just noticed amazon.com bumped their free shipping minimum to $35, guess the .ca version will change soon as well.

They are really trying to get people to buy the prime eh?

 

Are there any other cheap sites other than amazon.ca?

amazon.com ? 

I am actually being serious.  I look at both .ca and .com when shopping as sometimes .com will be cheaper, and other times .ca will be cheaper.

I bought my wife a watch from Amazon, and getting it on the .com site saved me over $100.

[jzmtl]

So the kit I picked up for half of what it usually go for has been "lost in transit", and they offered to refund, or send a replacement. Hmm....

[Whoey]

I'm beginning to go off Amazon, I used to use Amazon.co.uk a lot, and normally spent the minimum 25GBP for free supersaver shipping to Spain, but as of this summer they no longer include Spain in that deal. I think this is an effort to get people here using amazon.es, which has a pathetic selection, and they also charge shipping for EVERYTHING, unless you pay for the VIP membership and the prices on .es are higher than .co.uk  even when you factor in the exchange rate, so it usually almost makes more sense to order it from there vs the Spanish site. 

For books we usually compare Amazon.co.uk, play.com and bookdepository.com (the latter two still offer free shipping to Spain on most items, and sometimes the prices are completely different).

My spending on Amazon will be curbed greatly due to this new policy. I expect from now on I will only order items there that I have absolutely no other options for, which ironically due to the stock the .es site carries, will still be a while yet.   

[CanadianLMfan]

Just noticed amazon.com bumped their free shipping minimum to $35, guess the .ca version will change soon as well.

They are really trying to get people to buy the prime eh?

 

Are there any other cheap sites other than amazon.ca?

amazon.com ? 

I am actually being serious.  I look at both .ca and .com when shopping as sometimes .com will be cheaper, and other times .ca will be cheaper.

I bought my wife a watch from Amazon, and getting it on the .com site saved me over $100.

.com does not ship MTs!!!

[derekmac]

Just noticed amazon.com bumped their free shipping minimum to $35, guess the .ca version will change soon as well.

They are really trying to get people to buy the prime eh?

 

Are there any other cheap sites other than amazon.ca?

amazon.com ? 

I am actually being serious.  I look at both .ca and .com when shopping as sometimes .com will be cheaper, and other times .ca will be cheaper.

I bought my wife a watch from Amazon, and getting it on the .com site saved me over $100.

.com does not ship MTs!!!

Ahhh, buggers!


Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk

[CanadianLMfan]

Just noticed amazon.com bumped their free shipping minimum to $35, guess the .ca version will change soon as well.

They are really trying to get people to buy the prime eh?

 

Are there any other cheap sites other than amazon.ca?

amazon.com ? 

I am actually being serious.  I look at both .ca and .com when shopping as sometimes .com will be cheaper, and other times .ca will be cheaper.

I bought my wife a watch from Amazon, and getting it on the .com site saved me over $100.

.com does not ship MTs!!!

Ahhh, buggers!


Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk

ST300 is currently $50 on .ca!!!

[jzmtl]

Costco occasionally has good prices, I picked up a rebar and micra combo for $40 a while ago.

I gotta give it to amazon for customer service though, after seeing the 1st shipment apparently gone missing (UPS has no record other than a shipping label has been created), they immediately sent a replacement, no "wait while we look for it" crap.

[CanadianLMfan]

Costco occasionally has good prices, I picked up a rebar and micra combo for $40 a while ago.

I gotta give it to amazon for customer service though, after seeing the 1st shipment apparently gone missing (UPS has no record other than a shipping label has been created), they immediately sent a replacement, no "wait while we look for it" crap.

What?

The last LM I saw in Costco was an Original Wave years ago.

[jzmtl]

On the website, they usually don't have it in store. Right now they have a st300 and micra combo but not really cheap, $60.

[CanadianLMfan]

Yes, now I remember seeing the Skeletool/Style CS combo on their website.

[jzmtl]

Huh, I was googling for something else but came across this, apparently amazon will ban your account for (what they deemed to be) too many returns and price matches. Not only you can't buy (obviously), you will lose access to all your e-books, music, apps, and gift card balance on that account.

Actually not only your account, but anyone at the same address, and anyone you've sent gift to.

Must be against the law to take away stuff you've already bought and your gift card balance, no? 

[bmot]

Huh, I was googling for something else but came across this, apparently amazon will ban your account for (what they deemed to be) too many returns and price matches. Not only you can't buy (obviously), you will lose access to all your e-books, music, apps, and gift card balance on that account.

Actually not only your account, but anyone at the same address, and anyone you've sent gift to.

Must be against the law to take away stuff you've already bought and your gift card balance, no? 

Wasn't it also Amazon who deleted books people had bought, because something was wrong with the copyrights?