Amazon changing prices during the day? Yep

[Spydermag68]

I have been tracking one item on Amazon for a while now, Guitar Pro 6. In the morning the price is about $40 to $43. I put it in my cart and wait until I get home. It then jumps to $48. I have seen it repeat several times over the last two weeks.

 

[Ns1]

This occurs all over the web. Camelcamelcamel is your friend.

 

[Elixer]

I have been tracking one item on Amazon for a while now, Guitar Pro 6. In the morning the price is about $40 to $43. I put it in my cart and wait until I get home. It then jumps to $48. I have seen it repeat several times over the last two weeks.

Yeah, prices fluctuate all the time from pretty much all "stores". This isn't anything new.

 

[Capt Caveman]

I have been tracking one item on Amazon for a while now, Guitar Pro 6. In the morning the price is about $40 to $43. I put it in my cart and wait until I get home. It then jumps to $48. I have seen it repeat several times over the last two weeks.

New to Amazon?

 

[purbeast0]

ah i remember the first time i shopped on the internet.

 

[ImpulsE69]

ah i remember the first time i shopped on the internet.

Me too. I still have your CC info. :thumbsup: I hope you enjoyed your copy of How to Milk a Manteet.

 

[SparkyJJO]

Welcome to the real world.

 

[pcslookout]

This is normal especially on electronics.

 

[Beer4Me]

Nothing important to see here....

 

[DaveSimmons]

Newegg does this too. NoooOOOOoooOOOOoooOOOooo . . . .

 

[kranky]

Amazon watches other website prices and adjusts their own in real-time based on what they see other sites doing (and other sites do the same thing). They adjust based on other factors as well - inventory level, number of people viewing an item but not purchasing or abandoning the item in the cart, etc.

 

[motsm]

You can literally watch items drop dozens of times over a few days, sometimes just adjusting pennies, seemingly in competition with another sites algorithm (or just another seller on Amazon) that's doing the same thing. Eventually they reset, and the whole thing starts over, it's rather bizarre.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Right now I have 50 or 60 items in the Saved Items part of my Amazon shopping cart. I go to Amazon a couple times a day and check the price changes in the cart.

This morning:

Important messages about items in your Cart:
23 items in your Saved Items have changed price.


There's one item that typically goes from around $6.50 up to $11.99 and back again every two to three days. Sometimes in chunks, sometimes all at once.

Another item, one penny. Daily. Back and forth.

Occasionally, I'll catch an attractive price drop and jump on it.

Since Amazon began adding sales tax for my state (which, BTW, never seems to be calculated correctly) and changed the free shipping threshold, my purchases there have dropped a lot.

 

[edro]

Amazon changing prices during the day? Yep

I can't believe they didn't wait until night time...

 

[Anubis]

up next, OP will make a thread about airline ticket pricing changes

 

[BarkingGhostar]

Amazon watches other website prices and adjusts their own in real-time based on what they see other sites doing (and other sites do the same thing). They adjust based on other factors as well - inventory level, number of people viewing an item but not purchasing or abandoning the item in the cart, etc.

Why should they when their official policy is to not match competitor's prices?

 

[Carson Dyle]

Why should they when their official policy is to not match competitor's prices?

Seriously? You're asking why they should attempt to offer competitive pricing?

 

[Homerboy]

Is this yet another (failed) attempt to discredit and tarnish Amazon?

 

[Artdeco]

This occurs all over the web. Camelcamelcamel is your friend.

Seconded, particularly for big/medium ticket items

 

[FeuerFrei]

Amazon does rotate sellers in/out of the top spot. This makes it look like the price changed, but it hasn't, it's just a different seller is now featured.

Once you put it in the cart though, you've settled on a seller, and any changes thereafter are price changes.

 

[Carson Dyle]

This occurs all over the web. Camelcamelcamel is your friend.

Camelcamelcamel misses a LOT of price changes. They rely on users to notify them on price changes, which often doesn't happen. Ever.

Here's one example that I keep in my Saved Items: Western Digital 4TB Red hard drive. It's been $149.98 (+/- $1) for at least a year, but Camelcamelcamel has shown the Amazon price to be $159.00 for the entire time. Nobody has ever updated it.

 

[Homerboy]

Camelcamelcamel misses a LOT of price changes. They rely on users to notify them on price changes, which often doesn't happen. Ever.

Here's one example that I keep in my Saved Items: Western Digital 4TB Red hard drive. It's been $149.98 (+/- $1) for at least a year, but Camelcamelcamel has shown the Amazon price to be $159.00 for the entire time. Nobody has ever updated it.

Ummm, do you have it in a Wish List? And that Wish List saved in Camel3? They routinely will scrub through your wish list for new prices.

Also:
http://camelcamelcamel.com/blog/how-our-price-checking-system-works

 

[Homerboy]

n/t

 

[kranky]

Why should they when their official policy is to not match competitor's prices?

Amazon is pretty smart about pricing. They want to be low in comparison to other sites so people who check pricing on the mainstream sites are likely to find Amazon among the lowest. But price-matching is a different thing - they don't want to commit to matching someone else.

I have a suspicion that Amazon not only adjusts prices throughout the day, they adjust them based on the person. Let's say a steady customer regularly comes to the site, adds things to their cart and promptly checks out. Nothing ever removed from the cart - they choose items and pay. If the system observes that behavior, it may indicate someone who is not price-sensitive but more convenience-oriented. So why not bump up the prices a little on a customer like that, after they have a couple things in the cart? Their own behavior indicates they aren't price shoppers.

 

[Jaepheth]

Just setting the stage for Amazon Prime Options.

Pay X amount and be guaranteed the lowest price for the next Y days, or pay the lowest historical price from Y days ago.


The option cost would seem almost trivial (option prices are very low compared to the underlying instrument); people would buy it just for the peace of mind that they got the best possible price.


Then again, it may not work out the same as stocks with no one selling Put options to "balance the books".