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How Amazon Tricks You into Thinking It Always Has the Lowest Prices

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Re: How Amazon Tricks You into Thinking It Always Has the Lowest Prices

#71

Post by _delirium »

chaostheory wrote: post #61
dominotw wrote: post #15

I buy from amazon for their predictable shipping and insanely awesome customer service.

Agreed. Maybe if this article was written 5 years ago I can understand, but unless you're live somewhere where you don't have access to Amazon; everyone knows it's not just the prices that Amazon has that keeps customers coming back. People trust it. Amazon has the best customer service I've ever experienced. It is amazing. imo it's because unlike most stores, Amazon keeps your full shopping history so they know your…

As a counterpoint: Most people I know go to Amazon 100% for the prices. Often they will actually visit a brick-and-mortar store first to browse in person (page through a book at a bookstore, even try on shoes at a shoe store), and only then order on Amazon, once they've decided what they want. Amazon adds nothing here in convenience or service. The most convenient option would be to just buy the item you already physically have in your hands, which means you'd get it today, and not have to deal with UPS missed-delivery bullshit. But Amazon gets the sale because they win on price. Or at least used to!

Re: How Amazon Tricks You into Thinking It Always Has the Lowest Prices

#72

Post by tacotime »

_delirium wrote: post #71
chaostheory wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. Maybe if this article was written 5 years ago I can understand, but unless you're live somewhere where you don't have access to Amazon; everyone knows it's not just the prices that Amazon has that keeps customers coming back. People trust it. Amazon has the best customer service I've ever experienced. It is amazing. imo it's because unlike most stores, Amazon keeps your full shopping history so they know your…

As a counterpoint: Most people I know go to Amazon 100% for the prices. Often they will actually visit a brick-and-mortar store first to browse in person (page through a book at a bookstore, even try on shoes at a shoe store), and only then order on Amazon, once they've decided what they want. Amazon adds nothing here in convenience or service. The most convenient option would be to just buy the item you already phys…

counter-counterpoint: I bet a large portion of the people you're talking about are genuinely price conscious consumers trying to make the most educated purchases they possibly can. I doubt these people would be the same type that blindly buy an hdmi cable at a 20% markup... how simple is it to compare prices these days online? If you're traveling to a book store then buying through amazon I would bet money that you're probably going to price check that Amazon branded hdmi cable.

Re: How Amazon Tricks You into Thinking It Always Has the Lowest Prices

#73

Post by notatoad »

dominotw wrote: post #15

I buy from amazon for their predictable shipping and insanely awesome customer service.

I buy from amazon for their low prices - sure, they aren't always the lowest, but they're the lowest often enough that I can safely shop at amazon without shopping around. I don't want to price check five different stores before I buy something, the convenience of knowing that amazon almost always is selling something for reasonably close to the lowest price is valuable to me.

Re: How Amazon Tricks You into Thinking It Always Has the Lowest Prices

#74

Post by zeeshanm »

I read on NPR a while ago some guys found an arbitrage opportunity in book prices. So - he would track the most sought after books, buy them when price were low, usually around July/August, and then sell them back on Amazon when prices were high, around the time of September and January. Makes sense.

Re: How Amazon Tricks You into Thinking It Always Has the Lowest Prices

#75

Post by WalterBright »

This is all old, old news. Back in the 1970's, a friend of mine was shopping for a nice SLR camera. He knew which camera he wanted, and diligently researched ad after ad, finally settling on one with the cheapest price. We all piled into his car to go get it.

Sure enough, he bought the camera body dirt cheap. But he walked out of the store with a lense, filter, case, flash, film, and a few other accessories. When back home, he ruefully discovered that the total price he shelled out was higher! He didn't realize that the accessories were priced higher than the competition. People simply are not price sensitive to add-ons, and salesmen have known that for centuries.

Gillette is famous for pretty much giving away the razor and making money on the blades.

There's even a word for it: "loss leader".

All Amazon has done is automate it. Pretty much all retailers do it.

Re: How Amazon Tricks You into Thinking It Always Has the Lowest Prices

#76

Post by tobinfricke »

WalterBright wrote: post #75

This is all old, old news. Back in the 1970's, a friend of mine was shopping for a nice SLR camera. He knew which camera he wanted, and diligently researched ad after ad, finally settling on one with the cheapest price. We all piled into his car to go get it. Sure enough, he bought the camera body dirt cheap. But he walked out of the store with a lense, filter, case, flash, film, and a few other accessories. When bac…

> Gillette is famous for pretty much giving away the razor and making money on the blades.

Admittedly... if you're not including the blades, the "razor" is just a plastic stick.

Re: How Amazon Tricks You into Thinking It Always Has the Lowest Prices

#77

Post by WalterBright »

tobinfricke wrote: post #76
WalterBright wrote: post #75

This is all old, old news. Back in the 1970's, a friend of mine was shopping for a nice SLR camera. He knew which camera he wanted, and diligently researched ad after ad, finally settling on one with the cheapest price. We all piled into his car to go get it. Sure enough, he bought the camera body dirt cheap. But he walked out of the store with a lense, filter, case, flash, film, and a few other accessories. When bac…

> Gillette is famous for pretty much giving away the razor and making money on the blades. Admittedly... if you're not including the blades, the "razor" is just a plastic stick.

Not so before BIC - the Gillette razor was a nicely crafted metal tool.

Re: How Amazon Tricks You into Thinking It Always Has the Lowest Prices

#78

Post by WalterBright »

Another common sales technique is to have 3 models in a line - the stripper, the standard, and the deluxe. The stripper was barely functional, and its sole purpose was to have a cheap price to attract customers to the showroom. The deluxe had every silly feature the manufacturer could think of, like pinstriping on a dishwasher. It had a very high price. It's sole purpose was to 'frame' the price of the standard model and make it look like a bargain.

The standard model was the one the manufacturer expected to sell. Of course, the rare price-insensitive customer would buy the deluxe, and the salesman was happy to sell that and collect the large commission.

Re: How Amazon Tricks You into Thinking It Always Has the Lowest Prices

#80

Post by steven2012 »

Surprisingly most home improvement things are cheaper at Home Depot rather than Amazon. I learned this one the hard way. Also Amazon routinely displays "original" prices that are much higher than other places and with the "discount" falls in the same price range.
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