Misleading Amazon price cuts on tools

[loutent]

Thanks for that Bob,

I am in no big hurry to add to my (meager) Bessey collection!

Lou

[nailshooter41]

Man do I feel left out of this thread... maybe I have been self employed too damn long, responsible for myself and my business.

The cost of goods in the consumer's eyes should be the cost to the door. Taxes, shipping, handling, notifications, shipping method, and anything else that I ALWAYS ask for is revealed when questioned. That is being responsible with your money. It is >your< responsibility to be careful, prudent, and wise with your money. Period.

Amazon is not doing anything you couldn't eventually figure out... I mean you did, right? Was it because it was there in front of you?

If you don't like the answers, if you don't like the method of presentation, or if you don't like the way you are treated, why in the hell would you buy from one of these companies and their affiliates?

Life is too short. Complaining will do absolutely nothing. Move on. Next vendor, please.

Robert

[Mortimer Schnerd, RN]

Uh... I think you miss the point. I know these conversations will certainly have a bearing on where I buy my next tool. Complaining to the company will do no good. Complaining to the newsgroup will help *someone*. Hopefully before they get screwed.

[Mark & Juanita]

I thought UPS did that for free? ;-)

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

[blueman]

I think you totally missed my point. I am not holding them responsible for anything -- they can say what they want and charge what they want (as long as they are not violating some law).

I was just pointing out that their marketing was misleading if not deceptive (though almost certainly not illegal) -- goal was to inform others and perhaps indirectly influence Amazon to avoid such misleading statements.

Jeff

[blueman]

I think you missed the point -- I did figure it out. However, I wanted to achieve two goals with this post:

1. Inform others who might be misled
2. Indirectly influence Amazon if such posts cause enough potential buyers to either look otherwise or to speak up themselves.

As you say, "Life is too short" to argue about this... If you disagree with my thinking, the as you say "Move on. Next" post "please".

[Mark & Juanita]

Looks like you are both saying the same thing. The difference is that by perhaps alerting some people who might not have looked so closely, or who had not been tracking prices previously, the OP is actually helping send a message to the vendor by amplifying a single voice to a broader audience of potential buyers. I went back and checked my records, my last purchase from Amazon or Tool Crib of the Amazon was in April, 2003. I really haven't found prices to be all that much better than other on-line, dedicated woodworking sources like Woodworkers Supply or Lee Valley or others. While I understand that shipping prices are going to rise, trying to hide those changes is not really very up-front with customers.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

[Lobby Dosser]

They are deceptive in other ways. If you sell a book through them they charge the customer ~$3.50 for shipping, but only pass along ~$2.60 to you to cover shipping costs. This is in addition to their listing fee and percentage of the sale. Unless you have sold through them And bought from private sellers through them, this 'fee' is completely hidden. I complained about this to them and did get a response, but it was of the humma, humma variety.

[foggytown]

CAVEAT EMPTOR! Shipping AND handling/postage AND packaging. Apparently these places use real high quality, space-age cardboard boxes and the "handlers/packers" earn about $45/hour.

FoggyTown

[foggytown]

There's this twonk on ebay who sells nothing but electronic vernier calipers. He starts the bidding at .01 with no reserve and you may be tempted to bid - until you note that his p&p is =A310! - this for an item which may weigh 3 or 4 oz soaking wet. This suggests that the item isn't worth more than a fiver to begin with. So (and he may be counting on this) if you don't read carefully you may bid over ,01 for the item and end up paying even MORE.

Have to admire his chutzpah

FoggyTown

[foggytown]

Let's face it. The ONLY info required to get a quote for the TOTAL price of anything should be a zip code. (Your name and address is hardly likely to influence the price, is it.) BUT once you enter even some basic personal info the seller can add it to his growing list of names which he can onsell to some oter enterprise and THAT, children, is why you get half a forest of junk crap dropped through your mailbox every day.

FoggyTown

[William Brown]

If they are using actual shipping charges, it would seem they would need to know your address to calculate them!

[javea5]

I am glad I read this

[John Flatley]

Thanks for your response. I think we probably agree, but I may not have made my point clear. Clearly any decision on where to buy a tool or anything, should be based on the total cost to you at the location where you want it and that total cost is not just on the price of the product.

When we consumers consider a purchasing decision, we must weigh Internet purchasing tax-free with shipping and handling and local delivery charges added versus local purchase without shipping and handling to sales tax added. Then we factor in connivance, after sales service and other key but sometimes forgotten charges. Then we can determine the total cost. If we elect not to do these things, then Pogo may have been right when he said, "we have met the enemy and they is us."

The central point you make, that we should all be astute consumers is very valuable. I was afraid that some of the responses were just Amazon/Tool Crib bashing.

Local impact: Our refrigerator is on its way out. We are shopping for a new one. Surprise! The sell price does not include delivery and installation. No dealer has yet told me about those charges until I asked.

Jack

[terphenyl]

Thanks for the warning.

For the "life is too short," "buy somewhere else" guys, please try to take a step back, and look at your own advice. If "life is too short," why must consumers have to waste such valuable time *the first time* ferreting out information purposely made as obscure and misleading as possible in order to determine that you should "buy somewhere else" the next time? OK, now we know what Amazon.com is doing. That's one out of how many more to go?

[Dave Hinz]

The weight determines value?

Sounds like a classic case of padding the S&H to evade auction costs paid to eBay. Have you notified them of the guy's activities? If not, why complain about it without doing something about it?

Why, so the rest of us eBayers can subsidize his scam? Sorry, no admiration here.

[Chris]

Actually they charge you for that service. Than claim it was like that when they got it.

[Chris]

Zip code is all that is required. If you look at the rate charts that UPS, FedEx and others distribute for web type shopping carts, all they require is the zip.

If you really need to use a particular vendor that pulls this crap, just put in bogus info and make sure the zip is correct.

[John McCoy]

"BillyBob" wrote in news:rRjWe.10516$ [e-mail]:

And then order from Lee Valley? After all, they are the one doing the consumer-friendly thing of alerting you in advance, should they not get the benefit of your patronage in return?

John

[Bruce Barnett]

I wonder if this is part of the plan to get everyone purchase Amazon Prime memberships. Not only are tools taking longer to ship, so are books. I just placed an order for books with free shipping, and it will take 3 weeks for them to arrive.

Step 1) Offer Amazon Prime Step 2) Delay Shipping

Add *) Remove rebates *) Increase prices and that's a sure way to increase profits.

This increase in tool prices aren't done in a vacuum. The current Amazon policy is that if you find a brick & mortar store or catalog with a lower price, they will match it plus 10%. (i.e. this does not apply to a web site).

I'm wondering if they are beefing up their quarter's profits, so 'round Christmas time, they can drop prices again.

I was surprised that those books I ordered weren't as low cost as they used to be.

I ordered 3 PB books w/$7 list price, and they only knocked the price done a total of $1.40 off list.