When I started shopping at Amazon in 1999, I quickly came to believe that their prices were very good. For the past year or so, I've been feeling that their prices can no longer be taken for granted as generally being lower. Here's a recent example:
Here's a GPS I'm thinking of getting from WalMart for $100
It's $115 at Amazon
Anybody else noticing this Amazon price-creep?
Prices for the same item can vary a great deal at Amazon. Depends upon who is selling it.
I normally check Ebay too and just purchase from where I can get the best deal.
Because I usually check things carefully in all the years, I've only had one minor dispute. It was with NewEgg who is known for being reputable and after an email or two it was resolved.
I do buy books from Amazon and am quite pleased. They have a whole hell of a lot of them for just one cent plus $3.99 shipping. Obviously they made a small bit from the shipping but at $4 a book...a great deal.
On eBay there is often an option to buy directly from China.
Though some may call me a traitor for doing so, I see no sense in buying the SAME item over here and paying (sometimes) 300 times more.
The funniest one was some RAM I bought from China that was insanely inexpensive. $2 a stick. My whole order including postage was under $10 which was still cheaper than a single stick.
3 out of 4 were 100% good, but one stick was defective so I tossed it out and gave the vendor a neutral rating. Done.NO not done, They emailed me begging me to revise my rating to good and sent me full credit for the ram stick even though I told them not to bother.
I still can't believe it.
I did change the rating to "good",the guy who processed the order probably would have been put to death otherwise.
I'll shop around on line and check back and forth over a time period because prices constantly change. Other big outfits like Best Buy will match or be better and I'd buy Best Buy because if defective I could run to their store here.
I prefer not to buy from Amazon vendors as if you have a problem return is not as easy.
It's $115 at Amazon
Anybody else noticing this Amazon price-creep?
It also depends on who, when, where, and how. I've seen their prices change after I look at an item a few times, and while my initial suspicion was that the price just went up, searching for the item from another device at another location returned the initial price.
I don't blame them for that, they are a business after all, and whatever algorithms they have in place are there to get them the sale at the best price. It does pay to shop around though, of course.
Jon
I don't know if it as much Amazon raising prices as Walmart and others trying to grab a shared of the business. Shipping is the other thing to take into consideration. Amazon's 'free' shipping isn't and they often state you can buy it for less from other vendors. When you factor in the shipping charges for the other sources it comes out a wash. However. I'm a Prime member so part of the 'free' is getting the order in two or three days rather than when Pony Express shows up. Amazon is building their own air force so it will be hard for the Walmarts to compete with the shipping efficiency.
I have never had that problem with Amazon or Ebay. Usually they just credit it back to you and tell you to throw away the defective product. If there is a return, I get an RMA and a postage paid label.
OTOH I am not really happy with Best Buy. I bought an oven from them and I never did get it. They canceled the order with no notice after postponing delivery. It was supposed to be 8-10 days, then 8 weeks then canceled.
Per Frank:
I recently ordered a half-dozen SAS cables of the wrong type.
Filled out the Amazon "Return" page, they gave me a .PDF to print for the return label, printed the label, stuck it on the box....
Shipping was free.
Biggest effort of the process was taking the box to a FedEx deposit box a few blocks away.
Maybe it depends on the vendor - also, somewhere along the line, I signed up for Amazon Prime and maybe that's a factor. When buying from Amazon, I tend to favor the "Eligible for Prime" products bco the shipping.
One never knows which place to check out first for the lowest price. Some places will have low prices and make it up in shipping, some have high prices but free shipping. Someimes the ebay will be less expensive if ordered from China and about a 2 to 3 week waiting period, sometimes the same item will be less expensive if odered in the US and shipped in a week or less. Guess that I have been lucky so far. I did order a book form Amazon and it was not really from them, but a vender. After 2 weeks I tried emailing them a couple of times a day a part and no response. Went to the Amazon web page about a complaint and less than a week I was credited the money back. Everything else I have ordered from all the places have been fine.
Oren wrote in news:tmim2c9hskirvpe2uakjrjneunkfjsn4ns@
4ax.com:
Then too, if you don't have Amazon Prime or equal, there's the often quite high shipping and handling.
I've gotten some deals on movies and books on Amazon, but for everything else, I normally buy from Ebay and get the best price there. I have gotten some defective stuff, but ebay is quick to refund and generally dont require me returning the defect item. I do not buy from China though. I just dont feel safe giving out my credit card, and waiting weeks is not worth the savings. The last time I attempted to buy from China, I paid for a small figurine (Buy it now), I get a notice from ebay, saying my item was shipped. A few more days later, I got a email from the seller who tells me there is a shortage of this item and I will have to wait several more weeks, ir I can get a refund. I was willing to wait, but a week more I was told the item did not exist, and I'd get a refund. Then he tells me to please leave POS feedback.
Feedback for what? Why were they offering the item if there was none to sell? I figured that since there was no item, there would not be any feedback at all. I did not leave any.
I generally only buy auto parts and computer parts online, and maybe a few books and movies. If it's common stuff that I can buy in a store, I go to the store. If for no other reason, having a rural mailbox, means I will end up having to drive to the post office to get everything that wont fit in my mailbox.
I did notice they are not exactly the same. Amazon states it has a friction mount bundle. Wal Mart makes no mention of the mount type.
You're right, Ed, they're not the same. The Amazon model is a bundled package, the Walmart model is only the GPS device.
Here's just the GPS on Amazon for $105
Also:
Amazon Says It Puts Customers First. But Its Pricing Algorithm Doesn?t Amazon bills itself as ?Earth?s most customer-centric company.? Yet its algorithm is hiding the best deal from many customers.
Back when the dinosaurs were roaming the earth Amazon did that with some of my CD and book orders, especially items from Europe. For that reason I favored Barnes & Noble. Fast forward, Amazon learned, B&N didn't.
One of the B&N ironies was after they build a brick and mortar store across the street from where I work, they didn't have a programming book I wanted but said they could order it for full list price and shipping. I ordered it from B&N Online, 10% off, and free shipping.
Now I go into the store about once a year right after Christmas to get a deeply discounted calendar for the next year.
On Tue, 15 Nov 2016 16:15:13 -0600, Moe DeLoughan wrote in
That's the one I ended up buying. Since I don't have Amazon Prime, I've noticed that shipping times have really grown longer in the past three years. My guess is it will take a week to ship. It's Amazon's way of trying to motivate you to join Prime.
OTOH, a flag that I ordered from one of the very small independents selling through Amazon shipped within 24 hours.
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