Amazon Up To Their Old Tricks Again...

[High_Plains_Drifter]

I searched for filtered water pitchers on Amazon. Course Zero Water pops up first because it's an Amazon sponsored item, but I clicked on the reviews to read them and found many, many bad reviews, so I clicked the back button to get back to the pitcher and BOOM, the price had gone UP $10.00! Just TWO MINUTES ago it was $18, and in the little time it took to read some reviews, it's MAGICALLY $28 NOW.

I've seen this happen half a dozen times now on Amazon and I even wrote to them asking what in the HELL was going on, but of course I got NO answer.

This ever happen to anyone else?

[darin]

i browse air tickets and retail via private browsers. Prevents that sometimes.

[NightTrain]

I think the strategy is that most people won't notice that the price has gone up and they'll click the "Buy Now" button.


Yeah, and like Darin said with Airlines - they do the same thing. If you check a price from, say, Dallas to Minneapolis and then leave that website to check another one, when you return to that original one that price will have gone up most times. They do this via cookies, the website remembers your computer and that last search, and because you're back to look at that same flight again, obviously you're going to buy it so why not make a few extra bucks off that customer?

If I'm shopping around for tickets, I'll open multiple tabs on the different airline sites and DON'T shut them down until I've made a decision. That way there's no shenanigans.

You can do the same with Amazon. Just right click the other item you're looking for and hit 'Open in new tab'. If you don't reload that page, it can't bump the price on you.

You can also flush your cookies, but that's a pain in the ass. Then you have to remember all your passwords around the interwebs.

[High_Plains_Drifter]

I think the strategy is that most people won't notice that the price has gone up and they'll click the "Buy Now" button.


Yeah, and like Darin said with Airlines - they do the same thing. If you check a price from, say, Dallas to Minneapolis and then leave that website to check another one, when you return to that original one that price will have gone up most times. They do this via cookies, the website remembers your computer and that last search, and because you're back to look at that same flight again, obviously you're going to buy it so why not make a few extra bucks off that customer?

If I'm shopping around for tickets, I'll open multiple tabs on the different airline sites and DON'T shut them down until I've made a decision. That way there's no shenanigans.

You can do the same with Amazon. Just right click the other item you're looking for and hit 'Open in new tab'. If you don't reload that page, it can't bump the price on you.

You can also flush your cookies, but that's a pain in the ass. Then you have to remember all your passwords around the interwebs.

But how do you know which items it's going to jack the price on and which not? I can see where if you find an item you think you might buy, opening a new window to search further would give you a chance to keep looking without them jacking the price on the first item, but many times I'll add the item to my wish list, and they've even jacked up the price adding it to that. It's a dirty trick. If you don't buy it then and there, they gouge you.

I do purge all cookies often. Thankfully google chrome remembers all your passwords.

[NightTrain]

But how do you know which items it's going to jack the price on and which not?

You've got me there, bud.

I don't know what triggers the price increase. It doesn't always occur, either.

I suspect it may be attached to items with a very slim profit margin, but I think it's more likely that it happens with what the company knows about you and your impulsiveness. That's why personal data is such a huge industry - Facebook, Google and the others make a ton of money selling your habits to companies to target you.


You have to sign up for Amazon if you want to buy things, and that's because they want to know what makes you tick when it comes to shiny objects in front of you.

Sharon and I share one Amazon account, of course, and we're wildly different shoppers. I'm the kind of guy that retailers love, because normally I don't care greatly about price if it's somewhat in the range of others unless it's a big ticket item. I go out of my way to spend more money on something because the cheapest item in a category almost always ends in disappointment, I've learned. Amazon probably loves it when I'm driving our account at the moment because I don't have time to sit and compare 20 items.

Sharon will look at a ton of similar other things and weigh it out carefully, with price being a large concern. It's just how she rolls. Send both of us to Costco separately, and she'll come back with the same stuff for $100 less than I will. But I'll beat her home by an hour.

So with Amazon, I'm sure they're well aware there is a man and a woman driving that account and I don't know how they would separate us. Maybe a Typically-Man Item list and a Typically Woman Item list? You won't find me looking at some exotic oils & soaps, and you won't catch her looking at new windshields for Snowmachines.

Targeting me would be a pretty shrewd bet for that sneaky price increase, but you can bet your last dollar Sharon will catch it.

[NightTrain]

I do purge all cookies often. Thankfully google chrome remembers all your passwords.

Oh, and purging cookies isn't going to help you on Amazon because you're signed in on your account and I'm 100% certain they're completely aware of everything you've clicked on. And anything you've visited more than once is on their HotList for a certain guy in Podunk, WI.

[High_Plains_Drifter]

You've got me there, bud.

I don't know what triggers the price increase. It doesn't always occur, either.

Very true... I've only seen it change 3 or 4 times, and I've had Amazon Prime for a couple years now and I've bought a LOT of stuff. I've ordered 8 things already this month. When I don't have a lot of stores around period, being able to find something on Amazon, and you can find almost anything on there, and then have it delivered right to your doorstep, 99% of the time, for free... maaaan... that's the greatest thing since sliced bread.

But I think the deal is, on certain items, it will rarely give a marked down price in hopes that you buy it on the spot, and if you don't, if you go looking around and come back, well, you just screwed yourself out of a good deal, because $18 for a 10 cup Zero Water pitcher is a smokin' hot deal, even $28 is, which is probably the usual price. I looked around the internet it looks to me like it trends at $34.95.

So... IDK... but I am going to remember this, and next time I'm looking around Amazon and find something I like, and it's a great deal, I WILL leave that window open and open a different window if I want to do some comparing. Often, price doesn't matter to me. Reviews do and quality. I'll pay more for a better product.

I just wondered if the price changing has ever happened to anyone else.