4 ms·

"We are selling this at a discount of %30 of this completely arbitrary price point" is a meaningless statement. This kind of hand-waving around price isn't exac

"We are selling this at a discount of %30 of this completely arbitrary price point" is a meaningless statement. This kind of hand-waving around price isn't exactly new. I used to buy these bags of frozen chicken breasts every week. They were always $10. One week, the price shot up to $13. I didn't buy them that week. The very next week was labor day weekend and they were advertised as "on sale". The price? $12. They went back down to $10 a week or two after that. I'm a little surprised people who shop online are influenced by "list price." I'm influenced by the amount of money leaving my wallet. If it's $5 cheaper to buy an item at website X rather than website Y, I'll do it, unless shipping costs eat up the savings. It's not really that inconvenient (versus a retail store which requires you to go to another store and possibly return if the prices aren't better there). But I'm looking at "how much real money is going to leave my account" rather than "how much imaginary money am I going to save".

azernik 11y ago
If you didn't have a reference that the chicken breasts usually cost $10, I suspect it would have affected your purchasing decision.
Freestyler_3 11y ago
Warehouses selling to retailers here in NL do that a lot! You get more discount the more you buy or if you make a deal with a salesperson, but I don't think anyone pays the set price with 0% discount because it is around 15-30% more expensive than some online seller.
seanp2k2 11y ago
Tax too. Sometimes Amazon will have a better price and free shipping (and prime) but due to CA tax it'll be cheaper to order from out-of-state (free shipping is pretty common). Amazon also doesn't really do many coupons, so promo codes are more likely to work at smaller places or the mfg website (usually only worth it for larger purchases).
- marincounty 11y ago
  I've been following Amazon prices the past 7 years. I'm not doing it scientifically, but I'm trying to be fair. Im using am/fm Portable radios as a item to study. The radios are a Sony portable radio, and a Kaitko portable radio. Both radios have gone up in price, and the price increase seems unrelated to inflation. I like Amazon, but they are not the cheapest in town anymore, at least in the catagories I buy. What are you people buying? What are the good deals? I don't see deals like I used too. Is it just me? I know I don't buy a lot of crap, like I used to-- so my perspective might be skewed?
  - manyxcxi 11y ago
    I've read in multiple places about Amazon's main pricing strategy, which isn't all that different from what Walmart employs. They pick specific brands/models/categories of product at which they will absolutely be the cheapest. Everything else is just regularly priced. So if you follow a 'non-standard' product for them you would probably find that it probably is about the same price everywhere else- with one exception: there have been bot-price setting wars by different sellers that have escalated the prices of arbitrary products to insane levels. This is where you see the $200k toothbrush or $1m used book. I do the most of my shopping at Amazom because I can build up my basket through the week/month and just do one order without leaving my house. Price checks to different retailers in my area find that usually Amazon is slightly less or exactly the same price and I don't have to spend hours going to the retail store. Finally, I can get it all in one place instead of going to Target, Home Depot, and wherever else.
- fweespeech 11y ago
  https://www.boe.ca.gov/sutax/usetax.htm#Personal https://www.boe.ca.gov/sutax/usetax.htm#Personal https://www.boe.ca.gov/sutax/usetax.htm#Overview https://www.boe.ca.gov/sutax/usetax.htm#Overview > Generally, if sales tax would apply when you buy physical merchandise in California, use tax applies when you make a similar purchase without tax from a business located outside the state. ---- > Tax too. Sometimes Amazon will have a better price and free shipping (and prime) but due to CA tax it'll be cheaper to order from out-of-state (free shipping is pretty common). Amazon also doesn't really do many coupons, so promo codes are more likely to work at smaller places or the mfg website (usually only worth it for larger purchases). You may not want to publicly admit to tax evasion.

azernik 11y ago

If you didn't have a reference that the chicken breasts usually cost $10, I suspect it would have affected your purchasing decision.

Freestyler_3 11y ago

Warehouses selling to retailers here in NL do that a lot! You get more discount the more you buy or if you make a deal with a salesperson, but I don't think anyone pays the set price with 0% discount because it is around 15-30% more expensive than some online seller.

seanp2k2 11y ago

Tax too. Sometimes Amazon will have a better price and free shipping (and prime) but due to CA tax it'll be cheaper to order from out-of-state (free shipping is pretty common). Amazon also doesn't really do many coupons, so promo codes are more likely to work at smaller places or the mfg website (usually only worth it for larger purchases).

marincounty 11y ago
I've been following Amazon prices the past 7 years. I'm not doing it scientifically, but I'm trying to be fair. Im using am/fm Portable radios as a item to study. The radios are a Sony portable radio, and a Kaitko portable radio. Both radios have gone up in price, and the price increase seems unrelated to inflation. I like Amazon, but they are not the cheapest in town anymore, at least in the catagories I buy. What are you people buying? What are the good deals? I don't see deals like I used too. Is it just me? I know I don't buy a lot of crap, like I used to-- so my perspective might be skewed?
- manyxcxi 11y ago
  I've read in multiple places about Amazon's main pricing strategy, which isn't all that different from what Walmart employs. They pick specific brands/models/categories of product at which they will absolutely be the cheapest. Everything else is just regularly priced. So if you follow a 'non-standard' product for them you would probably find that it probably is about the same price everywhere else- with one exception: there have been bot-price setting wars by different sellers that have escalated the prices of arbitrary products to insane levels. This is where you see the $200k toothbrush or $1m used book. I do the most of my shopping at Amazom because I can build up my basket through the week/month and just do one order without leaving my house. Price checks to different retailers in my area find that usually Amazon is slightly less or exactly the same price and I don't have to spend hours going to the retail store. Finally, I can get it all in one place instead of going to Target, Home Depot, and wherever else.
fweespeech 11y ago
https://www.boe.ca.gov/sutax/usetax.htm#Personal https://www.boe.ca.gov/sutax/usetax.htm#Personal https://www.boe.ca.gov/sutax/usetax.htm#Overview https://www.boe.ca.gov/sutax/usetax.htm#Overview > Generally, if sales tax would apply when you buy physical merchandise in California, use tax applies when you make a similar purchase without tax from a business located outside the state. ---- > Tax too. Sometimes Amazon will have a better price and free shipping (and prime) but due to CA tax it'll be cheaper to order from out-of-state (free shipping is pretty common). Amazon also doesn't really do many coupons, so promo codes are more likely to work at smaller places or the mfg website (usually only worth it for larger purchases). You may not want to publicly admit to tax evasion.