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It's not just apps. Amazon is making it really easy to purchase on a whim via Echo or subscription to staple items. They even offer a 20% discount if you subs

It's not just apps. Amazon is making it really easy to purchase on a whim via Echo or subscription to staple items. They even offer a 20% discount if you subscribe to a minimum number of items. However if you actually go and price this stuff out, it's often 30-50% cheaper at Walmart or Target. I get the convenience factor, but it really adds up when you're talking about daily necessities.

CydeWeys 10y ago
The Amazon pricing makes sense though, because Amazon is paying the cost of shipping it to your door rather than you paying the cost of time, money, and gasoline to go fetch it at a store and bring it back. Amazon's model is at least price-transparent.
- jon2k17 10y ago
  Isn't that what Instacart is doing I.e bringing it to your door the same day, which I presume is much more costly?
  - grandalf 10y ago
    Yes. Not sure why people don't see this.
- meesterdude 10y ago
  but shipping is an additional charge - YOU are paying to have it shipped to your door, not amazon.
  - dangrossman 10y ago
    There is no shipping charge for Amazon Subscribe & Save items (the subscriptions with discounts he referred to). You don't need a Prime membership either. https://www.amazon.com/Subscribe-Save/b?ie=UTF8&node=5856181011 https://www.amazon.com/Subscribe-Save/b?ie=UTF8&node=5856181...
- dasil003 10y ago
  Well, to be fair, I think both models make perfect sense. But I don't think Amazon is necessarily more transparent. In case it wasn't clear, I was talking about list prices, not including shipping. In either case, you have to go seek out the on-premise retail prices, and in fact this is no different than traditional price comparison shopping whereby you learn that different stores have different loss leaders to get people in the door, and if you really want to get the cheapest price you have to shop a lot of different places. I'm not sure whether Amazon's model of centralized distribution with direct delivery has greater economies of scale then the big box store model, but I'm worried people are blinded by Amazon's convenience and don't realize how often the prices are really quite bad.

CydeWeys 10y ago

The Amazon pricing makes sense though, because Amazon is paying the cost of shipping it to your door rather than you paying the cost of time, money, and gasoline to go fetch it at a store and bring it back. Amazon's model is at least price-transparent.

jon2k17 10y ago
Isn't that what Instacart is doing I.e bringing it to your door the same day, which I presume is much more costly?
- grandalf 10y ago
  Yes. Not sure why people don't see this.
meesterdude 10y ago
but shipping is an additional charge - YOU are paying to have it shipped to your door, not amazon.
- dangrossman 10y ago
  There is no shipping charge for Amazon Subscribe & Save items (the subscriptions with discounts he referred to). You don't need a Prime membership either. https://www.amazon.com/Subscribe-Save/b?ie=UTF8&node=5856181011 https://www.amazon.com/Subscribe-Save/b?ie=UTF8&node=5856181...
dasil003 10y ago
Well, to be fair, I think both models make perfect sense. But I don't think Amazon is necessarily more transparent. In case it wasn't clear, I was talking about list prices, not including shipping. In either case, you have to go seek out the on-premise retail prices, and in fact this is no different than traditional price comparison shopping whereby you learn that different stores have different loss leaders to get people in the door, and if you really want to get the cheapest price you have to shop a lot of different places. I'm not sure whether Amazon's model of centralized distribution with direct delivery has greater economies of scale then the big box store model, but I'm worried people are blinded by Amazon's convenience and don't realize how often the prices are really quite bad.