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I think that price, in the context of a site like Amazon's, deserves one of those "Wrong things developers believe about X" pages. Any given item in Amazon's d

I think that price, in the context of a site like Amazon's, deserves one of those "Wrong things developers believe about X" pages. Any given item in Amazon's database (where 'item' == 'something that has its own page') can have multiple variants on color, size, and other varieties. Each variant may have its own price. So if you want to sort items by price, which price do you use?

notatcomputer68 8y ago
Cheapest usable variation that satisfies the query. E.g. if I search for a computer it should pick the variation with the cheapest cpu, not the one with bring-your-own-cpu
- camtarn 8y ago
  You assume that the system has a notion of 'a computer', let alone 'a cpu'. I occasionally dealt with the Amazon catalogue. It's a great example of 'garbage in, garbage out'. This is also the reason I never bought computer parts on Amazon, even when I got a staff discount.
AnthonyMouse 8y ago
> Any given item in Amazon's database (where 'item' == 'something that has its own page') can have multiple variants on color, size, and other varieties. Each variant may have its own price. So if you want to sort items by price, which price do you use? Use the lowest price, but include filtering options to exclude items based on the criteria that makes them different (e.g. show only Small shirts that are Pink or Yellow), and use the lowest price of the items matching the filters.
toast0 8y ago
Ideally, I'd like it to sort based on the options I've narrowed by. I've come to realize it usually sorts based on the lowest used price for something that bins into the same item. Which is fairly unhelpful most of the time -- sort low to high results in either things that are generally less expensive, or things that are generally subject to super sketchy price manipulation by 3rd party sellers, even when I've declared I want to buy new, from amazon only.
hakfoo 8y ago
I believe the road to UX hell is paved with "we want to be a marketplace". Even for a single SKU, Amazon will often stock the same item as new/used/refurb, from several sellers, at a whole galaxy of prices. This means there is no lone price to sort by, because you can't start with asking the user "Are you okay with a used one? Will you trust Acme Reseller Ltd as a merchant?".

notatcomputer68 8y ago

Cheapest usable variation that satisfies the query. E.g. if I search for a computer it should pick the variation with the cheapest cpu, not the one with bring-your-own-cpu

camtarn 8y ago
You assume that the system has a notion of 'a computer', let alone 'a cpu'. I occasionally dealt with the Amazon catalogue. It's a great example of 'garbage in, garbage out'. This is also the reason I never bought computer parts on Amazon, even when I got a staff discount.

AnthonyMouse 8y ago

> Any given item in Amazon's database (where 'item' == 'something that has its own page') can have multiple variants on color, size, and other varieties. Each variant may have its own price. So if you want to sort items by price, which price do you use? Use the lowest price, but include filtering options to exclude items based on the criteria that makes them different (e.g. show only Small shirts that are Pink or Yellow), and use the lowest price of the items matching the filters.

toast0 8y ago

Ideally, I'd like it to sort based on the options I've narrowed by. I've come to realize it usually sorts based on the lowest used price for something that bins into the same item. Which is fairly unhelpful most of the time -- sort low to high results in either things that are generally less expensive, or things that are generally subject to super sketchy price manipulation by 3rd party sellers, even when I've declared I want to buy new, from amazon only.

hakfoo 8y ago

I believe the road to UX hell is paved with "we want to be a marketplace". Even for a single SKU, Amazon will often stock the same item as new/used/refurb, from several sellers, at a whole galaxy of prices. This means there is no lone price to sort by, because you can't start with asking the user "Are you okay with a used one? Will you trust Acme Reseller Ltd as a merchant?".