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This does indeed seem to be the case. And since that means the original topic here is not really news, I'll use this space to point out that this is why, in gen

This does indeed seem to be the case. And since that means the original topic here is not really news, I'll use this space to point out that this is why, in general, I hate sales and companies that have a lot of them. Constant sales basically tell the customer that the sale price is the real price and you're a sucker if you pay full price... but you have to constantly check and watch and do a bunch of extra work to be sure you get the real (sale) price. Please, just have a price and charge it. I know, I know, it's better for your metrics to practice price discrimination, and constant sales are a way to do that... but it pisses off customers who just want a simple, fair price. If you really need price discrimination, add "enterprise" features and let people who want throw money at you pay for things no one really needs. Just don't make me stop in the process of buying something because I know the price isn't actually the price and I have to wait until the price is corrected to the real price with a sale (and likely never actually remember to come back when the sale is on). Having frequent free shipping sales creates the same effect. If I know you offer free shipping sales more than say... once a year, I literally will not buy from you if free shipping is not currently offered. And I will quite likely forget what I was going to buy once free shipping is turned back on.

wikwocket 12y ago
The reason that so many online and brick-and-mortar stores have sales is, unsurprisingly, that they work. The rational approach may be to prefer low, constant prices all the time. But neither the market nor consumers are rational. Look at JCPenney, and their "no sales, just everyday low prices" policy. Rationally, all their prices were slashed, and there was no need to wait for a sale or find a coupon. What actually happened is that no one felt urgency to go to the store, or excitement that they were getting a discount. This policy tanked, and has since been dropped. I know it may feel spammy or artificial when e.g. Newegg is constantly running "amazing, once in a lifetime sales!!!", but fundamentally, these work. For every "rational" person who waits a year for free shipping, or drops their cart out of ennui over price volatility, there are 10 people who visit the site due to a promotion, and take out their credit card because of a coupon they have. Trust me, I work in the retail space, and retailers measure the effects of promotions very carefully. These things work, and retailers must embrace them or lose money/market share.
01Michael10 12y ago
I agree with everything you said except... "If I know you offer free shipping sales more than say... once a year, I literally will not buy from you if free shipping is not currently offered." You will not buy an item unless it has "free shipping"? You must miss out on a lot of good deals. You do know "free shipping" is NOT free as it will be included in the price of the item so it's the total price that matters not if it has 'free shipping'. Having "free shipping" is not always a good (or the best) deal... I do wish all online stores would price stuff with "shipping included" as to make it easier to compare prices.
- DanielStraight 12y ago
  No... I wasn't entirely clear there. I didn't mean I only buy when shipping is free. I meant that there are certain places I shop online that regularly run free shipping promotions. Every two or three months, they have a promo code for free shipping with no change in prices otherwise. I only buy from these places when one of the free shipping promos is on.
jasode 12y ago
>Please, just have a price and charge it. I know, I know, it's better for your metrics to practice price discrimination, and constant sales are a way to do that... but it pisses off customers who just want a simple, fair price. Actually, it appears that that consumers do not want a straightforward price even though they say they do. It's non-intuitive because there is some unspoken reward mechanism for playing into the sellers' pricing games which contradicts what they complain about. An article about the JC Penny "fair price" debacle mentions the research about "shrouded pricing" by Xavier Gabaix.[1] Based on the submission here on HN, it seems like O'Reilly's "logical" demographic is not immune to this behavior. [1] http://redtape.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/05/25/11864178-fair-and-square-pricing-thatll-never-work-jc-penney-we-like-being-shafted http://redtape.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/05/25/11864178-fair-an...

wikwocket 12y ago

The reason that so many online and brick-and-mortar stores have sales is, unsurprisingly, that they work. The rational approach may be to prefer low, constant prices all the time. But neither the market nor consumers are rational. Look at JCPenney, and their "no sales, just everyday low prices" policy. Rationally, all their prices were slashed, and there was no need to wait for a sale or find a coupon. What actually happened is that no one felt urgency to go to the store, or excitement that they were getting a discount. This policy tanked, and has since been dropped. I know it may feel spammy or artificial when e.g. Newegg is constantly running "amazing, once in a lifetime sales!!!", but fundamentally, these work. For every "rational" person who waits a year for free shipping, or drops their cart out of ennui over price volatility, there are 10 people who visit the site due to a promotion, and take out their credit card because of a coupon they have. Trust me, I work in the retail space, and retailers measure the effects of promotions very carefully. These things work, and retailers must embrace them or lose money/market share.

01Michael10 12y ago

I agree with everything you said except... "If I know you offer free shipping sales more than say... once a year, I literally will not buy from you if free shipping is not currently offered." You will not buy an item unless it has "free shipping"? You must miss out on a lot of good deals. You do know "free shipping" is NOT free as it will be included in the price of the item so it's the total price that matters not if it has 'free shipping'. Having "free shipping" is not always a good (or the best) deal... I do wish all online stores would price stuff with "shipping included" as to make it easier to compare prices.

DanielStraight 12y ago
No... I wasn't entirely clear there. I didn't mean I only buy when shipping is free. I meant that there are certain places I shop online that regularly run free shipping promotions. Every two or three months, they have a promo code for free shipping with no change in prices otherwise. I only buy from these places when one of the free shipping promos is on.

jasode 12y ago

>Please, just have a price and charge it. I know, I know, it's better for your metrics to practice price discrimination, and constant sales are a way to do that... but it pisses off customers who just want a simple, fair price. Actually, it appears that that consumers do not want a straightforward price even though they say they do. It's non-intuitive because there is some unspoken reward mechanism for playing into the sellers' pricing games which contradicts what they complain about. An article about the JC Penny "fair price" debacle mentions the research about "shrouded pricing" by Xavier Gabaix.[1] Based on the submission here on HN, it seems like O'Reilly's "logical" demographic is not immune to this behavior. [1] http://redtape.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/05/25/11864178-fair-and-square-pricing-thatll-never-work-jc-penney-we-like-being-shafted http://redtape.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/05/25/11864178-fair-an...