Amazon Pricing

[AJF]

One of these days, I will understand Amazon pricing. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan and have had good luck with Amazon over the years, but it is almost a spectator sport to watch how their pricing on some items jumps around. Case in point: I've kept my eye on the Dragonfly G10 for a while, and it stayed right at $68-69 for the last 2 or 3 months. I looked at it today, and it's $96.99 :eek: http://www.amazon.com/Spyderco-Dragonfl ... 477&sr=1-2

Go figure.....(and Happy New Year! )

Andrew

[Max1975]

Same thing happened to me when started to shop around for a milli

[MCM]

Just picked up my first 2 Spyderco's from Amazon last week.
Seems the price's changes by the hour.

It is nice folks here keep us posted on these deals though.
But does seem like hit and miss with Amazon.
Watched the Rock Lobster climb $77.00 in less than a minute.
$129 to $207.
Watched the Chokwe go from $88 shipped to $86 to $116 in a single day.

Will look for deals, but will stick with my two primary dealers. :D

[racer88]

I wonder if there is some sort of algorithm set up that raises the price for you (based on your IP address or login) if you don't buy it the first time you go to that page. I think the airlines do the same thing. They track how many times you've been back to visit that product and raise the price, figuring your more interested each time you visit. Just a theory.

I bought a Stretch ZDP-189 / Blue FRN for a decent price ($89.49). I went back out of curiosity, and the price had skyrocketed (I forget how much). But, as I look right now, the price is $125.

I also bought a Stretch ZDP-189 / CF for $149.99. Now it's $209.

[kawr]

I wonder if there is some sort of algorithm set up that raises the price for you (based on your IP address or login) if you don't buy it the first time you go to that page. I think the airlines do the same thing. They track how many times you've been back to visit that product and raise the price, figuring your more interested each time you visit. Just a theory.

I bought a Stretch ZDP-189 / Blue FRN for a decent price ($89.49). I went back out of curiosity, and the price had skyrocketed (I forget how much). But, as I look right now, the price is $125.

I also bought a Stretch ZDP-189 / CF for $149.99. Now it's $209.

Well those two particular Stretch models are bad examples because both were recently discontinued for 2011 so prices are going to be inflated. Good thing I picked up a backup Blue Stretch right after they got discontinued and dealers had some amazing prices on them to clear out their stock.

[racer88]

Well those two particular Stretch models are bad examples because both were recently discontinued for 2011 so prices are going to be inflated. Good thing I picked up a backup Blue Stretch right after they got discontinued and dealers had some amazing prices on them to clear out their stock.

But, this was very recently, and they went up dramatically right after I bought them. Like I said... I wonder if Amazon does what the airlines reportedly do - raise the price the 2nd time you visit the page.

[iwolf81]

There are add-ons for the major web browsers that track an item's price over time and even email you when the price crosses a user configurable threshold. I use "The Trackor" for Safari and the Camelizer for Firefox.

As for what causes that variable prices on Amazon, I have no idea...

Regards,
Ira

[Javascript]

Prices vary for several reasons. One of them depends on who is filling the order. It might be Amazon, it might be a contract vendor. The price is set by whoever fills the order or has product available. I purchased a knife cheap from some place in CO. They had 2 left. A day later the price was more but the vendor had changed. Look to see who is filling the order; when the price changes, see if it isn't a vendor change, too.

[Chopping Broccoli]

I've been eyeing the Chokwe. $117. Then I see people posting that they got it from Amazon for $87ish. I wish they would lower it back to that $87 price and I would pick up one.

[delicafreak]

i think it has to do with the amount of the item in stock

[The Deacon]

I think Javascript hit it, or at least a major part of it.

[ChrisR]

Yeah, I usually use my basket to store books n stuff that I am interested in but not actually going to buy right now. Each time I look at it there is a raft of price changes listed at the top - usually minor but sometimes quite major. I am guessing Amazon's tight/frequent control of selling prices is one reason they do so well - any slight shift in the cost of an item (supply-chain, internal or shipping) and they change the prices to reflect that.

[tsuki2000]

It's actually rather simple in most cases. Amazon tends to match the cheapest Amazon Marketplace (third-party sellers) price. Notice that, at the time of writing this post, the cheapest one available in the Amazon Marketplace is also $96.99.


More examples (at time of posting):

---
Steet Beat

Amazon price: $134.99
Cheapest Marketplace price: $134.99
---
Bill Moran Drop Point

Amazon price: $71.24
Cheapest Marketplace price: $71.24
---
Chokwe

Amazon price: $116.49
Cheapest Marketplace price: $116.49
---


You get the idea. Occasionally, Amazon will beat that price, and other times there isn't one available in the marketplace to match. For the rest, however, Amazon just sells it for whatever Marketplace sellers are selling it for.

[JNewell]

Happy new year - you might find these summaries

http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2010/12/17/06

http://articles.cnn.com/2005-06-24/just ... ?_s=PM:LAW

of "dynamic pricing" interesting. I don't know whether Amazon is using this pricing model or not, but others definitely are. (Amazon got into some trouble several years ago for adjusting prices, allegedly based on the customer's perceived ability to pay.)

[NexusS]

Anyone able to get a decent deal for the Spyderco Military or Paramilitary 2 knifes on amazon? The prices I see are $140, and $180. That seems kinda high to me, should I wait for a better deal? or could anyone recommend me a good website with decent prices? I tried posting a similar question earlier, but the mod on here wont let me post messages, or deletes them. Im done with this forum, Ill find a forum where I can actually post messages.

[bada61265]

you have to look around. amazon isnt the low price king in knives. least not very often. some of the regular knife stores online post much better prices.

[AJF]

Javascript and Deacon, in this case the D'Fly G10 is being sold by Amazon itself, and, IIRC, that was also the case before the big price increase.

tsuki2000, I see your point on Amazon simply matching the best Marketplace price. I hadn't noticed such a strong correlation in the past---in fact, it had been my impression that Amazon usually beat the best MP price, sometimes considerably---but I'll keep my eye on that.

JNewell, thanks for the links on "dynamic pricing". That is pretty fascinating and pretty scary. It seems to me that that makes for one more argument in favor of allowing "deal spotting" on this forum---at least that way we can be sure we're all getting offered the same price on something!

Andrew

[JNewell]

Just a sort of counter-thought :) on deal-spotting...most of the time, when I see a post alerting to in-stock status or a great price, the item has sold out or the price has gone back up...so my feeling is that the s:n ration is pretty high... :)

Javascript and Deacon, in this case the D'Fly G10 is being sold by Amazon itself, and, IIRC, that was also the case before the big price increase.

tsuki2000, I see your point on Amazon simply matching the best Marketplace price. I hadn't noticed such a strong correlation in the past---in fact, it had been my impression that Amazon usually beat the best MP price, sometimes considerably---but I'll keep my eye on that.

JNewell, thanks for the links on "dynamic pricing". That is pretty fascinating and pretty scary. It seems to me that that makes for one more argument in favor of allowing "deal spotting" on this forum---at least that way we can be sure we're all getting offered the same price on something!

Andrew

[AJF]

Just a sort of counter-thought :) on deal-spotting...most of the time, when I see a post alerting to in-stock status or a great price, the item has sold out or the price has gone back up...so my feeling is that the s:n ration is pretty high... :)

Yes, that is often true. But, for items that are still in stock and available, I'd like to know if I'm being offered the same price as others. Plus, even if sold out or deal gone, just knowing what it was priced at gives me a reference point for what is possible for that item.

Andrew

[jabba359]

I think Amazon may have based their pricing off of sales figures. The particular Chokwe I got (and at least one other person on the forum) was a CC# knife from the first run or two. It Amazon had stock laying around from then, it must have meant that this particular knife wasn't selling that well, so prices were adjusted down to move out stock. I'm sure that once people started buying at these low prices, the computers moved the price back up since it showed brisk sales (they had to have been losing money at the price I paid). While I don't know about the manufacture date on the Rock Lobster, it wouldn't surprise me if they were older stock that had just been sitting around and needed a kick in the price-pants to get moved out.