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Amazon buyers?

travlnblueberries

By travlnblueberries,
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travlnblueberries

travlnblueberries

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My question is sort of cruise related. I'm looking at something to buy from Amazon for my cruise. I saw something, then about two hours later it jumped up $100.00. I start thinking that somehow Amazon knew I was interested and jacked the price up!:eek: (because I kept looking at what I wanted to buy)

Anyway, down to my question...is there good time to check prices ....like early in the weeee hours of the morning or on certain days?

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war_eagle99

war_eagle99

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I shop on Amazon all the time and I have not seen that happen. Check to see if it is sold by Amazon or a third party. I guess it's possible if its sold by a third party they could be checking there stats and possibly increasing the price. I doubt Amazon would do that for one visitor.

 

Also possible the first price you saw was the lowest price for all vendors but when you went back the lower price item had been sold.

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mitsugirly Great Review Rare

mitsugirly

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I shop Amazon a lot too and have never seen this. Make sure that you know what you are looking at since they offer all different prices ranging from new to used. It's possible that you could have seen someone with a used one for a really low price and then it sold so what you are looking at now is another person selling. If anything, I've only seen prices go down, not up on items.

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travlnblueberries

travlnblueberries

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Well, I purchase a lot from Amazon, usually anything electronic and things like that. I was looking at a camera, and it was 1399.00. I wanted to see how it felt in the hand before I made the purchase, so I went to a store that only had a display model. We came back home,(2+ hours later) and I went on the site, and the darn thing went up to 1499.00.:eek: I have been watching this previously for weeks and doing research, so i kept going back to the site looking at different models, etc. So I was watching it for some time. That happened to me when I was looking for my underwater camera. Same thing, jumped up in price when I went to make the purchase.

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jgtown

jgtown

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Variable pricing has been pretty well documented by the geek community. I actually saw it go the other way on a watch I'm looking at on Amazon. The price is $35 lower today than it was yesterday so it can go in either direction (and I'm not about to close that window until I decide whether to buy).

 

Prices can fluctuate very quickly based on many different factors. Supply, your browsing history with Amazon, your purchase history with Amazon, other sites you've visited recently, etc. Even the browser you're using can make a difference. One test showed a significant variance in pricing based only on the browser used to view the item on a particular shopping site.

 

In your case, it could be that their lowest-priced vendor ran out of stock and the next one got bumped up to the default vendor. Amazon usually has popular items available from several different vendors so this can happen on pricey items that are only held in small quantities. That's what happened when I was hemming and hawing about a laptop. There were only 2 in stock when I started pondering. Shouldn't have slept on it because the next lowest vendor's price was $200 higher. Ended up having to buy from B&H Photo for $75 more than the first price I got. :)

 

BTW, if you're looking for a reputable vendor, try B&H Photo or Adorama in NYC. I know NYC camera vendors have a bad rep but these two are very reliable.

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AmativeDame

AmativeDame

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You will see this happen a lot of your buying an item off the "marketplace" or in other words - from 3rd party vendors. The 3rd party vendors can have limited quantity, so once all the items sell out at the lowest price (or the highlighted vendor) the next listing will appear there instead. What you mention has happened to be on a couple occasions, but never with an amazon stock listing.

 

You can tell by looking for the "In stock by ____". If its all 3rd party vendors your price can really vary. I shop on amazon a lot (I have a prime membership and it has more then paid for itself) and I have rarely seen pricing on amazon items jump unless its a gold box deal or a promotional price. It does happen on occasion though.

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GORDONCHICK

GORDONCHICK

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Just an FYI - you should look at B&H Photo for your cameras http://www.bhphotovideo.com/

 

I am a buyer of all kinds of things (it's my job), and for most electronics, I'm gonna buy from B&H. Great prices and customer service. Usually free shipping depending on what your getting/spending. Not only do I do corporate buying there (no special prices for that), but I also get my personal gear there. We saved over $800 on a 52" tv, got free shipping and paid no sales tax (because I'm not a NY resident). When I bought my personal DSLR, I bought it in a kit and they included 2 DVDs - one on digital photography in general and one specific to that camera and no one else GAVE those DVDs in their packs (plus better price).

 

I shop amazon more personally than professionally, and yes, I've seen the price of electronics fluctuate even more than $100 an it wasn't cookie related (using different computers).

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travlnblueberries

travlnblueberries

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Just an FYI - you should look at B&H Photo for your cameras http://www.bhphotovideo.com/

 

I am a buyer of all kinds of things (it's my job), and for most electronics, I'm gonna buy from B&H. Great prices and customer service. Usually free shipping depending on what your getting/spending. Not only do I do corporate buying there (no special prices for that), but I also get my personal gear there. We saved over $800 on a 52" tv, got free shipping and paid no sales tax (because I'm not a NY resident). When I bought my personal DSLR, I bought it in a kit and they included 2 DVDs - one on digital photography in general and one specific to that camera and no one else GAVE those DVDs in their packs (plus better price).

 

I shop amazon more personally than professionally, and yes, I've seen the price of electronics fluctuate even more than $100 an it wasn't cookie related (using different computers).

 

Thanks GORDONCHICK for the tip. I did check B&H and they were at 1499 also.

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  • 2 weeks later...
finzup-kt

finzup-kt

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My question is sort of cruise related. I'm looking at something to buy from Amazon for my cruise. I saw something, then about two hours later it jumped up $100.00. I start thinking that somehow Amazon knew I was interested and jacked the price up!:eek: (because I kept looking at what I wanted to buy)

Anyway, down to my question...is there good time to check prices ....like early in the weeee hours of the morning or on certain days?

 

I think this is what happens:

So when you look at an item on amazon, it's not only amazon that sells the item. There are sometimes a lot more sellers selling that same item (you can see all of them by looking at the right, "also available from these sellers". Anyway what happens is amazon has the item for $25 (just an example). But when you looked at it and amazon had it for 25, perhaps the other sellers were selling it for $50. So once amazon's stock depleted, the very same item would now not come from amazon, but from one of the other sellers in the list. Amazon has no control over pricing these other retailers set.

 

Edit: whoops I see someone else already answered this...

 

Oh well. oh and I would also recommend B&H

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