Amazon Market Place Sellers not price matching when buying directly

[BigguyZ]

So I’ve been wanting a high-end hammer drill for some time, but the prices have always been high. I was looking at the Bosch hammer drills on Amazon, and I found the $300 model available on Amazon refurbished for an excellent price. I saw that the seller was CPO Outlet, so I checked that site.

I had thought that the prices were the same, so I ordered from CPO, even though it’s easier and better tracked through Amazon. But I figured why order through Amazon when it’s CPO that’s really selling the item. I pulled the trigger on CPO’s site, and to their credit the item shipped quickly.
Yesterday I was checking again, and noticed that the Amazon price was actually about $10 less than CPO directly. Bummer, but I figured call CPO, explain the situation, and surely they’ll refund the difference.

I emailed them and got a response yesterday. They don’t price match- even their own prices on Amazon…. Which I think is ridiculous. So in the future, I’ll make sure to order through Amazon, so they can get less profit due to the fees that Amazon charges.
Has anyone else seen this? I know it’s an issue for Penn State Industries as well. I would understand that Amazon isn’t necessarily the same price, but I would hope that they’d match the price. After all, I’m not asking them to match a price from a completely different seller.

[dbhost]

I have seen the same issue with Penn State, and Grizzly. So I end up ordering through Amazon. Kind of stupid if you ask me. They ought to charge MORE for going through a service that reduces their profit, but hey, it's not my company...

[woodturner]

After all, I’m not asking them to match a price from a completely different seller.

It may be, actually. A lot of companies set up different divisions, with different price structures, to sell through different marketing channels. For example, Homedepot.com is not the same company as the Home Depot retail stores, it's a separate company (which is why the stores won't PM online prices). So basically they are separate companies with similar names.

In addition, their agreement with Amazon may prevent them from PMing those prices - Amazon pays a premium to be the lowest cost vendor and doesn't want their client competing with them.

[woodturner]

They ought to charge MORE for going through a service that reduces their profit, but hey, it's not my company...

Ahh, but going through Amazon increases profit rather than reduces it. Amazon pays vendors a fee to sell through their site, so the vendor can charge a little less on Amazon and still make a little more profit.

[BigguyZ]

[QUOTE=woodturner;487758]For example, Homedepot.com is not the same company as the Home Depot retail stores, it's a separate company (which is why the stores won't PM online prices). QUOTE]

The HD's near me all price match the website...

Either way, I still think it's poor customer service and BS.

[Cubsfan]

Bestbuy/Bestbuy.com used to do the same thing. Best buy wouldn't match prices on BestBuy.com.

[jnesmith]

I always buy through Amazon in situations like this. I like have two companies I can go after if something goes wrong.