Sneaky Amazon price switch

[atgcpaul]

Wife sent me an Amazon link. It showed $48 with free shipping. I put it in my cart and came back to it half an hour later to checkout. Now it's $54!!! Went back to the page and it still showed $48 but on a refresh, it went to $48. What gives??? Now I'm pissed and will get it elsewhere.

[Cochese]

Dynamic pricing. You win some, you lose some.

I use websites like camelcamelcamel to track the price history, and set low price alerts if I really want something, but can wait for it. A download card for a kids toy occasionally dives down in price by about five dollars (representing a 25% discount), but it happens for only a limited time - sometimes only for an hour or so. I jump on it each time it hits $15.

[woodturner]

Wife sent me an Amazon link. It showed $48 with free shipping. I put it in my cart and came back to it half an hour later to checkout. Now it's $54!!! Went back to the page and it still showed $48 but on a refresh, it went to $48. What gives??? Now I'm pissed and will get it elsewhere.

Amazon, along with most online vendors, adjusts price based on cookies, past purchases, and browsing habits and sequence. Thank Google for that - they are the primary source for the personal data used to set price. You probably browsed somewhere else during that 30 minutes and maybe logged into another site. The model then determined you would be willing to pay a higher price and adjusted the price upward.

Always a good idea to try clearing cookies and logging out of the site before adding to your cart. Sometimes it's more, sometimes less.

The three camel site also tracks amazon pricing and is a good way to confirm you are getting the best price they have been able to find.

[phrog]

The same has happened to me several times.

[phrog]

Amazon, along with most online vendors, adjusts price based on cookies, past purchases, and browsing habits and sequence

Always a good idea to try clearing cookies and logging out of the site before adding to your cart. Sometimes it's more, sometimes less.

The three camel site also tracks amazon pricing and is a good way to confirm you are getting the best price they have been able to find.

Wow ! I never thought of that. Sounds like good suggestions.

[leehljp]

Amazon, along with most online vendors, adjusts price based on cookies, past purchases, and browsing habits and sequence. Thank Google for that - they are the primary source for the personal data used to set price. You probably browsed somewhere else during that 30 minutes and maybe logged into another site. The model then determined you would be willing to pay a higher price and adjusted the price upward.

Always a good idea to try clearing cookies and logging out of the site before adding to your cart. Sometimes it's more, sometimes less.

The three camel site also tracks amazon pricing and is a good way to confirm you are getting the best price they have been able to find.

I used to get this kind of up and down pricing with airlines and travel agencies when traveling back and forth across the Pacific. One minute, one quote, the next minute another quote for same flight; with wife on her computer a different set of prices! Then another time, the prices would be the same for days on end. Of course this was when I was in Japan, but looking at "English" sites.

[atgcpaul]

I just checked again and the price has adjusted again!!! Now it's $50.76. I think Amazon is tracking me.

I found the same item at Bed Bath and Beyond for $59.99. I also had one of their 20% off coupons. Final price after tax was $50.86-not including gas but I had other shopping to do, too, and I got it today rather than a few days from now.

What I need to do is spoof my IP so they think I'm not in some major metropolitan and see how the price changes.