Amazon Theory

[DocStram]

I sometimes wonder if Amazon entices you to buy based on your hits. Here's what I mean ..... last year I decided to purchase a Delta 46-715. It has a list price of almost $1200. Nobody, of course, pays list. So I kept searching the web for the lowest price. For whatever reason, I kept checking Amazon's price which was the lowest of anywhere with a price of $650 with free shipping.

I hesitated to buy the lathe at the 650 price. I decided to cool my jets and just kept checking Amazon on a daily basis ..... everyday for almost three weeks. It kept showing the $650 price. Still, everyday, I would check Amazon.

During the third week or so of price checking, Amazon suddenly showed a price of $340 with free shipping. My mouth dropped in disbelief. I immediately hit the buy now button and completed the transaction.

When I checked Amazon the next day, the price was back up to 650.

I wondered if Amazon was recording my visits and with a little monitoring on their part, decided to see if I would buy at the 340 price.

Maybe it was just a coincidence. I wonder if anybody else had an experience like mine?

 

[Gary Max]

Yup-----Al they are watching your every move[]

 

[rangair94]

I might try it

 

[GaryMGg]

I tried that on a powermatic, and got a personalized email that said,
"What do'ya think, we're not stupid. This ain't a Delta." [][][][][][]

 

[wdcav1952]

Just because you are paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you.

 

[Rifleman1776]

They do watch customers searches and buying habits. And they have many neat ways of enticing a customer to buy. I recently bought two items I was just considering. A Steb center and a spindle adapter. The Steb was a great price, plus they said free shipping if I bought in the next 32 minutes, I put in shopping cart. Then the adapter popped up, again great price and free shipping. I needed both, prices were right and shipping free, they had two sales that wouldn't have happened otherwise.
BTW, the Steb center is the pits. Sorry I bought. Digs into wood and doesn't hold as well as an import El Cheapo.

 

[angboy]

Amazon will adjust your price or give you a credit if the price goes lower within 30 days of your purchase. So if you do buy something expensive, especially if you know the price has fluctuated recently, it's worth checking just like you did before you bought it in this case. You do have to call WHILE it's showing at the lower price, but you only have to ask customer service and they'll give you a credit back to your credit card or however you paid. I've seen some things fluctuate more than once in the course of a day!

 

[WWAtty]

I've ordered more than a few things through Amazon. No doubt they are tracking my activity. Oh no...they've finally found me...here come the black helicopters!!![][][]

 

[Chasper]

As a former Amazon Partner store, and long-time online merchant, I can confirm that they have the ability to do exactly what you suspect that they did. They can track your visits and items viewed and use that intelligence to change the enticement. However, I'm suprised that they gave you so much discount the first time they tried giving you additional enticement.

Software to emulate the Amazon method of analyzing visits, views and enticement thresholds (among other behavior) is available from some other sources. But it is so difficult to understand how to turn the right dials in the right direction on the software that one has to pretty much let it operate as a mysterous black box. When you do that there is always a danger that some quirk will cause it to give a overly generous discount enticement that you experienced; or perhaps somebody did turn the wrong incentive dial in the wrong direction at a point when they needed a quick sales boost to meet sales level committments.