klmama Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 I went to move something from my saved list to my cart, and I noticed that the price had gone up by $111.00. Yikes! There was a note from Amazon that claimed they had updated to the best offer currently available. Um... not true. There were still many used books in the same price range as the used book I had originally saved for later; when it was sold, Amazon "updated" to a new book sold by... guess who? Amazon. I looked through my list, and there were several other saved items with the same note. Buyer beware!!! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 I always get a price alert when the cost goes up or down, every time I go to my cart. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TranquilMind Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 I went to move something from my saved list to my cart, and I noticed that the price had gone up by $111.00. Yikes! There was a note from Amazon that claimed they had updated to the best offer currently available. Um... not true. There were still many used books in the same price range as the used book I had originally saved for later; when it was sold, Amazon "updated" to a new book sold by... guess who? Amazon. I looked through my list, and there were several other saved items with the same note. Buyer beware!!! Yep! They do this all the time. I watch it for awhile, and then pounce when we hit the bottom, if I can afford to wait. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted July 17, 2016 Author Share Posted July 17, 2016 I do, too; my point isn't how how prices go up and down, though. Usually, when that happens, it's a change of only a few cents or dollars, and one used book for another used book. I've never before had Amazon replace my saved, cheap, used book for a new, expensive book when there were other used, cheap ones listed, while claiming the new, expensive one was the best offer currently available. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 Yeah, I watch the notices, too. As soon as I log in I get notices. They always notify me if the used book seller I had selected from no longer has a book available and they always notify me if anything in my cart changes prices. I have noticed with used books I cannot rely on the system to actually find another identical book at a good price, though. The system seems a bit wonky with used books (although I always get the notice if a used book price has changed). I agree, be careful when buying a used book that has been in your cart for a while. Check prices. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 (edited) The first week of July, I was planning to buy a Corsair SSD on Amazon. It was $55 including shipping in the USA. I went back and to my astonishment, it was at $83 and only for Prime Members. I bought it from someone on eBay for $63 including shipping, on July 7th. I think Amazon has lowered their price on that SSD drive, but their price fluctuations can be huge, if that is in any way typical. Edited July 17, 2016 by Lanny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 I always get a price alert when the cost goes up or down, every time I go to my cart. Quoting myself to say that I went to my cart today and noticed the exact same thing as the OP - no price alert, just a little note by the product itself that they had updated the item and the price had increased. So a new thing? Not liking it, not liking it at all. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 I do, too; my point isn't how how prices go up and down, though. Usually, when that happens, it's a change of only a few cents or dollars, and one used book for another used book. I've never before had Amazon replace my saved, cheap, used book for a new, expensive book when there were other used, cheap ones listed, while claiming the new, expensive one was the best offer currently available. your saved cheap book was probably purchased by someone else. I have that happen and then they'll switch it to the "lowest price". IF someone else has it. other times, it goes to my saved list because it's no longer available from anyone. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 I've gotten alerts. Their pricing is weird though. I went to buy a pair of shoes my husband wanted and I wasn't sure how the price compared to the store. So I went to the store before buying them and they were $15 more at the store. So I went to buy them on Amazon and they jacked up the price by $10. I decided to wait a couple of days to see if the price would go back down and it did! So weird. I once did contact them when a price went down a day after and they gave me the lower price. It went down by a lot too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 your saved cheap book was probably purchased by someone else. I have that happen and then they'll switch it to the "lowest price". IF someone else has it. other times, it goes to my saved list because it's no longer available from anyone. For me, it was a new item, and my big complaint would be that I'm used to getting a list of price alerts when I go to my cart. It would be very easy to not notice the little note by the item when you are used to getting the price alerts. I don't think I would have noticed the change today if not for the OP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kassia Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 I use this site to see the high and low prices at Amazon. It's not always accurate, though. http://camelcamelcamel.com/ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J&JMom Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 I think of Amazon like the stock market - price goes up and down with no rhyme or reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Excelsior! Academy Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 I've always thought the few cents here and there fluctuations were to keep you getting notices so you remember an item that you might have otherwise forgotten about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 I use my wish list and save features purely to force me to think about purchases and not binge buy (as often) ;) i stick things I there and let it rot there. It keeps me from overbuying (as much). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartlikealion Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Weird. I just went to my own cart to look around and the item I had saved for later went up a few bucks :( I don't want to spend $10 on a post it note pop up dispenser. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fdrinca Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 I do, too; my point isn't how how prices go up and down, though. Usually, when that happens, it's a change of only a few cents or dollars, and one used book for another used book. I've never before had Amazon replace my saved, cheap, used book for a new, expensive book when there were other used, cheap ones listed, while claiming the new, expensive one was the best offer currently available. I've noticed this too, and it seems to be only on items that aren't sold by Amazon but rather by second-party vendors. Anyone else have that experience? I suspect there's a glitchy way Amazon updates pricing in those circumstances. Is it the next Prime vendor? Does it sort by quality? I haven't investigated it enough, mostly because I'm not tracking the specifics of what I'm putting in my cart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhanaBee Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 I've noticed this too, and it seems to be only on items that aren't sold by Amazon but rather by second-party vendors. Anyone else have that experience? I suspect there's a glitchy way Amazon updates pricing in those circumstances. Is it the next Prime vendor? Does it sort by quality? I haven't investigated it enough, mostly because I'm not tracking the specifics of what I'm putting in my cart. I'm keeping my eye on a lot of used books [trying to decide if I really want them in book form or Kindle form] I have noticed that when a used book has been purchased, and Amazon says they've "updated it to the best offer currently available", it is almost always AMAZON'S offer. So I've learned to go back to the book's page and check the used prices again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marbel Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 I'm keeping my eye on a lot of used books [trying to decide if I really want them in book form or Kindle form] I have noticed that when a used book has been purchased, and Amazon says they've "updated it to the best offer currently available", it is almost always AMAZON'S offer. So I've learned to go back to the book's page and check the used prices again. I've not had this happen, but it makes sense to me. They are not going to have their computer guess which seller a person would like to use. When choosing a used book, I look at the seller rating, the condition of the book, whether I've used that seller or not before, and of course the price. I might not choose the cheapest book, but then again I might not choose the most highly-rated seller either. In the past, if a book from a third-party seller was gone while it was in my "saved for later," I'd see a message from Amz that it was sold, but I'd have to go choose a new copy. Maybe Amz thinks they're making it easier for people to buy the book without having to search again. Of course it makes business sense for them to do it in a way that profits them most, right? :-) But I will watch from now on. I do put a lot of used books in my "saved for later" but then most often end up deleting them altogether 'cause I lose interest or get the book from the library. So thanks for the heads-up, OP! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 (edited) When I watched what Amazon did to the price of the Corsair SSD I wanted to buy, for my Mobile Workstation, earlier this month, I think their inventory was very low and that is what caused what I saw. Their preference was for FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon) third party Sellers, once Amazon had no stock themselves. I Avoid FBA Sellers. And when Amazon had it in stock again, it was above $83 and was only for Prime Members. They lowered their price again, but by that time I'd already purchased the Corsair SSD from someone on eBay. CamelCamelCamel is good, and I do use it, but they did not pick up the English textbook I needed to buy for DD, when BetterWorldBooks came in one night and listed it for one cent plus $3.99 shipping in Very Good condition. :Luck was with us when I found that listing... :hurray: I assume that the CamelCamelCamel servers check for prices, once or twice a day, but they can't do that continuously. Edited July 18, 2016 by Lanny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Amazon prices are just what they are. I go way back with them (1998), and you can't treat it like a store where the prices pretty much are the same day-to-day. I've seen used spelling books for $100+ and two different colors of a particular pair of shoes I wanted vary by $50+. That said, we spend a lot there :laugh: . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 your saved cheap book was probably purchased by someone else. I have that happen and then they'll switch it to the "lowest price". IF someone else has it. other times, it goes to my saved list because it's no longer available from anyone. :iagree: Everytime I've had that happen it was the because that particular copy from that particular seller had been sold. I'm glad Amazon doesn't pick another third-party seller for me. I'm very particular about who I buy from. When I see that I go back to the item page before purchasing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 OKAY... well... All weekend long I've been holding an ice cream maker on my wish list. It was $55. For the last several days, it was $55. Today I moved it into my shopping cart to actually make the purchase, and it was suddenly $70, with no warning. None whatsoever. However, the red version of the appliance was still $55, so I was forced into buying the red ice cream maker instead of the stainless steel one. Whatever. It'll still make ice cream. For $55. Stupid Amazon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 I saw this notice on a large item (bed frame) I had just purchased, except it was informing me that the price had gone DOWN. Since the shipping was delayed, I sent an email asking for the lower price and we were refunded the difference. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartlikealion Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 OKAY... well... All weekend long I've been holding an ice cream maker on my wish list. It was $55. For the last several days, it was $55. Today I moved it into my shopping cart to actually make the purchase, and it was suddenly $70, with no warning. None whatsoever. However, the red version of the appliance was still $55, so I was forced into buying the red ice cream maker instead of the stainless steel one. Whatever. It'll still make ice cream. For $55. Stupid Amazon. Oh yeah I hate that when different colors are different prices. I've seen that with baby bottles, door stops, etc. I mean sometimes it works out in your favor but it'd be nice if they were all the lower price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingiguana Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 I figure if I keep things in my cart for months on end that Amazon should notice I'm not buying at that price. So they should drop the price to entice me into taking the plunge. So far it hasn't happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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