Amazon "bargains".. Beware I almost got caught

[Sindicate]

Someone posted this before, but beware!

I've been looking to buy MIB LE from Amazon for a while now and the price originally started off at 23.97. It then increased to 27.97, then dropped to 25.97, and after I ordered it at 25.97, it jumped to 27.97. I did all this price viewing with cookies OFF, and I was not logged into my account, which means that Amazon tracks you by some other way perhaps by IP address.

I find this extremely sneaky and unethical. If you walk into a store, you aren't charged more based on how many times you pick up the dvd to look at the cover are you?

The way I found this out was I went to another computer I have, with a different IP, etc. and checked prices. At the same time, MIB LE is currently 27.97 on my computer and 23.97 on another.

BEWARE! And tell others.

[Tempy]

...

[Sindicate]

I was just comparing the top 100 dvds.

More than half of the dvds on my list are more expensive on this computer than the other computer. I have cookies off, and I am not logged into my account and I have restarted netscape.

That is really really dishonest Amazon.

[Sindicate]

Okay quick solution for Amazon's little dishonest pricing scam.

It seems that amazon arbitrarily fluctuates the price of dvds based on how many times you view/login etc.

I am using netscape, I don't have cookies on, and under cache I have 0 for memory and 0 for disk cache. You have to completely clear your cache folder in netscape because it seems that each time you log into Amazon, it checks the cache of previous Amazon logins and then manipulates the prices based on what it finds there.

Ie. in my situation the prices have fluctuated high, then lower then high again, probably in an attempt to encourage people to buy dvds before "prices" go up.

[davidave]

i don't have anything to say but sindicate looked pretty lonely posting all by himself

[Antares]

Thanks for the heads up. It's great to be rewarded for being a returning customer with higher prices, nice job Amazon.

I used Netscape (my normal browser) to search for MIB and found all editions for 30% off (LE 27.97). I then right away checked using Enigma (which I hadn't used for Amazon) and was given 35% off on all editions (LE 25.97).

[Sindicate]

Yup I know.

Just clear your cache AND cookies completely and MIB should go back down to $23.97

I did that, cancelled my order for MIB, then reordered at $23.97

[This message has been edited by Sindicate (edited September 03, 2000).]

[Mr Bigglesworth]

This is happening with MI:2 as well - sometimes its 17.99, other times its 19.59
I'm happy with Amazon for now though coz I ordered the MIB LE straight away and then they reduced the price from 30% off to 40% off but gave it to me at 60% off - only $15!

[dodobird]

Well, I think it works both ways...

On the non-cookied Netscape, I get 35% off every edition of MIB.

On the cookied/my account IE5.5, I get 40% off all editions.

I guess it just doesn't change the prices if there is already a cached page. So if you had a lower price you'll still have a lower price... interesting

See, if you could in some way modify your cookies/cache... OK THIS IS BAD. I DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING!

[Sindicate]

It really depends on how amazon wants to manipulate your pricing I think. Because MIB was 23.97 for me for a long time and it was cached. But lately, I had been checking it out more often and the price started to rise And other dvds like MI2, Matrix, Fight Club, etc etc. all change in pricing based on what Amazon read in my cache.

If you want to always get the original discount, clear all cookies and cache.

Amazon apparently offers good discounts to new users, then once they get the person hooked and coming back to their site again and again, they play around with the prices to make more money or trick you into ordering sooner in fear that prices will rise.

[pilot]

moving to the Online Store Forum

[Hoc]

Or you can just call Amazon up and ask that they adjust your price. They will price match their own lower prices with no hassles.

[stanbud]

Sounds like illegal price descrimination.

[V-ism]

I have also noticed this, you can use http://www.the-cloak.com to browse amazon anonymously and see alot of the top sellers are reduced more than what your cached/cookied browser would see. If anything, I think regular shoppers should get more of a discount rather than a price hike.

Here's some of the price differences I have found:

MI2 20.99/19.49
MiB:LE 27.97/25.97
American Beauty 18.89/17.54
Leon 22.46/19.47
Fargo 14.99/12.99
Platoon 14.99/12.99
ID4 26.24/22.74
Titus 26.24/22.74
Princess Bride 14.99/12.99
Jaws DTS 20.54/17.54

What I have noticed is the prices skyrocket after you order an item once. Like with Titus, I ordered it last week for 24.49, today it is at 26.24. However the 24.49 is still higher than the 22.74 on an uncached/uncookied browser. Same goes for Princess Bride and Jaws DTS, I got these for a lower price than what I see now, but is not as low as the uncached browser. I have already emailed amazon about this, asking for a refund and complaining about this practice.

[This message has been edited by V-ism (edited September 03, 2000).]

[DeepSleep]

MIB is 35% off for every version Amazon has going through my regular ISP and cookied browser.

Then tried it through a different computer (my girlfriend's) with a different ISP address and she has never browsed Amazon.
Now, all versions of MIB at Amazon come up at 40% off!!!

I read somewhere awhile back that Amazon had hired away some sharp folks from Walmart. Over at Walmart their computers at checkout analyse each transaction for things like if you buy some motor oil, how often do you also buy an oil filter. Baby food and Pampers, etc. Now that these sharp Walmart folks work at Amazon, they must be doing the same thing on pricing. They must figure that with repeat Amazon customers they have "won" them over and they can charge them slightly higher prices since they are loyal and "don't mind and/or don't notice" that they are being charged 3 - 5% more for some items. Brand new potential customers are shown slighty lower prices on big hits, like MIB and once they become repeat buyers, they sneak the prices up on them just a little. It might be a little from each customer, but when you add up all the customers Amazon has, it does amount to quite a few $$$.

Or you can think of the lower prices for brand new Amazon shoppers as automatic coupons for lower prices.

Something to think about...........

[Tempy]

Well fudge me in my posterior! I was sceptical at first, but behold it is true. I had 30% off on MiB LE. Cleared my cookies and now I have 40% off! I need to do some serious order revisions...bbl

[sky9]

Outlaw Star Vol 01 is %30 off not logged in
and %25 off logged in.

BUT Aod C is %35 off logged in and %25 off not logged in AND I JUST BOUGHT IT 4 DAYS AGO
at $30 off :O

[djones6746]

quote:

---

Originally posted by sky9:
Outlaw Star Vol 01 is %30 off not logged in
and %25 off logged in.

BUT Aod C is %35 off logged in and %25 off not logged in AND I JUST BOUGHT IT 4 DAYS AGO
at $30 off :O

---

You bought this for $30 off...that is one hell of a deal!!!

[silentbob007]

I was looking at a price for a friend, and again confirm price discrepancies. Fight Club is listed as %25 off for a logged in customer, but it is %35 for a "new" customer. On a DVD set this expensive, that is about a $4 difference! I think that Amazon is going to catch a lot of sh-- on this.

------------------
Adventure ... Excitement ... A Jedi craves not these things.

[John Richmond]

Here's what I've found out after much experimenting. The first time you enter the Amazon site they give you a cookie number. It's the number all the way on the end in the address bar. Once you get that number it stays with you until you clear your cookies. Each number seems to have it's own % off.
On MIB LE you either get 30%,35%, or 40%.

Once you get a percentage it stays with you until yoou clear the cookies. It didn't matter for me if I signed in first or not, with cookies cleared it's random what percentage you will get.

One thing I haven't tried is to see if once you get 40% on MIB LE do you get the higher percentage on everything or is it a different % on each title. Guess I'll check that next.

So, anyone who has ordered MIB LE for less than 40% off you need to clear your cookies then keep going back until you get the 40%.
If you do it enough times eventually it will come up.

Hope this is understandable :-)

[pgodden]

Well I just went onto Amazon from another computer and selected MIB at 40%off saved it in the shopping cart at that discount for later. Then came back to my primary computer , logged in and it reverted to 35% discount....... pretty crooked if you ask me!

[John Richmond]

quote:

---

Originally posted by pgodden:
Well I just went onto Amazon from another computer and selected MIB at 40%off saved it in the shopping cart at that discount for later. Then came back to my primary computer , logged in and it reverted to 35% discount....... pretty crooked if you ask me!

---

That's because you now have a 40% cookie in the first computer and a 35% cookie in the second computer.

If you want to order it for 40% off using the second computer you will have to keep clearing your cookies and going back to Amazon until you get the 40%.

[pgodden]

ya that or order from the other computer...

[Ding]

Tutorial (for Internet Explorer 4.0 and above):
This applies only to dial-up connections, or broadband with dynamic IP addresses.

Surf away from Amazon.com. Go to Tools -> Internet Options -> Security -> Custom Level. In that dialog, scroll down to the Cookies section and put a tick mark next to Disable. Click OK and exit out of the prefences dialog.
Go to Start -> Find -> Files or Folders. Enter "amazon" in the search box and select your main drive (usually C: ) in the Look In combo menu. Hit Find Now. A file called <username>@amazon.txt should appear below. Delete it.
Disconnect from your ISP (if you're using a cable modem or DSL, reboot) and reconnect back. Go to amazon.com and select your item. Do not log in until the item is in your shopping cart! After you've logged in, you can re-enable cookies and place the order.

I have just used this method to order Mission Impossible 2 at 40% off (MiB:LE was also 40% off).

[This message has been edited by Ding (edited September 03, 2000).]

[AlainDelon]

I just noticed this Exact problem starting on tuesday 8.29.00. After having my MIB LE in my basket for months at 40%,it was suddenly 30% off!I fired off an e-mail to amazon yesterday about this after talking with their CSR on the phone(when the csr pulls it up on his/her terminal ,it is 40% off and the csr's seems truly clueless as to what's going on) Today , i saw this thread and copied your responses and wrote another e-mail to amazon directing them to this board for an OFFICIAL comment.I always try to use the links on this board when ordering from them (several hundred dollars in the past few months) and i would also like to see a comment from GeoffK.

------------------
We have clearance ,Clarence