Mainstream media is finally picking this up!!!

Wow. DVDTalk was featured. Even Geoff as a "talking head" in a suit!

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MBoyd


[This message has been edited by MBoyd (edited September 27, 2000).]

LOL , Amazon's guru beezo or however you spell it siad on ABC " What we did was Dumb Dumb Dumb !" well , he didnt get much smarter not sending out the orders after they played the numbers .........

Geoff, Go clean!!! That wolfman beard has got to go!

when r they gonna air this???it's on 20/20 or something???

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"Heroes Are Ordinary Men
Who Do Extraordinary Things
In Extraordinary Times"

ABC world news tonight had it here on the east coast

what time was it on?

http://abcnews.go.com/onair/WorldNew...g_feature.html

"I think what really turned people off the most was the fact that the technology exists to divide and conquer consumers,” says Geoffrey Kleinman of DVDTalk.com.

Cool Plug

Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon.com: “This was a random price test just designed to see whether or not lowering prices would increase sales and by how much.”

Did this guy flunk Economics 101?

So what differentiates the Jet Li box set and Brazil pricing "experiments" from the previous ones that they made good on (at least when they got found out)?

People reported receiving their Jet Li and Brazil lower-priced items, but they refuse to sell the items to other people. Is the difference that Amazon calls some "mistakes" and others "tests"?

quote:<HR>Originally posted by mnieto:
Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon.com: “This was a random price test just designed to see whether or not lowering prices would increase sales and by how much.”

Did this guy flunk Economics 101?<HR>

Actually, I think you'll recall from Econ 101 that we learned that price is one component of demand (as in "supply and demand"). However, it is not the only component. Therefore, when Bezos says "and by how much" he neatly closes that loop. Excellent applied economics, Jeff!

I am not sure I see the problem here. I mean as a consumer I decide what price I am going to pay (say 40% off), and if it is above that price, I shop around or I do not buy it. I found along time ago that if you go check the price on items in on-line stores the prices will go up after sevral visits to that item. Maybe not in all cases but I find it happening alot. When that happens I choose not to buy it. If they were using this same experiment to sell everything at 40% off, no one would be complaining. Technology is dangerous, and we have to be willing to accept the good with the bad. One final question:

Why do you think they can afford to sell things at 40% off?

Because they can get some people to pay MSRP, therefore subsidizing (sp) those of us who paid less. It's just like car dealers, if they ream the guy in front of you, you have a better chance of getting a good deal, yet we still buy cars.

apowers , sorry but the reason they sell for 40% off is they payed less than 50% of the price you are seeing :P

To sort of verify what Lemondrop said, I work at a bookstore, and we buy all our new books at least 60% off retail. We can sell the things for half off and still make money. We are a tiny chain (14 stores), so I'm sure Amazon gets a better volume discount and that they get comparable dicounts on their DVDs.

The price that Amazon paid for the item is not at issue here. In a business you have a fine line between expenses and income. Yes, they mark it up 200% or whatever, but they have to make a certain amount of profit to stay in business. If someone else buys the product at full price that will help to subsidize the sale prices that they offer. You guys are only looking at it from your standpoint. In order to truly understand, you have to be able to see it from Amazon's side. When I worked in retail we forcasted the number of an item that we would sell. Disney tapes are a good example. We had data from past releases we could compare to figure about how many we could sell and how many people would buy that at full price and at half price. We would even sell items below cost when they first came out, if we thought that A. They would buy something else while they were in the store, and B. felt we could recoup the loss when they sold at the higher price after the initial offering. Trust when I say their is a complex formula among all their different categories as they work to try to make Amazon profitable.

They must have cut Geoff from the Web version..didn't see him...

quote:<HR>They must have cut Geoff from the Web version..didn't see him...<HR>

That's a new thing ABCNews.com is doing. Depending on who's visiting the site, they change the content. Of course, they're claiming it's completely random.

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JuryDuty

"Don't blame me, I voted for Jack."

You guys have made some really good points. It's true, I think, that Amazon's problems do not include a deficient mark-up. Based upon my experiences of several years in the CD business, I very much doubt if they are, in general, paying more than 25% of retail for DVDs, and on hot titles, where they have an order of perhaps 50,000 to place, who knows? You can't believe how a studio will sit up and take notice when you go to them with a single title order this big! Remember, it only costs about a buck to make a finished DVD, package and all. And if you think that the royalties are a major part of the price, forget that! Just ask Faith Hill how much royalty she gets from the sale of one of her CDs.

Given this, the way Amazon handled whatever it was called on September 7 was an incredible blunder. They probably would have lost money on the Jet-Li set, but not, I think on the others. As it is, they came off as fools, and I'm sure the powers-that- be at Amazon realize this. And don't think for a minute that 800.com and BestBuy didn't take a lesson from this, and handled their own situations differently.

I think that Amazon's major problem is that their model is all wrong. They have made themselves too easy to cheat (just read a few threads in this forum), and have placed much too much emphasis on things like supporting all of the click sites, rather than structuring their business to attract REAL customers. How long will it take them to realize that the freeride, etc addicts don't buy anything unless they don't have to pay for it with real money? The customers that they want to cultivate, don't spend their time clicking for points, or in sending themselves referrals, but just want to get the best prices and services available for a fair price.

Guess I can climb down now.

Wendell -

Nice synopsis. Any coincidence there are no bad stories in the media about BestBuy and 800.com?

Climb up anytime!

quote:<HR>Originally posted by uhh, Clem?:
Wendell -

Nice synopsis. Any coincidence there are no bad stories in the media about BestBuy and 800.com?

Climb up anytime!<HR>

Does anyone know what happened to Wendell's post that Clem is referring to? It used to be right above it, but now I see JuryDuty's post right above Clem's reply?!?!...

quote:<HR>Originally posted by kostyak:
Does anyone know what happened to Wendell's post that Clem is referring to? It used to be right above it, but now I see JuryDuty's post right above Clem's reply?!?!...
<HR>

I think Geoff is "post testing". Clear out your cookies and you'll see Wendell's post.






[This message has been edited by amplified (edited September 28, 2000).]

Moving to On Line Store forum

hah! Saw the clip on the local news last night

What AMAZON did was beyond "dumb..dumb..dumb.." as their CEO so eloquently said.

Because of this little game they have decided to play on their customers...I..one of their customers has decided not to shop there and accept the price they give me.
How do I know if I am being screwed by the computer? Am I paying more for the item than my next door neighbor cause I make more $$ than him?

Screw AMAZON


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