Slashdot Mirror
Amazon Jacked Up Prime Day Prices, Misleading Consumers, Says Vendor (foxbusiness.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: A Charlotte-based startup says e-commerce king Amazon jacked up their suggested retail price during the company's annual discount event -- Prime Day -- to deceive consumers into thinking that they were getting a deal, when in reality, they weren't. Jason Jacobs, founder of Remodeez, a small company that specializes in non-toxic foot deodorizers and other odor stoppers, says he had an agreement with Amazon since 2015 on a suggested retail price of $9.99 for his products and was shocked after the tech giant almost doubled that on Prime Day to make it look like people were getting a discount, when they were actually paying full price. "They showed the product at $15.42 and then exed it out to put '$9.99 for Amazon Prime Day.' And on the final day, the price was like $18.44. So, we put a support ticket in right away and I rallied some friends through social media to go to their complaint board and complain," Jacobs tells FOX Business.
It's already known that amazon have dynamic pricing - it's not a stretch to assume that mechanism could be used for shady reasons.
At risk of sounding like a cheesy advertisement: That's why I use camel camel camel!
For those who don't know; it tells you the price history of any product on amazon - so you can see if they've hiked the prices before putting it on sale or just in general if the price is lower or higher than normal.
Any manufacturer of sufficient size should be able to put up a web-based order portal where end consumers can buy their products. All they need is fulfillment. The maker of a product should easily be able to undercut any price offered by a retailer. In the past, they never did that because distribution was extremely difficult. This is no longer the case. Wholesale pricing. Distributor pricing. Retail pricing. Bugger all that! Make your product, accurately determine your costs and sell it directly to consumers for 10% more. Charge for shipping. Don't be fooled, shipping is never free. It may be included in the price so it's somewhat hidden, but it's never free.
Granted, Amazon does fulfillment extremely well. But all you (as a manufacturer) has to do is ship your stuff. Give reasonable delivery times (5 - 7 business days, for example) and people will buy it. Save lots of money or get the product tomorrow? People will almost always choose to save $$.
Cutting out the middle man has never been easier.
Always always always check historical prices on Amazon before buying anything. CamelCamelCamel is a good resource for doing that.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Disclaimer: Not talking about this particular case.
Many of the comments talk about "shady" practices. What many here are failing to understand is that if it's not illegal, it's legal, and businesses are going to do it in order to maximize profits. It's the rare case when they won't act that way...typically when there's concern about some sort of bad press that could affect the bottom line. But in general, if we don't want businesses doing things we consider shady, they need be made illegal, or regulated...especially when it becomes monopolistic.
And FWIW, I'm saying this as a conservative, small government fan.
Just another day in Paradise