Amazon Price Volatility

S

scientificlee

CAG Veteran
I for one am really enjoying the price volatility on Amazon this holiday season. I just paid $45 on L4D (360) instead of $40 but that $5 has been worth the entertainment. Every time I hit "place order" I have to ask myself, is this a price I'm happy with, and then live with it. Makes me feel like I'm earning the game. More about the hunt than the catch.

Someone should develop a VIX model for Amazon pricing.
 
I used to not mind, when they had the 30-day guarantee. There was something kind of fun about monitoring my recent orders and getting back $2 here, $5 there. It was like getting a little prize almost. :)

Now it annoys me. If the post-order guarantee policy was costing them too much money and they had to get rid of it, fine, they have the right to do so and I'll factor that into my future purchasing decisions. What gets my goat though, is the preorder guarantee policy. It's supposedly still in effect, but I've recently been burned on several preorders that dropped significantly in price just after the preorder guarantee period was over. In those cases I feel like Amazon is acting in bad faith and not honoring the spirit of their own policy.

In any case, I tread a lot more lightly at Amazon these days. I hesitate for longer, or even decide just not to buy things, than I did in the past when I felt like Amazon had my back. Certainly I'm preordering far less than I ever did before. For some items like CDs, I find myself just going to Target to pick it up rather than riding the Amazon rollercoaster and wondering if I'll regret the purchase later. I wonder how many other people have cut back on their Amazon spending like me, and I can't help but think that these policy changes are going to end up hurting more than they ever help.
 
Not sure how complicated that model could be without us having information on the #s of each game in their warehouses.

But in case of the L4D 360 deal, Amazon decided on Sunday to price match Circuit City's ad this week, but then deciding on Monday to run their own $40 deal. Most of their price changes are like that - either competing with the weekly ads or because they have such a surplus of the game that they want to dump them at a reduced cost.
 
I know I am in a small minority here at CAG, but I really don't have an issue with Amazon lately. If they are selling something at a price I like, I buy it. If it goes lower after that, it happens.
 
[quote name='bigdaddybruce44']I know I am in a small minority here at CAG, but I really don't have an issue with Amazon lately. If they are selling something at a price I like, I buy it. If it goes lower after that, it happens.[/quote]

Yep, same here. They are still the best place to buy. Just gotta ask is this the price I want to pay!
 
While I don't like the volatility of late at Amazon (I ordered GHWT for PS3 for $69.99, and it was $59.98 the very next day; my order had already shipped so I couldn't cancel it), I understand why they've taken the approach they have. It had to be a customer service nightmare to deal with all the $2 and $3 credits customers were requesting on a daily basis.

In regards to my order, I was able to "refuse" the $69.99 one and re-order the item for $59.98. I accepted that order, and am awaiting a 100% refund for the $69.99 order. While it's somewhat of a headache, in the long run it'll save the company a lot of money (most people won't bother canceling an order to save $3, $4, or even $5 dollars) and as a result, we CAGers all benefit (the more $ they save, the lower prices they can offer).

Also, I ordered Warhawk during the Black Friday Deals for $14.95; it was $9.98 last night. Instead of being angry about it, I accept the fact that their policy has changed and shy of ordering the item again and claiming I want to return the $14.95 item (I'd just send the $9.98 item back to get the $14.95 refund) there's nothing I can do about it anyway.

Having said that, I will admit it's made me more cautious when ordering from Amazon (especially with their 15 Days 15 Great Video Game Deals promotion).
 
Personally, I don't mind. It basically makes me reevaluate how much I value the item being purchased. I just make sure that that the price I pay is what I'm willing to pay.
 
[quote name='G33']Personally, I don't mind. It basically makes me reevaluate how much I value the item being purchased. I just make sure that that the price I pay is what I'm willing to pay.[/quote]

Well put, but it's the "Wal-mart" effect sometimes. What I mean by that is you go into Wal-mart to buy a specific item and end up leaving with 15 $5 DVD's, a $10 PC Game, and tons of snack food! LOL! :)

You see offers at Amazon (like I did when it came to Guild Wars and Guild Wars: Eye of the North" for $4.95) and you can't help but buy them. And that's coming from someone who isn't even much of a MMORPG fan.
 
[quote name='bigdaddybruce44']I know I am in a small minority here at CAG, but I really don't have an issue with Amazon lately. If they are selling something at a price I like, I buy it. If it goes lower after that, it happens.[/quote]

Same, I have never had a problem with Amazon, they are by far my favorite retailer on or offline.
 
[quote name='Fuzi0n']Same, I have never had a problem with Amazon, they are by far my favorite retailer on or offline.[/quote]

I couldn't agree more. I've been a loyal supporter of them for years, and use them as my first source when it comes to comparison pricing both online and offline.
 
I don't like the changing of prices so often. I ordered some games for $9.95 and the memory card 2 pack for $14.95. The games dropped to $4.95 and the memory cards dropped to $6.95. That is $23 I would have lost if I wasn't able to cancel and re-order.
 
I've lost some money on some temporary price drops like Last Remnant and the God of war games, but they are by far the best retailer this holiday season. If it wasn't for amazon black friday would have been a total bust on videogames, and there still putting out great deals.

Also there seems to be a lot of people on Cag that hate buying used games, and more so going into a gamestop to use the weekly coupon deals, so amazon is still the best place to go for deals on new games.
 
I hold off on some games until the price is right, but I can't really complain about them.
With all the great deals they offer, I won't cry if I get hosed once or twice.
Their prices on some regular items seem to go up and down regularly though, so I watch any of the pricier products before I buy.
 
[quote name='soonersfan60']Amazon's pricing strategy seems to resemble the airlines more and more...[/quote]

How so? In most cases the posters that have been complaining are because prices go down at a later date. Usually, ticket costs go up as time-To-Flight decreases. Airlines also are notorious for gouging their best customers, business class frequent fliers. Amazon doesn't reward or punish their best customers. Actually I guess if you get prime, they slightly reward frequent customers.
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']I used to not mind, when they had the 30-day guarantee. There was something kind of fun about monitoring my recent orders and getting back $2 here, $5 there. It was like getting a little prize almost. :)

Now it annoys me. If the post-order guarantee policy was costing them too much money and they had to get rid of it, fine, they have the right to do so and I'll factor that into my future purchasing decisions. What gets my goat though, is the preorder guarantee policy. It's supposedly still in effect, but I've recently been burned on several preorders that dropped significantly in price just after the preorder guarantee period was over. In those cases I feel like Amazon is acting in bad faith and not honoring the spirit of their own policy.

In any case, I tread a lot more lightly at Amazon these days. I hesitate for longer, or even decide just not to buy things, than I did in the past when I felt like Amazon had my back. Certainly I'm preordering far less than I ever did before. For some items like CDs, I find myself just going to Target to pick it up rather than riding the Amazon rollercoaster and wondering if I'll regret the purchase later. I wonder how many other people have cut back on their Amazon spending like me, and I can't help but think that these policy changes are going to end up hurting more than they ever help.[/QUOTE]

I am buying significantly less (i.e. literally thousands) from amazon after their ending of the POPG and their shady business practices (lowering the price the day after release on pre-orders, cancelling an order saying the item is OOS then me checking the item page within minutes and them having it listed as in-stock for 3 times the price of my order, etc.). They used to be the best for pretty much everything. Now, they're just not that great. Still better than most, but that's not saying a whole lot. I basically don't preorder from them anymore. Almost guaranteed that the price will drop days after release, especially on blu-rays. I've honestly probably spent about 30% what I used to after the ending of the POPG. That seriously can't be worth a couple of bucks here and there. I wish, as someone suggested previously, that they would make the POPG as a prime perk. Then I would actually throw down the $80 for prime, but, oh well, their loss.
 
[quote name='scientificlee']How so? In most cases the posters that have been complaining are because prices go down at a later date. Usually, ticket costs go up as time-To-Flight decreases. Airlines also are notorious for gouging their best customers, business class frequent fliers. Amazon doesn't reward or punish their best customers. Actually I guess if you get prime, they slightly reward frequent customers.[/quote]

I was referring to random price changes and never knowing when to buy to be sure you get the best price. (And sometimes you can get a good deal or use miles at the last minute if they have unsold seats, but these are never published.)
 
I've found not having the price guarantee really makes me think whether I need to buy the game at that precise moment or not.

If I'm unsure I'll leave it just incase it's cheaper in the future. No point having it sitting on the shelf and available cheaper on Amazon.

Back in the day I'd just buy stuff when I thought it was a resonable deal, on the basis that if it dropped a bit more I'd get the difference back.
 
I absolutely agree with a lot of what's been said but especially with Mietha. Amazon has lost a TON of business from me because of this. Previously I'd bite the bullet on a tempting pre-order, say Persona 4, but there is no doubt in my mind they will have it either as a DOTD or simply cut its price to $29.99 or even less very shortly. There is a ton of stuff I have saved to my cart for later, but it will sit there as long as it takes for it to get dirt cheap.

And while I do think amazon is still one of the best (definitely best online) retailers around, again it's not that great. Not only that, a lot of you seem to be surprised by amazon taking these "shady actions" as if it's unexpected from them. Doesn't anyone remember a few years ago when it was found out that they were charging different people different prices on the same item? You could sign out, clear your cookies and go back to the same item you were just looking at and it would have a different price.

VERY shady. The only reason they stopped that was because they got caught and it was widely reported. Amazon is a business just like any other, and their number 1 goal is to maximize profits. Unfortunately they seem to be again going about it the wrong way.
 
I have a huge problem with this.

Seriously its just bad business. I ordered MK vs DC from them when they had the collectors Ed for $55 or something. Then during the black Friday deal then droped it further, then Saturday it went even cheaper.

If this was any other retailer they would have price matched. I wasn't trying to get Amazon to honor a price from Buy it was from them. So I called and threw a fit. $5 I can handle but $15 is stupid espically after a week that you bought it. I was able to get the $15 dollar credited back but it took too much. Its is just bad business.

I know that they really lost a lot of business. You have a lot of people second guessing what they will buy from them because of this. In this economy people really can't gamble that if they order from Amazon that next week when it is on sale they won't get screwed out of money. So they might spend that extra few dollars pay the tax and buy from Best Buy because if that item goes on sale then they are covered for 30 days at any location. Not just Best Buy or Wal-Mart.

Its just silly not to have something like this in their policy. Its like Russian Ruelette with your money when you buy from Amazon because you might never get the best deal because on a Tuesday they will want to lower the price $15 dollars for a day.

BLAH
 
I dont see a problem with the prices fluctuating the way they are. If people have a problem then buy it from somewhere else for a way higher price. Amazon is currently having great prices on games that are unmatched by other stores. If you want to buy things at MSRP and not at a large discount then buy your games somewhere else.
 
[quote name='joshnorm']I have a huge problem with this.

Seriously its just bad business. I ordered MK vs DC from them when they had the collectors Ed for $55 or something. Then during the black Friday deal then droped it further, then Saturday it went even cheaper. [/quote]

The collectors edition retails in stores for $70 so getting it for $55 is a great deal.
 
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