Amazon listing inflated list price ($39.99) for Mario Kart DS

Am I imagining things, or is the retail price $34.99?



Is Amazon jacking up the price of a 3-year old game?

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000A2R54M

The age of the game doesnt matter with Nintendo games. Mario Kart DS was rank #16 as far as units sold in November, beating out tons of the new software.

With that said, they are jacking it up, how unusual. I would expect it from Gamestop, but Amazon's pricing is generally very good.

[quote name='Dr Mario Kart']The age of the game doesnt matter with Nintendo games. Mario Kart DS was rank #16 as far as units sold in November, beating out tons of the new software.

With that said, they are jacking it up, how unusual. I would expect it from Gamestop, but Amazon's pricing is generally very good.[/QUOTE]

It's not unusual for Amazon. As they get to the last few units, they increase the price more than normal which might explain the increase.

But it doesn't really bother me considering I don't have to pay tax on stuff from Amazon so even though it's a $1 more, it's still less than most other retailers but I have to pay taxes at BestBuy, Gamestop, etc.

[quote name='Dr Mario Kart']The age of the game doesnt matter with Nintendo games. Mario Kart DS was rank #16 as far as units sold in November, beating out tons of the new software.

With that said, they are jacking it up, how unusual. I would expect it from Gamestop, but Amazon's pricing is generally very good.[/quote]

Thank you Dr Mario Kart. It is nice to have someone with such credibility reply to my thread.

[quote name='Vinny']It's not unusual for Amazon. As they get to the last few units, they increase the price more than normal which might explain the increase.[/quote]

I didn't think it was legal to inflate manufactured suggested retail prices as a way to manipulate buyers. Maybe Amazon's word choice of "List Price" avoids that.

[quote name='briandadude']I didn't think it was legal to inflate manufactured suggested retail prices as a way to manipulate buyers. Maybe Amazon's word choice of "List Price" avoids that.[/QUOTE]

Not legal..? It's a manufactured suggested price... Amazon can charge whatever the hell they want.

[quote name='Vinny']Not legal..? It's a manufactured suggested price... Amazon can charge whatever the hell they want.[/quote]

It's not what Amazon is charging that bothers me. What bothers me is that they are stating a list price that is simply bogus. The only reason they would do that is to mislead customers into thinking they are getting a "deal" when they are being tricked.

I lost some respect for Amazon today.

OMG it's a friggin $1, Amazon doesn't charge tax and you can get free shipping... Some people just don't know when a complaint has meaning. It's a $1...it's not like you paid $34.99 + tax for Nintendogs when it came out...(stupid GameStop!)



~Scott

[quote name='PokémonScott']OMG it's a friggin $1, Amazon doesn't charge tax and you can get free shipping... Some people just don't know when a complaint has meaning. It's a $1...it's not like you paid $34.99 + tax for Nintendogs when it came out...(stupid GameStop!)



~Scott[/quote]

Care to read what I said right before you?

"It's not what Amazon is charging that bothers me. What bothers me is that they are stating a list price that is simply bogus."

1 bitter deal is far outnumbered by the great deals they constantly push to take our money.

12/13/08 23:38:27
Your Name:Brian
Comments:Hi,

I noticed that Mario Kart DS is listed with a list price of $39.99. How it that possible when the MSRP has been $34.99 for the past three years? This seems like blatant deceptive advertising to trick the consumer into thinking $35.99 is a deal, when it is actually over retail price.

How does Amazon determine an item's "List Price"?

http://www.amazon.com/Mario-Kart-DS-Nintendo/dp/B000A2R54M/

Thanks for helping me understand!

--

Greetings from Amazon.com.

We sincerely apologize for the error that resulted in an incorrect price being displayed for the "Mario Kart DS".

At any given time, despite our best efforts, a small number of the millions of items on our site may be mispriced. We do, however, verify prices as part of our shipping procedures. I have forwarded this information to the concern department.

If an item's correct price is lower than our stated price, we charge the lower amount and ship you the item. If an item's correct price is higher than our stated price, we will, at our discretion, either contact you for instructions before shipping or cancel your order and notify you of such cancellation.

In accordance with our posted policies on pricing, we are unable to offer this item for the incorrectly posted price.

You can read more about our pricing policies in our Help pages:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=468502

Thanks again for letting us know how you feel about this issue. I hope you will give us a chance to serve you again in the future.

Please let us know if this e-mail resolved your question:

If yes, click here:
http://www.amazon.com/rsvp-y?c=rutcaraf3309640076
If not, click here:
http://www.amazon.com/rsvp-n?c=rutcaraf3309640076

Please note: this e-mail was sent from an address that cannot accept incoming e-mail.

To contact us about an unrelated issue, please visit the Help section of our web site.

Best regards,

Arvind Vyas
Amazon.com -- Earth's Most Customer Centric Company
http://www.amazon.com/your-account

Good job. Usually they are pretty honest about list prices. Seems like an honest mistake.

[quote name='DQT']Good job. Usually they are pretty honest about list prices. Seems like an honest mistake.[/quote]

I don't think so, Animal Crossing is now $39.99.

Ehhhh... That reads like a pretty generic form email, and the "list price" still shows $39.99. We'll see how much longer it stays like that. If it's really an "honest mistake," I'd expect they fix it within a day or two.