Amazon is price gouging big time HUGE!

Any vendor is allowed to sell on Amazon. They are allowed to charge whatever price they want. Nobody should buy from those vendors. They will go away from lack of business. Problem solved.

a reply to: AnkhMorpork

People are going to be lazy and buy what they buy.

I shop at Target over Walmart. I know I am spending more doing that, but I also know I am paying for less crowding and less crazy fellow shoppers when I do that. That's how I look at it. I am willing to pay more for that more pleasant environment.

originally posted by: hombero
a reply to: Creep Thumper

He isn't personally doing it... There's a board and shareholders to please. And the whole point of a business is to make money, after all.

Did you miss the part about him being a multi-billionaire? If he's that rich it means the shareholders are rolling in dough too.

Corporate. Greed.

a reply to: Blaine91555

Exactly the same thing happened with me on a Therm-a-Rest tent that attaches to my Therm-a-Rest cot that I have had for years. Now my personal light camp set up fits in a small duffel bag. Been looking at a few stove and cooking set options to fill out the duffel and have complete camp. But for now there is a tent, cot, chair, blanket, pillow, 5’ x 7’ tarp and 100’ of paracord. Luxury camp for about 10-12 lbs. total so far. Kitchen is looking to be another 1-3 lbs before food and water depending on options. Long time durability and flexibility being the main goal over size and weight considerations.

a reply to: AnkhMorpork


I still fsil to see how they are taking advantage, you don't like it don't shop on amazon, it truly is that simple. If I have a pencil and I ask 10,000 $ for that pencil and someone agrees to buy it for 10,000$ then that is what that pencil is worth to someone. That is not taking advantage of anyone, that is how the free market works.

a reply to: Ahabstar

I used that method with the last GPU I bought. The price came down $150 in just a couple of hours. It reminds me of old style horse trading, seller goes high, buyer goes low and you meet in the middle. They seem to have a version of that concept going.

originally posted by: jjkenobi
Any vendor is allowed to sell on Amazon. They are allowed to charge whatever price they want. Nobody should buy from those vendors. They will go away from lack of business. Problem solved.

Thanks. I'm beginning to see that it doesn't work the way I thought entirely.

From now on, however, I'm going to shop around on other sites, then visit Amazon and see if that makes a difference, while never again using the Wish List feature, although some prices did drop while on it. Dropping items from the list based on price increases could signal the algorithm if there is one and I'll bet there is.

I'll continue to experiment, but people should watch out especially on larger ticket items.

originally posted by: norhoc
a reply to: AnkhMorpork


I still fsil to see how they are taking advantage, you don't like it don't shop on amazon, it truly is that simple. If I have a pencil and I ask 10,000 $ for that pencil and someone agrees to buy it for 10,000$ then that is what that pencil is worth to someone. That is not taking advantage of anyone, that is how the free market works.

Are you by chance a seller or reseller of stuff on Amazon?

Would you really sell a 1$ pencil to someone for 100 bucks if they wanted it and were stupid enough to click through on the purchase?

Would you sell penny stock at inflated rates and pocket the dough?

I'm not sure you're getting what I'm talking about.

That said, sorry for being uncivil earlier in the thread. That wasn't called for. It's just conversation.

a reply to: AnkhMorpork


No I am not a seller on amazon just a believer in free markets, and yes if someone wants to buy something at a price I ask I would gladly sell it to them. I get 100% what you are talking about, caveat emporium ( buyer beware) be an adult and learn how to comparison shop, negotiate and not impulse buy.

a reply to: norhoc


My heart just goes out to the people who get duped, that's all.

Yeah, Amazon is a total rip. But... Most of the time, there are ways to making them bargain, comrad.

I did learn a few things over the years while buying from Amazon. I tend to buy a lot there. A few things I've learned:

- Much of everything you buy on Amazon is crap!
Sellers will usually send you a crappy, half working product the first time. Then you give them a very low rating of 1 star and detail exactly what the problem is and all the ways it's flawed. Don't even bother contacting the seller at this point. The seller will (always in my case) contact you back and often times tell you to send it back for another. At this point I argue with the seller and they always give in and send me a second product. I tell them that I should not have to pay for shipping on a return item that I paid for to receive the first time.

Remember, scrutinize the hell out of your product as soon as you get it. This will determine if the product will crap out within the first few weeks or right when the product expires for return.

The seller will fold. 5 stars are crack to these people. (Most sellers are in China even though Amazon stores their products locally in many cases).

EVERY single time I've had this issue (almost every time I bought a product), the crappy version comes first, then when you do the above, they send you a version of the item that works great. This makes me think they always send you the low quality, failed test items the first time around because they probably think you wont bother, especially if the item is under the cost of what shipping would cost you if you had to send it back.

- Sellers NEED those 5 stars. Use this to your advantage.

- Scrutinize the seller
When you see a product you want, make sure you look at the feedback and NEVER rely on 4-5 star reviews. Majority are fake. I $#!^ you not! A week ago, I saw 47 feedbacks from the SAME person on the SAME day on one item. I contacted Amazon about it (of course they didn't do anything about it). I've also noticed that if you look at the information of the persons giving the 4-5 star feedbacks, you will see a lot of similar items from the same seller with 5 stars. Besides... 5 star feedbacks are so obvious. Some of them don't engrish well. If I really want a product, I'll look at many of the 4-5 star customers and check their profile and find one that honestly looks legit.

Sorry... If I'm getting so much crap from these sellers, you can bet most others are too. That or I just have really horrible luck. I mean, I'm not discounting that. hah!

- Check the seller's store
Almost all of the time, you will find the exact same product from the same seller 3-4 or more times, each with different prices. Wonder why they do this? To make sure you buy THEIR product no matter the cost.

If you do a little digging, you will find that majority of these items actually originate from Alibaba (via china manufacturers). On Alibaba, these items are 1/3 the cost of what they're being sold for on Amazon ... Hint Hint - In case you want to be an amazon seller. But be warned... Majority of those items are knock off crap!


Amazon is certainly an interesting place.


I will say... Some brands like Scandisk and Kingston, I almost NEVER have any issues with. I did have one bad sim from Sandisk and they quickly sent me another without issue.

PNY has given me the worst experience on Amazon. Remember when I said that you will often get a crappy first item? Exactly this. But I made sure to give them a seriously detailed 1 star review for a 64G SD card that had less than half the Read/Write time that was advertised. Bet they didn't think I would actually benchmark it. After this, they sent me a 128G free of charge that did have the correct Read/Write time as advertised. Though I did have to argue with them over shipping the original back at my cost, which I refused. After I also refused to remove my 1 star and all the detailed information I left there with my experience, including the shipping the item back at my cost issue, they sent me the 128 and told me to keep the 64 AND refunded my money.



Remember boys and girls... 5 Stars are crack to amazon sellers!

a reply to: AnkhMorpork

Bezos didn't become the richest man in the world without having a few tricks up his sleeve.

a reply to: StallionDuck

Never really thought of that Alibaba idea. Makes sense, thanks.

a reply to: AnkhMorpork

I haven't seen that a lot, but I dont really buy electronics much. I just bought a crossbow for the upcoming hunting season for 250 on prime, cheapest anyone else had it was at least 380 on sale...