[Maflynn]

Is it me or has Amazon suddenly started hiding their pricing? I now need to add a given product to my cart to see what the price is? While not a huge issue, its a hassle as I try to search out the best deal or even compare differing products. I'm continually adding crap to the cart just to see them.

[ort888]

It's been that way for a while. It is annoying, yes, but I don't think it's coming from them. They have to do it for some weird legal reason.

I just get annoyed when the price isn't even that great. I was seeing how much they sold the low end iMac for and I had to add it to my cart to discover that instead of $1,199 dollars, it was $1,185 dollars!!!!!! That changes everything!!!!!!

[Maflynn]

if its legal, why don't I see it from other retailers?

I've noticed this happending a while ago but it seemed to increase dramatically recently, at least recently since I'm shopping for some stuff

[Maflynn]

Here's the response I just got from them and it fits in with Ort888's explanation

Because we want to offer our customers great deals on some of the products we sell, we occasionally offer an item at a price below the manufacturer-determined minimum advertised price. Therefore, we cannot display this price on our website, except when a customer adds the item to their Shopping Cart or when they shop online.

[Laminar]

or when they shop online.

What does that part mean? They're unable to display the low price on their website except when a customer shops online? When does someone browse Amazon non online?

[Dakar V]

I think they're talking about being logged in on the site versus a google search.

[Doofy]

Amazon still sells stuff? Last time I looked they'd turned into a non-auction version of eBay - a retail aggregator, so to speak.

[Maflynn]

Originally Posted by Doofy 

Amazon still sells stuff? Last time I looked they'd turned into a non-auction version of eBay - a retail aggregator, so to speak.

definitely, I see less stuff being sold by them outright and more by resellers. More and more, I find that amazon has less deals and I can I find better deals elsewhere

[SpaceMonkey]

Originally Posted by Maflynn 

definitely, I see less stuff being sold by them outright and more by resellers.

Less as a percentage? In terms of what I would call Amazon's "core" (books, music, movies), I don't think there's been a big shift. I think they've just added resellers for other sections where applicable (specialty electronics).

[SpaceMonkey]

Originally Posted by Dakar V 

I think they're talking about being logged in on the site versus a google search.

I think they are talking about retail aggregators, like PriceGrabber. IIRC, they display the "hidden" price.

[auto_immune]

Amazon used to have really competitive pricing, but for the last year or so they have been ridiculously overpriced every time i was seeking a good deal on specific products. They do still have great deals on used books.

(didn't they originally start out as an online bookseller?)

[Maflynn]

I don't go to Amazon a whole lot, in part because their prices have stopped being a draw for me. It used to be that I'd be able to get a book, software or even some electronics for a very good price. Now all I have to do is google and see that their prices are no better then others.

Perhaps in part this is why they hide their prices as well. I'm considering an HP8850 printer, I can purchase that at amazon for 499 or I can purchase that HP for 499. Both offer free shipping except that HP probably won't sit on the free shipping for a week or two like amazon does (to motivate you to pay for shipping).

[imitchellg5]

It annoys me when any site makes you add an item to the cart to see the price. But it's sort of exciting too. On the other hand, what annoys me is when you look at MP3s on Amazon and sort by price. Singles always show up in the under $4.99 category which annoys me.