What the hell is wrong with Amazon or with me ?

[donotdespisethesnake]

People use the automatic pricing software, I'm not sure exactly how it is supposed to work. It's designed to create prices slightly lower or higher than some reference I think. Sometimes it runs away and creates absurdly high or absurdly low prices.

There are often prices on ebay for stuff that is 100x it's usual selling price, these are for common things where there is no shortage of supply. I don't think anyone is expecting someone to accidentally pay £900 instead of £9, they just don't have time to monitor 1000's of prices if the pricing algorithm goes wrong.

[zapta]

There are often prices on ebay for stuff that is 100x it's usual selling price, these are for common things where there is no shortage of supply. I don't think anyone is expecting someone to accidentally pay £900 instead of £9, they just don't have time to monitor 1000's of prices if the pricing algorithm goes wrong.

Somebody mentioned here once that this is a way to temporarily delist an item without having to pay to relist it.

[zapta]

There are often prices on ebay for stuff that is 100x it's usual selling price, these are for common things where there is no shortage of supply. I don't think anyone is expecting someone to accidentally pay £900 instead of £9, they just don't have time to monitor 1000's of prices if the pricing algorithm goes wrong.

Somebody mentioned here once that this is a way to piratically

[Corporate666]

People use the automatic pricing software, I'm not sure exactly how it is supposed to work. It's designed to create prices slightly lower or higher than some reference I think. Sometimes it runs away and creates absurdly high or absurdly low prices.

There are often prices on ebay for stuff that is 100x it's usual selling price, these are for common things where there is no shortage of supply. I don't think anyone is expecting someone to accidentally pay £900 instead of £9, they just don't have time to monitor 1000's of prices if the pricing algorithm goes wrong.

Yes, called repricing software.

If you keep stuff in your Amazon cart and when you log in after a time and see a bunch of stuff in your cart changed price, often by a very small amount, that is vendors using repricing software.

They have different settings and options depending on the specific software, but you can use it to ensure you are the lowest priced seller down to a certain price, or to ensure that you always sell for MSRP + 1% or something. 

I wish Amazon would ban the use of repricers, because I think it leaves a bad impression upon the customer when they log in and see lots of items in their cart have changed price by a few pennies up to several dollars or more.  It makes the customer feel they are being gouged on price, and/or encourages them to not purchase until they see the price go down.

At christmas, my brother wanted some kind of baby walker for his son.  I looked on Amazon and I thought I saw them for $39.  When I went to buy it a few hours later, the price went up to $69... but everyone was out of stock so I figured I made a mistake.  Then I saw another vendor selling it for $49, so I bought it from them and returned the first one (at no cost to me).  Then I saw Amazon got them in stock and was selling them for $39 fulfilled by Amazon (and both sellers had dropped their price back to $39), so I bought one from Amazon and returned the other one to the $49 seller.  I made sure to ship them back on the last day of my return window so that the sellers would be out of that stock for the longest time possible.  Yeah, a dick move... but so is jacking the price up opportunistically.

[zapta]

... I made sure to ship them back on the last day of my return window so that the sellers would be out of that stock for the longest time possible.

Yeah, a dick move....

Yeah, it is.

[cosmicray]

I wish Amazon would ban the use of repricers, because I think it leaves a bad impression upon the customer when they log in and see lots of items in their cart have changed price by a few pennies up to several dollars or more.  It makes the customer feel they are being gouged on price, and/or encourages them to not purchase until they see the price go down.

My impression is that Amazon is using pricing on Amazon, and scanning sites outside Amazon to feed that software. Might be useful if those sites outside Amazon blocked the scanning software's IP range.

[Corporate666]

... I made sure to ship them back on the last day of my return window so that the sellers would be out of that stock for the longest time possible.

Yeah, a dick move....

Yeah, it is.

Sellers are free to adjust their prices as they see fit.

Buyers are free to return product according to the terms of sale.

Benevolence goes both ways. 

[Corporate666]

I wish Amazon would ban the use of repricers, because I think it leaves a bad impression upon the customer when they log in and see lots of items in their cart have changed price by a few pennies up to several dollars or more.  It makes the customer feel they are being gouged on price, and/or encourages them to not purchase until they see the price go down.

My impression is that Amazon is using pricing on Amazon, and scanning sites outside Amazon to feed that software. Might be useful if those sites outside Amazon blocked the scanning software's IP range.

Well, to be clear, the repricing software is nothing to do with Amazon.  Private sellers register to sell on the Amazon marketplace, and their products show up in search listings.  When you buy the item, it is fulfilled by the seller, who is an independent company. 

When you log onto your Amazon web store 'dashboard', you can easily adjust the price of any item instantly.  Repricing software automates this function based on user configurable settings.   

I find that prices on items that Amazon themselves sell to you rarely changes.  However, items sold by 3rd party sellers change all the time, because almost all the large sellers are using repricers.  Amazon themselves will give a refund if a price changes (you just have to ask for it) within a specified time.  Most 3rd party sellers will not, however those 3rd party sellers will (must) take product back for any reason - including "I changed my mind".  And if I have selected the reason for return of "found a lower price elsewhere", the return shipping tag was pre-paid and not deducted from my refund amount.

[IanB]

The question remains, is it a real Hakko product? Hakko don't list it on their web site.

It's an American Hakko branded product:

http://www.hakkousa.com/products.asp?CID=55

[cosmicray]

I find that prices on items that Amazon themselves sell to you rarely changes.  However, items sold by 3rd party sellers change all the time, because almost all the large sellers are using repricers.  Amazon themselves will give a refund if a price changes (you just have to ask for it) within a specified time.  Most 3rd party sellers will not, however those 3rd party sellers will (must) take product back for any reason - including "I changed my mind".  And if I have selected the reason for return of "found a lower price elsewhere", the return shipping tag was pre-paid and not deducted from my refund amount.

Who eats the shipping in that situation ?

[SeanB]

The seller, Amazon simply deducts it from their account at the end of the month when they are reconciling the accounts. Actually they only pay at the very last day so they earn interest on the account balance. Pretty much a standard for any large retailer these days.

[Corporate666]

I find that prices on items that Amazon themselves sell to you rarely changes.  However, items sold by 3rd party sellers change all the time, because almost all the large sellers are using repricers.  Amazon themselves will give a refund if a price changes (you just have to ask for it) within a specified time.  Most 3rd party sellers will not, however those 3rd party sellers will (must) take product back for any reason - including "I changed my mind".  And if I have selected the reason for return of "found a lower price elsewhere", the return shipping tag was pre-paid and not deducted from my refund amount.

Who eats the shipping in that situation ?

I had something I bought and wanted to return (it was my mistake, I thought it would be compatible with something I owned but turned out not to be) - contacted Amazon for a return and my choices were either a pre-determined shipping charge would be deducted from my refund and they would provide a tag, or I would pay the shipping back.

In the case of the baby walker, I contacted Amazon to ask if they would do a price match - they said they can't because it was fulfilled by them but sold by a 3rd party.  I said "Ok, I'll just do a return then" and they provided a free return shipping label.  When I returned the second one, it was an automated return, and when I selected the reason for return of "found a lower price elsewhere", it printed out a pre-paid return tag and I got a 100% refund.

So in my cases, Amazon paid for return shipping when I was returning due to a lower price elsewhere (as SeanB says, they just deduct it from the sellers balance that is paid out 2x a month), but I paid shipping when the item was functional but I simply changed my mind and wanted to return it (not for a price reason).

[cosmicray]

I find that prices on items that Amazon themselves sell to you rarely changes.  However, items sold by 3rd party sellers change all the time, because almost all the large sellers are using repricers.  Amazon themselves will give a refund if a price changes (you just have to ask for it) within a specified time.  Most 3rd party sellers will not, however those 3rd party sellers will (must) take product back for any reason - including "I changed my mind".  And if I have selected the reason for return of "found a lower price elsewhere", the return shipping tag was pre-paid and not deducted from my refund amount.

Who eats the shipping in that situation ?

I had something I bought and wanted to return (it was my mistake, I thought it would be compatible with something I owned but turned out not to be) - contacted Amazon for a return and my choices were either a pre-determined shipping charge would be deducted from my refund and they would provide a tag, or I would pay the shipping back.

In the case of the baby walker, I contacted Amazon to ask if they would do a price match - they said they can't because it was fulfilled by them but sold by a 3rd party.  I said "Ok, I'll just do a return then" and they provided a free return shipping label.  When I returned the second one, it was an automated return, and when I selected the reason for return of "found a lower price elsewhere", it printed out a pre-paid return tag and I got a 100% refund.

So in my cases, Amazon paid for return shipping when I was returning due to a lower price elsewhere (as SeanB says, they just deduct it from the sellers balance that is paid out 2x a month), but I paid shipping when the item was functional but I simply changed my mind and wanted to return it (not for a price reason).

All of this leaves me trying to understand just what it is that Amazon expects a seller to do w/r/t pricing. Back up thread the complaint seemed to be that Amazon doesn't care if sellers price really high. But now it seems that someone pricing high can get nicked by the found elsewhere at lower price return.

I am aware that Amazon has a seller policy (buried deeply in the ToS) that a given seller cannot list on Amazon at a higher price than they list the same item elsewhere. That they force a seller to take returns suggests a higher operating cost on Amazon. On top of all this, people generally think that many Amazon 3rd party sellers list at excessively high prices.

Full disclosure: until today, I have never sold anything on Amazon. Earlier today I listed a few items there (that I have listed elsewhere previously). Now I'm beginning to wonder if this was a smart move or not.

[GreyWoolfe]

This tool is not made by hakko at all if you want these particular cutters. This is just rebadge of Piergiacomi, sold under many other brands too. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Piergiacomi-Electronic-Wire-Cable-Side-Snips-Cutters-High-Quality-Italian-made-/281468984876?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item4188dbde2c
About that particular listing on amazon, likely price is wrong, item is not in stock and sold not by amazon at all. You blow a fuse about nothing  .

Nothing wrong with the price.  I bought a 5 pack off of eBay for $25 USD shipped.  Gave a couple away and kept 3 for me.  They do a good job.  I don't cut anything large with them, I have larger wire cutters for that.  I've used 1 pair about a year for lead trimming and cutting small diameter wire with no appreciable wear.

Nothing wrong where? OP just saw someone selling them for 83 EUR / piece at amazon.de and made a big fuss about that. I told that this is just widely available rebadge because Hakko is not widely available in Europe.

Brain cramp whilst trying to multitasking.  I suck at multitasking.  I meant that the Amazon price was correct as I had bought them as noted.  It is amazing to see what people/businesses try to get away with.

[zapta]

... I made sure to ship them back on the last day of my return window so that the sellers would be out of that stock for the longest time possible.

Yeah, a dick move....

Yeah, it is.

Sellers are free to adjust their prices as they see fit.

Buyers are free to return product according to the terms of sale.

Benevolence goes both ways.

I was agreeing with your concision.

[Corporate666]

... I made sure to ship them back on the last day of my return window so that the sellers would be out of that stock for the longest time possible.

Yeah, a dick move....

Yeah, it is.

Sellers are free to adjust their prices as they see fit.

Buyers are free to return product according to the terms of sale.

Benevolence goes both ways.

I was agreeing with your concision.

I never claimed you weren't.  I expanded on the point - helpful for those who hope to one day be check writers instead of check takers.

[ciccio]

As some other member posted, it seems an Italian made Piergiacomi tool: http://www.piergiacomi.com/piergiacomi/en.html
The fact that the listed price is lower than what I usually pay for a similar Piergiacomi cutter makes me think about a clone of the Piergiacomi...
Piergiacomi makes tools that do not cost a fortune, but that will definitely not last forever...
I'll like to have one of these Hakko to see if there is any difference.

Best regards

[wraper]

As some other member posted, it seems an Italian made Piergiacomi tool: http://www.piergiacomi.com/piergiacomi/en.html
The fact that the listed price is lower than what I usually pay for a similar Piergiacomi cutter makes me think about a clone of the Piergiacomi...
Piergiacomi makes tools that do not cost a fortune, but that will definitely not last forever...

I doubt it's a clone. First of all those prices are in different countries and often rebadges are sold cheaper than original brand. Secondly I checked high res pictures an those tools are exactly the same. Marking are made with laser in exactly the same way too. Piergiacomi tools can be found under many various brands both in US and Europe.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Piergiacomi-TRE-03-NB-Electronic-Side-Cutter-Orange/dp/B00841YA44
£4.84 vs $4.37 - pretty much follows the rule that UK prieces in punds are the same as US prices in dollars.