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Comment by Wowfunhappy | Hacker News Reader

>If you go with one of the other sellers, the prices are frequently 2-3x normal retail, I guess preying on the fact that people don't realize they're getting ripped off.

And as a result, I've become much more careful about checking prices on Amazon, which can't be good for Amazon overall.

By contrast, when I go to the grocery store, I generally assume the amount I'm paying is more-or-less the same as what I would pay elsewhere. (Likely a poor overall mindset on my part, but good for the store.)

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Agreed, which is why I really love camel camel camel. Makes me a much more informed consumer. I wish they had other sites that they tracked.

They used to, but I think the other vendors made them stop, and they don't have the same affiliate program that Amazon does.

Yeah, there's a lot of specific products that are always wildly overpriced on Amazon. Mostly anything that is out of print/out of production, no matter how recently it went out or how easy it is to find, but I recently ran into it with Hanes underwear of all things--there wasn't a single seller that wasn't asking at least 50% over Target's online price.

For out-of-print books/toys/games/etc., eBay is usually your best bet. Computer hardware (video cards, RAM, etc.) is often cheaper on either eBay or NewEgg. Et cetera.

I expect out of print stuff to fetch a high price, I'm more talking about standard grocery items. I've seen ridiculous markups on penne pasta, diet soda, certain brands of hand-soap, etc etc.

Some of these items, like the pasta, are things I'd previously ordered from Amazon for a fraction of the current price. Which, again, has caused me to be much more cautious—every time I reorder something nowadays, I have to check whether the price has changed. How does Amazon expect people to use stuff like the dash button when prices can vary this much?

How does Amazon expect people to use stuff like the dash button when prices can vary this much?

I have a couple of Dash buttons for Gatorade and pistachios and such. I stopped using them because I couldn't be certain of a reasonable price, or that the products wouldn't be fakes.

Safety > price > convenience, Amazon.

The reality is is that shipping an amazon item costs between $3-7. For expensive items, they can cover that cost out of the wholesale/retail markup, so you don't really have to pay it. For cheaper items, or items without that much of a markup, it starts showing up in the price. Now, sometimes a manufacturer will want to buy some market share, so they'll sell an item to Amazon cheaper to reduce that impact, and then it's available. However, it will usually go back up to the normal price, with them hoping that you won't notice.

It's the products that suddenly shoot up to 2-3x normal retail that throw me, not the ones that change by a few dollars.

But the products that double in price have made more sensitive to the ones that change by a few dollars, because I'm now on high alert for price changes in general.

Yeah, the doubling in price is usually when the low-cost vendor sells out, and only high-cost vendors are left, but you're totally right; I also refrain from purchasing via dash button, Echo commands, or any option where I can't evaluate how reasonable the price is.

I'm saying Amazon can be just as misleading about out-of-print stuff as about groceries and household items. Many times I've seen a book that's years or decades out of print selling for $100+ on Amazon when eBay has two dozen copies for $20-$30 each.

I think it all stems from the same thing. Dishonest Amazon sellers know that most Amazon shoppers don't price check, so they can all get away with selling way over market price as long as everyone selling a given item stays the course.

I've mentioned elsewhere that I dropped eBay because of a series of bad experiences with sellers. I switched to Goodwill, which was OK, but sometimes you just want to buy something used actually that works and doesn't smell like cat vomit.

Last week I tried Mercari, and it was... OK. Better selection than Goodwill. The shippers don't seem to be in a hurry to get things out. Both sellers offered excuses when they missed Mercari's three day window. But the stuff finally got here.

Can anyone recommend another marketplace? Something not Alibaba or DX.com?

I dont like Facebook. That being said, I've had great experiences with Facebook marketplace. The creepiness works in the buyers favor because you get a name and face of the person selling.

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