Comments on: Alternate Pricing

By: Ray Cornwall

Ray Cornwall — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 20:11:00 +0000

Amazon’s always higher than Buy.com for just about every book- and Buy’s free shipping is much faster for a Jersey resident like me.

But for the most part, the retailer that gets my dollars is mailordercomics.com. I started keeping a spreadsheet of how much I’m saving a month. Currently I’m saving about 34% on my total order- I get bigger discounts for Marvel and DC stuff, of course, but even indy books get a 20-25% discount.

By: Augie De Blieck Jr.

Augie De Blieck Jr. — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 18:28:02 +0000

I have an Amazon.com credit card that I use religiously. The points from there eventually pay off in $25 reward certificates that I use for hardcover comics and DVDs off Amazon. Very handy. And the free shipping still makes it to my doorstop in three days usually, anyway.

But as always — cavaet emptor!

By: Johanna

Johanna — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 17:50:00 +0000

Thanks for the links, Augie.

I personally find that, when it comes to DVDs, Amazon rarely has the best price I can find unless I commit to a preorder. I have better luck with day-of-release sale pricing at the big box stores.

By: Augie De Blieck Jr.

Augie De Blieck Jr. — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 14:27:45 +0000

He’s just glomming onto this now? This has been a story for years. Let’s go back to WIRED in September 2000:

http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,38622,00.html

or C|Net:

http://news.com.com/2100-1017-245326.html

It was only a “test” back then, but it looks to have stuck around.

Of course, he’s not alone in just discovering this (from Dec 2005 now):

http://www.andrewsavory.com/blog/archives/000995.html

By: Hal Shipman

Hal Shipman — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 00:20:50 +0000

And while he may enjoy being righteously indignant, he completely misses the obvious. Just set Amazon at to shop “blind,” like his work machine. I’d have to check my various firewall and other security programs, but I’m reasonably sure you can set cookie acceptance by domain. And you can be damned sure I’m going to try it. Of course, by blabbing about it instead of just going that route, Amazon might end up turning that feature off if the media picks up the “story.”

By: David Oakes

David Oakes — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 21:14:35 +0000

How is this different from Columbia House giving you 11 titles for a penny up front, and then charging you full price on the rest? Or a credit card giving 6.9% on transferred balances, but the usual rate on anything you purchase in the future? “The first one is free” is a long standing practice in all levels and forms of business. I can’t see the FTC doing anything about it.

As soon as Amazon has everyone hooked, they will be offering “Customer Loyalty Discounts” just like every other long term business. And the next start up will offer cut rates for switching over your Amazon account, and the dance will begin anew.