

Amazon’s iPhone dynamic pricing prior to the Apple keynote - bezierc
http://blog.monitorbook.com/post/97653622519/amazons-iphone-dynamic-pricing-prior-to-the-apple

======
nickm12
This article implies that it is Amazon that is changing the prices. Many
people don't understand this, but Amazon is a marketplace where sellers
compete to sell products. There are currently ~120 sellers with offers to sell
a new iPhone 5s (space gray) all with different prices and Amazon just picks
one to be the default. So this graph is really showing something more akin to
a market price for the iPhone 5c.

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-
listing/B00F3J4B5S/ref=dp_olp...](http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-
listing/B00F3J4B5S/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new)

~~~
nickm12
In fact, Amazon doesn't even sell the iPhone 5c.

~~~
pidg
Indeed, I just read an article entitled 'Why doesn't Amazon sell iPhones'.
Who's right?

[http://www.cnet.com/news/why-doesnt-amazon-sell-
iphones/](http://www.cnet.com/news/why-doesnt-amazon-sell-iphones/)

------
dhbanes
Is this clearly a result of Amazon's own dynamic pricing or simply third party
sellers undercutting each other which is common on close out or soon to be
replaced items?

In the case of third party sellers, I don't believe Amazon directly controls
the pricing.

Currently, the best price for the iPhone mentioned in the article is offered
by a company called "TRUE DIGITAL" and isn't even fulfilled by Amazon.

~~~
discardorama
> Is this clearly a result of Amazon's own dynamic pricing or simply third
> party sellers undercutting each other which is common on close out or soon
> to be replaced items?

Bingo! Monitoring prices on Amazon without using their API is a Sisyphean
task. They can show a price from any of a bunch of sellers; and which one they
pick depends on the overall price, the stock at hand, etc.

~~~
mgdo
Good points. But on the US store we can still clearly see the general trend
showing that the price has been falling for weeks.

------
WildUtah
The Apple store price for the iPhone 5c 16GB for the period in question was
US$650. But Amazon sellers were asking and frequently getting, according to
the chart, US$670 and seldom less than US$650.

But you could just get on from Apple at the store or with free shipping for
US$650. Why would the buyers pay more? Maybe the Amazon sellers making a
profit by not paying sales taxes.

I thought that Apple sold iPhones at a wholesale discount to retailers, so
shouldn't they be able to make a profit at even lower prices? Competition
doesn't appear to have brought prices down to marginal cost here.

~~~
chrisBob
> I thought that Apple sold iPhones at a wholesale discount to retailers, so
> shouldn't they be able to make a profit at even lower prices? Competition
> doesn't appear to have brought prices down to marginal cost here.

I think Apple restricts the price their products can be sold at. If you sell
at lower prices then you won't sell them anymore. Often agreements like this
restrict the _advertised_ price which is why you see things where you must add
it to your cart to see the price [1].

[1] [http://www.virginmobileusa.com/shop/cell-phones/iphone-
phone...](http://www.virginmobileusa.com/shop/cell-phones/iphone-phones/)

------
thrush
Many customers sell their iPhone around the time the new one comes out (using
services like iCracked and Gazelle). Basic economics dictates that as supply
increases, prices will go down. This is a guess as to what could cause the
prices to go decrease so rapidly.

------
eyeareque
The link seems dead.

~~~
dhbanes
Works for me. Here's a cached link:
[http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:wF2uwXT...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:wF2uwXTrak0J:blog.monitorbook.com/post/97653622519/amazons-
iphone-dynamic-pricing-prior-to-the-apple+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us)

