Tell HN: Amazon shows different (worse) pricing when logged in

[gnicholas]

I was browsing Amazon in incognito (via Brave) today. I found some shoes I wanted to get, copied the URL, and pasted it into a Brave window that is logged into my Amazon account.

The incognito window showed $79 for my size/color, but the logged-in window showed $85. It didn't matter how many times I reloaded either page — neither changed. Ultimately I logged the incognito window into my Amazon account to get that pricing, since it was clear there was no other way. The purchase went through at $79 + tax.

But this experience makes me much more wary about Amazon pricing. There is not one 'price' — there is just the price they're showing you right now. They may show higher prices to logged in accounts, possibly based on attributes of the accountholder (buying history, zip code, etc.). It makes me think that I shouldn't just browse in incognito — I should be using a VPN as well.

Of course, it's also possible this is a glitch (one that just happens to be profitable for Amazon).

Here's the full link (I tried pasting with and without the tracking code at the end): https://www.amazon.com/KEEN-Voyageur-Height-Breathable-Hiking/dp/B071Y5XFRS?th=1&psc=1

EDIT: wow, this was climbing the front page and then got flagged (?) off of it, and no longer even appears in /ask (anywhere, not just the first page).

@dang, can you confirm if this is what happened, and under what circumstances a popular Tell HN can be flagged or otherwise wiped from /ask?

[freerobby]

Important: the seller is different. When logged in, the seller is Amazon.com. When logged out, the seller is SHOEBACCA (which does not appear to use Amazon for fulfillment).

If you are logged in and click to see all New & Used options, you can select the SHOEBACCA variant at that price.

My guess is that when you're logged in as a Prime member, Amazon defaults to variants that are fulfilled by Amazon so they can guarantee Prime shipping times.

[gnicholas → freerobby]

I'm seeing the same thing as you. Interesting that Prime members are shown worse pricing by default, for slightly faster shipping. There is the usual caveat, hidden among a forest of other links, that the item "May be available at a lower price from other sellers, potentially without free Prime shipping."

In this case, the shipping is free either way, and the delivery date is similar for both (12/13 versus 12/14-16)

[yawnr → freerobby]

It is a little fishy that Amazon isn’t an available seller when you’re logged out. Makes me think they are doing that in name only and assuming the risk and the shipping for the premium. Wonder if other products are like this.

[dlgeek]

Do you have prime? The logged-in version is fulfilled by Amazon and shows a guaranteed prime delivery date for me that's several days in front of the cheaper one (which I can see if I hit the "New & Used" offers button while still logged in).

I think what's happening here is it's defaulting to showing you the cheapest offer that's prime eligible while you're logged in and have prime - but the cheapest overall offer (which isn't prime) when you're not. I see the same behavior on my end.

[fxtentacle → dlgeek]

Except that - as I have painfully experienced multiple times - the "guaranteed delivery date" that Amazon shows is more like a rough guess. And then when they fuck up and you ask them for a refund on the prime shipping fee, they get creative.

I still remember I once ordered a replacement SSD which was kinda urgent so I paid the extra $5 to get that "guaranteed delivery date" and they missed it by a week and then only refunded me $1 because they argued that the screwdriver, cable, and polishing cloth did arrive on time ... but of course all of that was useless without the SSD.

[WheelsAtLarge]

At least, some of Amazon's pricing is dynamic. There must be an algorithm that decides the price.

I don't know if it's still the case but we used to see used books sell in the thousands because algorithms would adjust the price automatically so it's not out of the question that it happens with regular products.

BTW, the product is sold by Keen Footwear so whatever is happening might be initiated by Keen not necessarily by Amazon. When a third party is involve, Amazon is not involved in setting the price. They just make sure they get their commision on the sale.

[fxtentacle]

@dang Why was this flagged? The fact that Amazon is using differential pricing appears to be a discussion-worthy topic to me.

[detaro → fxtentacle]

a) if you want an answer from dang, email him instead of hoping he randomly sees your comment

b) how would dang know why users pressed the "flag" link?

[unangst]

We had a similar experience earlier today while shopping AMZ for another item. Incognito was showing different (lower) pricing for the same item - from a diff. seller than what was being offered at the top of results while logged into Prime. Sigh.

[jedberg]

$79 in incognito, $85 when logged in, just like you. Interesting.

[nickthegreek → jedberg]

Same for me. Just another hostile corporate action that we have to defend against. A company that I no less pay for an account on. I don’t know if this check could be automated by an addon or not, but I would be interested in a simple solution to make sure I’m not being taken advantage of.

[bobobob420 → jedberg]

Need to also test prime vs not prime. Prime might have shipping in price

[gnicholas → bobobob420]

I thought the point of Prime is that it gets you benefits on all purchases, for one fixed annual price?

[garciasn → bobobob420]

Logged in/Prime: December 13th.

Incognito: December 15th.

No other difference.

[gnicholas → garciasn]

Does the seller show the same for both? Which price does it show you? Another commenter mentioned seeing different sellers with Prime/not Prime pricing, which could explain the price difference.

[version_five]

As an aside, amazon absolutely sucks for ordering shoes in my experience. Even when there is a "store" from a shoe company, it seems like there is always very limited selection. YMMV, my experience is mostly with running shoes. I now don't even bother looking at amazon and go right to the manufacturer's site. Though I expect this is happening with more and more products.

[neximo64]

sounds like price discrimination 101

[tptacek → clay-dreidels]

No offense, but did you use ChatGPT to write this? It has a very ChatGPT structure.

[jjgreen → tptacek]

Yes they did, and repeatedly: https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=clay-dreidels

[dang → jjgreen]

I've banned the account. HN is for curious conversation, not generated responses.