Use Keepa or CamelCamelCamel to see the price history of the item you want to buy.
this post was submitted on 04 Oct 2023
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YSK this data is not entirely accurate. It relies entirely on Amazon's API, which has been problematic in the past.
Still a useful tool, nonetheless.
That API you are describing is not active anymore. Hasn't been in a long time.
Keepa has to scrape Amazon data themselves.
in Slovakia there is an aggregator site where stores can publish the stuff they are selling and the price it automatically keeps track.
well the smartwatch I have despite being in Slovakia shut up to 250 euros a month before Black Friday, then magically was many percentages off for 150.
of course the aggregator site showed that it was 150 for the whole year other than that "random" jump before black Friday
edit: found a screenshot, side-by-side with a store that's not listed on the aggregator:
Not sure if it's just me but when looking at that in chrome on my phone the picture looks quite blurry and it's hard to make out much. Doesn't help that there doesn't seem to be a way to full screen it.
Load the page on desktop mode then click on the image. imgr is owned by reddit, so it's been fully enshitified as well.
Thanks. Worked perfectly.
If you are on android you can try the eternity app for lemmy. It works very well.
It's exactly the same case for me.
Amazon owns camelcamelcamel
Proof?
Ah I am incorrect. I was thinking of woot. Though they did shut down during the pandemic at Amazon's request
Yeah ever since then CCC has felt sort of unreliable to me. If they're willing to let Amazon tell them what data they can show once, they're willing to do it again. Maybe they're even doing it on an ongoing basis.
while(amazon_price < GetCompetitorPrice()) {
amazon_price += 1;
Sleep(kOneHour);
};
our_price = GetCompetitorPrice() - 1;
”SeCrEt AlGoRiThM!!!!1” - The Verge
Oh man, you have some serious AI here!
I dont like using amazon but they're often the cheapest for the things I need. Thats benefited me, but also disturbs me as you watch high street retailers die off. I tend to screengrab products so I can come back and compare prices later. Some of the sales prices are bogus, they'll jack the price up a week before, reduce it again for the "sale" and put "35% off!!!" You've really got to keep on top of it and be vigilant.
You should check out CamelCamelCamel or Keepa, it has Amazon price history.
IIRC they work for the US version but not the UK... or didnt seem to when I checked before. Assuming I'm thinking of the same site..
The 3xCamel works for all these: UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Australia, Canada and US. Sometimes the prices differ for the same products across the EU country versions, so it can be worth comparing them before buying in/from EU.
wow they will make money helping consumerz for now
There is an extention and phone app called Keepa that tracks prices and shows you their price history right on the product page on Amazon so you can see if you are getting a good deal.
There is still massive price manipulation on amazon which is why I don’t have a prime account for home or anything on “subscribe and save” any more.
Well yeah, did you think your landlords were the first to use such algos?
"Ooooh, unexpected"
Cunts
Breaking news! Company tries to find optimal price point.
This is not evidence of a monopoly.
This tactic would only impact Amazon owned listings, which account for a minority of the listings on Amazon.
Amazon does not change prices for listings controlled by third party sellers.
What's funny to me is that Amazon has a competitive price match policy, where they will hide offers for listings that are priced above other retailers. So the FTC's argument is that Amazon is trying to drive prices up while also driving prices down.
Isn't the competitive price match policy a symptom of their monopolistic domination?
Amazon uses its vertically integrated distribution to provide faster shipping. But their marketplace has a higher cut (~~5% iirc~~ Edit: 15% average). The price match prevents sellers from adjusting Amazon listings to compensate for those fees, forcing the decision to (a) sell at lower margin on Amazon, (b) don't sell on Amazon, or (c), raise the price across all marketplaces to maintain margin.
Rather than holding Amazon prices down, it pulls prices on other marketplaces up. It's an abuse of the inertia of a large customer base to prevent competition by other marketplaces on the basis of a different blend of cost and delivery service.
In my experience, Amazon takes a lower cut than retail chains. In fact, Amazon is less expensive than DTC when you factor in advertising costs. In all likelihood, it is not causing anyone to drive up their prices off Amazon.
I work with many many brands. I have seen several turn off their DTC channels because customer acquisition costs are simply too high.
The competitive price match policy is a nuisance when retailers liquidate inventory for pennies in the dollar.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The existence of the algorithm, codenamed Project Nessie, was first revealed late last month in a complaint filed by the Federal Trade Commission accusing the e-commerce giant of violating US antitrust law.
“We once again call on Amazon to move swiftly to remove the redactions and allow the American public to see the full scope of what we allege are their illegal monopolistic practices,” FTC spokesperson Douglas Farrar told the Journal Tuesday.
Project Nessie is just one of many ways the FTC has accused Amazon of illegally maintaining its market dominance in the e-commerce industry.
In the agency’s September complaint, the company is accused of using a variety of methods, like burying listings, to deter sellers from offering products at a lower price on competing platforms.
“The complaint sets forth detailed allegations noting how Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a statement last month.
Responding to the suit, Amazon said that the FTC was “wrong on the facts and the law and we look forward to making that case in court.”
The original article contains 322 words, the summary contains 214 words. Saved 34%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!