Amazon had secret algorithm to hike prices, claims FTC A redacted portion of the US Federal Trade Commission's antitrust lawsuit against Amazon last week has come to light, and with it more details of a secret pricing algorithm known as "Project Nessie" – which the FTC argued has "no valid and cognizable justification" other than an attempt to stifle competition. The FTC's suit, …
While there are some things that I can't find elsewhere, there are many items I've bought that were cheaper elsewhere. Unfortunately, many of the items I look for are cheaper on Amazon, solely because the manufacturer is using Amazon as it's sales point. Basically, before buying from Amazon, I check as many other sites first.
I get some nice emails from Plugable, showing various desirable tech; and emails from Healthy Hildegard showing holistic herbal concoctions based on the late Hildegard of Bingen's recipes. [ I'm a sucker for German stuff; though this brand is based in America.] Sadly both firms sales are through Amazon, so I can't buy anything.
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On Amazon and tech: I have a number of anti-advertising tools, including an up-to-date hosts file, and the usual browser extensions.
A week or so ago, I looked up 32 GB DDR4 RAM on Crucial's website, where it was not too expensive ( for a past computer ) : a few days later I was presented with an advert for 32 GB DDR4 on the only site I see adverts, IMDb.
Some days later, I looked up industrial USB strips on eBay ---- my newly purchased second-hand workstation only has 6: later on IMDb there was an advert for industrial USB strips.
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The common link is not IMDb, but those who own that; and who think that any resistance to illicit spying or expectation of privacy by ordinary people is something to be ignored and erased from the earth.
Even if the price is the same elsewhere, I have Prime so I pay less due to the free shipping. And when you pay for shipping if you have to return something you don't get back the shipping cost (and often have to pay for return shipping yourself) so for anything I'm not 100% sure I won't be returning the playing field is tilted even more heavily towards Amazon.
I haven't minded the two Prime price increases because I figured I was getting value out of the streaming. Now that they are planning to charge to avoid ads in streaming I think I'm gonna drop my Prime subscription when the renewal comes up next summer. The two price increases plus another $36 a year to avoid ads has reached the "now I'm pissed off" threshold. Amazon and other places offer free shipping above a certain dollar limit, I'll just have to be wait to order small items until I can pair it with something else. And I can use all that money I'm saving to get other streaming services.
"The two price increases plus another $36 a year to avoid ads has reached the "now I'm pissed off" threshold. Amazon and other places offer free shipping above a certain dollar limit, I'll just have to be wait to order small items until I can pair it with something else. And I can use all that money I'm saving to get other streaming services."
They have breached the _trust thermocline_ (google it)
From my point of view, in the UK:
You get free shipping on Amazon without Prime, you just have to wait a bit longer for it to arrive. Usually about a week. Or you can pay about £7 for next day shipping.
I only actually need next day shipping about once a year, so it is better to just pay for it when required rather than pay the £95 per year for prime membership. And even if I paid for next day shipping on every order I placed with Amazon, that is only about 8 orders per year.
One problem I've run into is that some places are just fronts for an Amazon store.
For example, I used to get printer filament at Hatchbox3D.com, but then its all "fulfilled by Amazon" and "shipped by Amazon" and "order still waiting at shipping partner Amazon"
Which sucks, because they sell really nice reliable consistent filament that prints well.
The real killer is that people search for something on Google.
The top umpteen results are either Amazon adverts or sponsored links
The we have the click bait for an item on Amazon that is about half the going price but out of stock.
At that point the user now just searches in the Amazon "Search" an assumes everything is cheaper.
Links to old items that are long gone need to be zapped somehow. Amazon is really bad at this because it is to their advantage. Get the buyer in the door then the next search is only on Amazon goods.
I can't even use amazon for that (search on amazon, buy elsewhere), because of 1000s of lookalikes on amazon that make it simply impossible (too much time wasted) to get ANY meaningful information (never mind genuine opinion / review). You want trousers? Aeslech, newfacelook, AKARMY, MAGCOMSEN, YAOHUOLE, CARWORNIC and their 253664 competitors want your custom, all offering superior quality and thousands of happy customer reviews. You want a rucksack? YOREPEK, Zip Zap Zooom, Songwin, SUPERSUN, YuanWen, Brandit, Mardingtop and their 253664 pals are happy to seel you a piece of junk (free delivery!). A tv instead? Cello, EMtronics, TCL and RCA as well as iFFALCON and their 253664 high-quality 8K pals just die to make you see! A bicycle maybe? Eurobike, Wildtrak, Insync Crater, DYU, F.lli Schiano E-Moon, Fetcoi, BSTSEL and their 253664 superior bicycle manufacturers will ensure your ride will never be the same again
How about an office chair instead? Would sir prefer naspaluro, Yaheetech, T-THREE, SIHOO, Requena or Play haha? Not that it matters, cause they all SHOW the same stock photo, which might or might not be the same junk (but junk nevertheless).
btw, yes, you can filter out the crap names on amazon, but if you DON'T know what brand you're looking for, you just want 'quality', then you can combine the product name with 'quality' in amazon search window, and see what happens.
Essentially, to me amazon's become an equivalent of chatbots If you don't know _exactly_ what you're after and you approach a chatbot or amazon for INFORMED information, they'll bullshit you and you'll be none the wiser (probably stupider if you believe their 'results')
I'm confused (easily done really)... so Amazon is being accused of using a 'secret' algorithm to set pricing? Isn't that what most sensible companies would do, use an algorithm and keep it secret? That's sort of how business works isn't it, trying to maximise profit and beat your competitors?
There are so many other options in eCommerce and people are aware of this (or lazy if they aren't aware) so it is up to the consumer where they buy. Seems like Amazon is simply being accused of being better at pricing than others are
I'm sure whoever came up with this thought it was a hilarious name, given the (supposed) purpose. Alternatively, they could have gone for 'Project Schroedinger'. What goes round comes round and something tells me this project name and its implications will be rolled out in a short, but evocative paragraph presented by prosecution.
> Project Schroedinger
Isn't that one already in use? The code that tweaks the prices (guess which direction) in the time between your adding the time to the basket and the time you get to the checkout (the price fluctuations only stop when they are all observed together).
(Cue opening all the product pages, one per tab, and speed running all the "add to basket" clicks and the checkout: Try Your Luck! Can YOU Beat The Machine?!!)
> we'd have to stop many of the things we do to offer and highlight low prices – a perverse result that would be directly opposed to the goals of antitrust law.
Every time! Say it with me: "the goal of antitrust legislation is not lower prices, but non-monopolistic competition".
See, e.g., the FTC (which is of course biased, but also likely the group that beat understands antitrust) (https://www.ftc.gov/advice-guidance/competition-guidance/guide-antitrust-laws/antitrust-laws):
> [the objective of antitrust is] to protect the process of competition for the benefit of consumers, making sure there are strong incentives for businesses to operate efficiently, keep prices down, and keep quality up.
So lower prices is expected as a result of a competitive marketplace for econ 101 reasons, but saying "we have low prices so we're not within the scope of antitrust law" is affirming the consequent pretty darn hard.
(n.b. that I obviously haven't read the whole action, so this is just my constant annoyance at companies that [pretend to] think that their monopolistic behavior is in fact fine because it [at this moment] is getting [purportedly] lower prices for the consumer)
It sounds like multiple competitors are monitoring each other's prices and adjusting their own prices accordingly. This is not new. That is how business works. The market will pay the price it will bear.
Amazon is using a computer algorithm to automate the process. So what? If Amazon wants to take a minimal margin on each individual sale and rely on their volume to make a profit, that is simply their business strategy. A competitor's business strategy may to be sell fewer units at a higher profit margin.
As a consumer I really don't care which strategy each business uses. I have options and can make my own choices.
Do you think all Amazon sellers are computer wizards?
Even if they were, why would you think it would be economically justifiable to spend money on this for small companies?
You do understand that many sellers consist of just one or a couple of people?
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