Amazon... a couple of gripes... solutions welcome :)

frivolous_fay · 27 April 2006 at 1:47PM

Hi,

I just swung by Amazon to check my prices were still competitive. Most were, so I adjusted prices accordingly.

I was curious as to whether on of my competition had sold their books, meaning I could afford to put up my price a touch, and still be the cheapest... and here's my first gripe:

I bumped up a few prices by a pound, clicked Save Changes, and looked down the list to see if there were still any 'Low Price' icons. There weren't any

So I looked at the low prices listed in that column, and put my prices back down to slightly below that level. I was working down my second page of listings doing the same thing, when I clicked on the low price figure to see how much competition there was. To my surprise... the lowest price came up as me!

So... although I had clicked Save Changes, the system hadn't updated fully, and when I put my prices back down I was trying to compete with my OWN prices! :rotfl: :mad:

Gripe number two: during the process of clicking on the low price to check out the competition, I noticed that although I had a 'Low Price' icon for that item, my listing was nowhere to be seen on the first page... grr! Reason: I am the cheapest in that condition category, and all my books are in pretty good nick... my listings are shoved off the page by dozens of cheap 'acceptables'!

So... my questions are... do people take the trouble to scroll through pages and pages of listings, looking for books in decent condition? Or am I shafting myself by listing 'As new' or 'very good'?

Is there a better method for keeping my prices competitive?

Suggestions from clever and experienced people very welcome

larmy16 · 27 April 2006 at 7:43PM

Sorry I cannot answer gripe number 1 but I know that if I buy a book off Amazon I do tend to scroll down and find the better condition book if it does not cost a lot more than the acceptable.

princessmoneysaver · 27 April 2006 at 8:25PM

I too have noticed Gripe 1 before but it takes about 15 minuts to update the system (apparently) so that could be why?

apprentice_tycoon · 27 April 2006 at 8:31PM

I'm not sure if I can help with the first gripe either, it's just one of those botherations I suppose! but I agree with Larmy that when I go to buy a book I'd bypass all the 'acceptables' and go for 'very good' if there's a wide choice.