Stated prices always not available - which body, if any, deals with this?

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Money_Grabber13579 said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Money_Grabber13579 said:

I’m guessing this is a tactic by this particular supplier to appear higher up the list of third party sellers? As in, 76p plus free delivery must make them the cheapest supplier so appear at the top of the list, even though you can’t actually buy from them at that price.

Tactic is to get someone to pay £21.29 for 2 multi packs of crisps because they didn't notice the delivery fee.

The company currently has a compulsory strike off notice, certainly doesn't look like a legit business in any sense. 

What I meant though was I’m assuming this makes them appear as the recommended marketplace seller because they are, in theory, the cheapest? There’d be no point in them doing it if they were going to appear at the bottom of the list if marketplace sellers, as nobody would ever see them.

so it’s really a double con - appear as the top seller and then rip the a*** out of it.

For a normal seller getting buy box is key because it means sales but I think it works the other way for this "venture".

Currently I see Amazon as the buy box and below the main buy box is the other offers box



When the seller has the buy box you have to select a QTY of 2 and then it shows the delivery fee



So when Amazon, or a normal seller, has the buy box these sellers with their high delivery costs rely on the customer to be enticed by the lower "new" price in the smaller other offers box and once you click that you see this:



No mention of delivery, no option to select QTY, you can only add to basket where it will auto add 2 and your basket looks like this:


Again no mention of a delivery fee, the only place you'll see the delivery fee when buying from the other offer area where the seller has opted to require a min QTY is on checkout, which the victims sail through on auto pilot, whilst you could say people should look at what they are doing, Amazon has a reputation of being a place you can trust so why would you need to check some seller isn't stiffing you by charging an excessive delivery fee making the items far more expensive than they generally are. 

Amazon could display the delivery fee on the basket, they could allow you to adjust the QTY in the other offers area and show the delivery fee there and of course there could be actions to prevent such sellers getting on the site or Amazon acting quicker to shut them down as their feedback % falls. 

I would assume Amazon simply missed that such a loophole would exist, Amazon clearly do not want any buyers to have this kind of negative experience but being such a massive company it takes time to close such things off. 

It's an odd situation where not having the buy box (or to use your words not being the recommended marketplace seller) benefits them. 

The seller probably nips to Tesco, buys the 2 bags of crisps or whatever and then posts them to the buyer, rather than being set up as a business holding stock, and given some people buy everything from Amazon I'd imagine there's a fair number of people who never realise they've been hit with paying £22 for 2 multi-packs of crisps. 

mjm3346

Amazon have removed the sites storefront and 2 or 3 of the others listed on here - before posting I had posted on the Amazon facebook page about Amazon's clickbait prices and used the amazon reporting option under "other" before switching to using "This product or content is illegal, unsafe or suspicious".

cymruchris

I’ve had a reply today saying it’s not an area they cover, and that the ASA are better placed to look at the issue. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

cymruchris said:

I’ve had a reply today saying it’s not an area they cover, and that the ASA are better placed to look at the issue. 

That's odd, the webform says you can report a problem with a business (in this case Amazon)?

The ASA does appear to take complaints about websites but I'm not sure if that's traditional adverts on websites or whether the way a product page is displayed is considered an advert by them.

mjm3346

Had the same reply (I had looked at the ASA first but thought it was not them hence posting on here)

EDIT -  now reported to the ASA

user1977

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

cymruchris said:

I’ve had a reply today saying it’s not an area they cover, and that the ASA are better placed to look at the issue. 

That's odd, the webform says you can report a problem with a business (in this case Amazon)?

Yes, you can report to them, but I think they've interpreted the query as being "can you get me a refund please" rather than just passing on intelligence about something they might want to investigate.

born_again

Part of the problem can be that if these are on Amazon Market place, then all it is, is Amazons version of Ebay. So Amazon are not as such advertising the products.

mjm3346

born_again said:

Part of the problem can be that if these are on Amazon Market place, then all it is, is Amazons version of Ebay. So Amazon are not as such advertising the products.

These are items simply in the main Amazon listings - say a search for "johnsons face wipes" and listed by price low to high" the first one up is an Amazon's Choice item at 98p with free delivery - minimum order quantity is 2 and delivery then is £21.99

cymruchris

born_again said:

Part of the problem can be that if these are on Amazon Market place, then all it is, is Amazons version of Ebay. So Amazon are not as such advertising the products.

As much as that's the case - the framework of the system shouldn't allow advertising of 'free delivery' and then adding on a delivery charge with no free delivery option. That must be somewhere in the coding, and should be addressed,

born_again

cymruchris said:

born_again said:

Part of the problem can be that if these are on Amazon Market place, then all it is, is Amazons version of Ebay. So Amazon are not as such advertising the products.

As much as that's the case - the framework of the system shouldn't allow advertising of 'free delivery' and then adding on a delivery charge with no free delivery option. That must be somewhere in the coding, and should be addressed,

Yes. But it is it Amazon advertising, or the marketplace company that word the adds?