Why Did Amazon Give Me Such a Good Deal?

[George7941]

I was looking for a big impact wrench. Saw an ad on Kijiji for an Ingersoll Rand 1" impact and drove 110 km each way yesterday to check it out. No name on the impact and the seller claimed the label fell off. Took a closer look and it was a cheap no name impact that the seller was trying to pass off as Ingersoll Rand. Wasted some gas and half my day yesterday.

I saw an Ingersoll Rand 280-6 on the Canadian Amazon site, Amazon.ca for $673 yesterday. A bit expensive till I googled that impact
US $1587 at https://www.jbtoolsales.com/ingersoll-rand-280-6-impact-wrench-1-drive-1600-ft-lbs-6-extended-anvil/

Amazon.com pricing on the tool also is wierd
280, without the 6 in extended anvil. is US $1267, whereas the 280-6 is cheaper, at US $939

This morning, Amazon.ca still had the 280-6 priced at Cdn $673. An hour ago I decided to buy it and, checking Amazon.ca, noticed the price had dropped to Cdn $637. 3 in stock at Amazon.ca. I bought it and immediately the price on Amazon.ca jumped to Cdn 1394.

All this while the 280 is Cdn $1837 on Amazon.ca!

What is going on? Not that I am complaining, I seem to scored a super deal.

 

[SirTanon]

Simple. Amazon (and/or marketplace sellers) have algorithms in place to automatically adjust prices. These algorithms are notorious for coming up with crazy pricing, whether too high or too low.

There are posts about it all over this site.

 

[Mr Nice]

If you take the time and look, Amazon does have some excellent deals.

 

[hatt]

Great deals on Amazon if you look around. I buy stuff on a regular basis and flip for 2x on Craigslist. They have millions of products and stuff falls through the cracks.

 

[123Saab]

Originally Posted By: hatt
Great deals on Amazon if you look around. I buy stuff on a regular basis and flip for 2x on Craigslist. They have millions of products and stuff falls through the cracks.


Really?

 

[Zee09]

I always put the stuff in my cart and let it sit
Then you get notified and jump when the price is right.
If you get too greedy you often lose!

 

[JC1]

You need an impact that big? That's a good deal, I hope you have a few uses for it, unless you are gonna flip it soon.

 

[AVB]

Originally Posted By: Zee09
I always put the stuff in my cart and let it sit
Then you get notified and jump when the price is right.
If you get too greedy you often lose!
I tend to do the same.

 

[HangFire]

No one can explain Amazon's price algorithms. Just keep in mind it works three ways. Sometimes doesn't change when it should. Sometimes goes too low. Sometimes goes too high. It's up to you to work with that.

 

[Garak]

Amazon's Canadian site usually gives one the shaft compared to the American site, so if you got a good deal, grab it!

 

[HorseThief]

why can't I find deals like this? I guess I'm not looking for stuff like this, but dang! Here's the camelcamelcamel (best amazon price tracker) price history for the US listing - the lowest it's ever gone was a dip down to $550USD in Dec '09. Use it, abuse it, and at the end of the day sell it for 2.5 times what you paid for it.

 

[dareo]

Another possibility is you may have been sold a counterfeit item. Not very likely in your case where you purchased directly from amazon themselves but still possible.

 

[xxch4osxx]

Originally Posted By: Garak
Amazon's Canadian site usually gives one the shaft compared to the American site, so if you got a good deal, grab it!

Lol, ya, that is pretty much the truth!

 

[George7941]

Originally Posted By: JC1
You need an impact that big? That's a good deal, I hope you have a few uses for it, unless you are gonna flip it soon.

I plan on keeping it. I have been using a torque multiplier for large fasteners but it is time consuming to set up.

 

[oilboy123]

That is some serous torque! You can get good deals from a lot of places online. Amazon is tough to beat on shipping "Prime".

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: xxch4osxx
Lol, ya, that is pretty much the truth!

Amazon Canada has a dial run out indicator at 12 times the price of Harbor Freight, with the exact same make and model. The florescent gas/oil retro clocks at Canadian Amazon are about eight times the price of those from the U.S. side. What a disaster. Being your a BITOGer, you're probably well aware how horrendous oil prices are on Amazon Canada, too.

They seem to do relatively well on pricing up here for things that are more their traditional province, like CDs and DVDs and books, even electronics, but the rest, yeesh.