
After my very disappointing discovery that Amazon.com switches prices, vendors, and increases the prices for its Prime members when they are logged in, I have taken several steps and will change my buying habits and, if and when I shop there again, I will surely shop more wisely.
Shop Smarter at Amazon
Here are some general recommendations for you to consider:
- Cancel, or do not renew your Prime membership, it seems to cost you more than you think
- Don’t allow them track your shopping habits, frequently delete site related cookies from your browser
- Do not log in to your account before you decide to buy an item, logging in tells Amazon more information than you think
- Turn your browsing history off at your account. Yes, it will have some inconveniences to you like not keeping track of the items you have viewed, but Amazon will not know them either. That will make it more difficult for them to develop a profile for you and adjust the prices accordingly
- Dynamic pricing on the Web, especially highly tech-savvy places like this vendor is very real. You will likely pay a different price for a product than I, based on our browsing and online product research habits
- Contrary to what your intuition may tell you, loyal customers may very well be charged higher prices than transient ones, more of a reason to cover your tracks
- Did I mention that you should frequently delete cookies from Amazon.com in your browser?
Pay attention to these, don’t be a sucker like I have been by buying a Prime membership. In the long run, you will be (and I would have been) better off taking the free shipping option for most products and paying the extra shipping charges when we need to have an item in a hurry.
This has been a disappointing lesson to me. I am disappointed in myself that I did not look into this any sooner and disappointed in the company for stooping to do things like jacking up the prices for items that qualify for Prime shipping.
Live and learn, and trust no one on the Internet. (More to come!)