What do you think about Amazon's recent trend toward eliminating list pricing?(see details)
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/07/04/business/amazon-is-quietly-eliminating-list-prices.html
According to this article which describes recent monitoring of this trend in eliminating list pricing (also known as MSRP:Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price) could possibly become standard on Amazon. Or at least they’re definitely experimenting with the concept.
Does this make you uncomfortable? Does it reflect the reality that the MSRP is simply that, a SUGGESTED price, and does not reflect the reality of what both online and real world retailers are actually charging?
Is this new trend good or bad for the customers? Is it good only for Amazon or is it the wave of the future?
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6 Answers
I never believed the list prices were real in the first place; they certainly weren’t consistent with what I had seen on other web sites or in physical stores.
SO this change by Amazon is no big deal. Basically they are saying that they will no longer show erroneous and misleading information. Good for them.
The theory is probably that the MSRP is redundant or unnecessary since the prices from each of the individual distributors of the product are listed.
@stanleybmanly – in a true capitalistic market economy, there is no such thing as a MSRP – the market always testifies to the value of an item based on what people are willing to pay.
Yet another reason to drop it.
In my small business experience MSRP is 20% over cost. Due to the nature of my business I charged well above that, for parts, in order to survive.
They probably list MSRP as some sort of proof that they aren’t charging too much. Like I did. Like, 100% over cost if I could get away with it, which I did on a few things.
Besides, it doesn’t really matter. It’s too easy to cross check prices now a days.
It’s irrelevant to me as a shopper. I compare Amazon’s price with other retailers. What price the manufacturer stuck on the product makes no difference to me. I’m concerned with the lowest price I can pay and obtain the item.
That NY Times article I linked to also mentioned the fact that in the majority of cases they are just putting a price….period. They’ve even dropped mentioning what it had previously sold for or even what other retailers are typically selling it for.
I very much like what EBay does where they give previous prices and dates for what an item has sold for in the past. At least that way you have a ballpark range of what price the market will bear.
I agree that the MSRP in this day and age many times bears little resemblance to its actual market value, but I like having some ballpark estimate so I don’t have to leave the site and peruse several websites to get that info.
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