Support NeoGAF

[inm8num2]

https://consumerist.com/2016/05/23/...heres-your-guide-to-other-retailers-policies/

TechCrunch reports that Amazon quietly changed its price protection policy to exclude all products except for televisions.

Previously, the company’s policy allowed customers to request a refund if the price of a purchase dropped within seven days.

Updated policy:

Amazon.com consistently works toward maintaining competitive prices on everything we carry and will match the price of other retailers for some items.

Amazon.com will price match eligible purchases of televisions with select other retailers. For all other items, Amazon.com doesn't offer price matching.

Funny enough I ran into this last week. Got stonewalled by a rep on an adjustment request and got the same canned response about post-purchase adjustments not being offered except on TVs. If the rep had said the policy recently changed I would have been less confused.

The price matching after purchase was a nice safety net to have in the past, but I don't really shop much from Amazon anyway unless there's a killer deal for something I actually need.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Been like this for a while bro.

 

[Nipo]

https://consumerist.com/2016/05/23/...heres-your-guide-to-other-retailers-policies/



Updated policy:



Funny enough I ran into this last week. Got stonewalled by a rep on an adjustment request and got the same canned response about post-purchase adjustments not being offered except on TVs. If the rep had said the policy recently changed I would have been less confused.

Citi offers price rewind on purchases for 90 days and they check a bunch of sites. If you have a citi card it has worked for me in the past when amazon wouldn't do anything.

 

[a Master Ninja]

Last I checked Amazon still makes almost no profit. They'll inevitably have to raise prices/be less flexible in the long run as soon as most people can't live without them.

 

[bucknuticus]

Ever since best buy started price matching amazon ive found myself getting less and less from them, this doesnt help buck that trend.

 

[NoRéN]

Been like this for a while bro.

Let the website linked in the OP know, wise one.

 

[breakfuss]

Last I checked Amazon still makes almost no profit. They'll inevitably have to raise prices/be less flexible in the long run as soon as most people can't live without them.

Yep, exactly. All these recent policy changes and hikes were inevitable.

 

[Ashhong]

What? They never ever price matched for me, even if the damn item wasn't even shipped. They always told me that I would have to return the original item and repurchase the new one. Seemed really strange that they would prefer this method, especially when their customer service on everything else is so great

 

[Wensih]

Last I checked Amazon still makes almost no profit. They'll inevitably have to raise prices/be less flexible in the long run as soon as most people can't live without them.

They posted a profit of 598 million for 2015.

 

[inm8num2]

Been like this for a while bro.

The policy apparently didn't update until the beginning of the month and AFAIK wasn't really reported anywhere until today. Earliest discussions floating around are this and this. This is just meant to be an FYI thread for people who weren't aware.

Which leads me to what I also wanted to discuss in this thread but was too lazy to add to the OP:

Citi offers price rewind on purchases for 90 days and they check a bunch of sites. If you have a citi card it has worked for me in the past when amazon wouldn't do anything.

Not just Citi - Mastercard, Discover, and a couple Chase cards as well. Nerdwallet has a good overview of how price protection works. Fantastic benefit that more and more people have been discovering the past year or so. In my limited experience Discover's PP is best. They and Chase offer 90-day protection, too.

I personally wouldn't bother using price protection on smaller purchases, but it's great if you're making a bigger purchase on something like electronics, appliances, etc. You just have to check the fine prints and make sure your item is eligible.

I only used the Amazon matching a couple times before on less expensive items. Once was for an all-in-one trimmer. Can't hurt to get an extra few bucks off or into your gift card balance.

 

[breakfuss]

They posted a profit of 598 million for 2015.

What portion of its business though? And it's pretty well known that Amazon hadn't made a profit in years.

 

[mugurumakensei]

What portion of its business though? And it's pretty well known that Amazon hadn't made a profit in years.

It's the opposite. Amazon hadn't made a profit til recently.
It's mostly on the back of AWS with some help from Prime.

 

[Madness]

The amazon model was not sustainable. It is why they are investing so much in lobbying for drones to ship packages ending high shipping costs and delays, trying as best as they can to add additional profit from hardware devices like Kindles and Echo and Fire etc.

Their competitors have caught up with them. It is why the are increasingly moving toward a tiered pricing model too. Giving deals and discounts only to Prime members, making free shipping now requiring $50 worth of stuff etc.

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

Last I checked Amazon still makes almost no profit. They'll inevitably have to raise prices/be less flexible in the long run as soon as most people can't live without them.

No, they've been making a profit and even if they weren't. Things like this was never the reason they weren't posting a profit.

 

[Wensih]

What portion of its business though? And it's pretty well known that Amazon hadn't made a profit in years.

Cloud services are playing a major role in their profit, but I'm not sure what the other parts contribute. All of 2015's profit was 596 (not 598) and their first quarter profit of 2016 was 513 million. I know they were not profitable for a very long time, but they seem to be finding a solution to this.

 

[Somnid]

From what I understand it wasn't a real policy, if you complained reps were able to make exceptions and they very often did but with newer services automatically sending complaint emails if the price drops, they must have started to clamp down.

And yes, they do make a pretty tidy profit these days.

 

[Fox Mulder]

Ever since best buy started price matching amazon ive found myself getting less and less from them, this doesnt help buck that trend.

Bestbuy can't compete with Amazon stock though. plus like half the store is for mobile phones and tablets now.

 

[Busaiku]

Dsrrn it, gonna miss all the comic refunds.