am i seeing things?

[Diatribe]

Damn I should've tried more times to get a better price before I bought mine. Oh well I only paid $98 but still. This is just weird. I have heard of daily price changes with memory but this is just ridiculous. I wonder what the reason for this is.

 

[Abstract]

So why does it give you a different price each time you press the Reload button? If I use one browser without deleting my cookies, then I should get the same price each time. I'm sure its more complicated than that, but I'm just trying to understand the crazy world I live in.

 

[Squire]

I assume you guys are talking about the "Most Popular" one highlighted in yellow. I hit reload several times and still got $94.08. Same with the debug option. Pretty crazy, though.

Squire

 

[jsw]

I assume you guys are talking about the "Most Popular" one highlighted in yellow. I hit reload several times and still got $94.08. Same with the debug option. Pretty crazy, though.

Squire

Well, if your browser sticks you with the lowest price no matter what you do, that's not such a bad thing....

 

[ExoticFish]

man this is the first i've heard of this and i have to say that this is crazy!! there have been some bad ideas in the past few years but this is up near the top of them imo.

 

[jsw]

man this is the first i've heard of this and i have to say that this is crazy!! there have been some bad ideas in the past few years but this is up near the top of them imo.

I agree. Regardless of how "egalitarian" [link stolen from post above] it might be, it's going to make people hesitant to buy on the internet again. At least, without checking multiple browsers and with/without cookies to see if they're getting the best price.

Pretty soon, we'll be seeing "I found xxx at $xx.xx at this URL - do you see a better price?" posts. Within a few months, there will be more of those posts than "iBook vs PB", "free iPod!", and "I just bought a ___" posts combined. Mark my words....

 

[the future]

Could someone who read about it explain in a few simple words why a company (like in this case Crucial) would do a thing like this? I fail to understand how it benefits them.

 

[jsw]

Could someone who read about it explain in a few simple words why a company (like in this case Crucial) would do a thing like this? I fail to understand how it benefits them.

They're attempting to determine how to get the most money out of a given customer. In essence, if they can somehow determine that a customer is poor, frugal, etc., they'll list a lower price. If they can determine that a customer is rich, a spendthrift, etc., they'll charge more. The art and science is in how they determine those things. With no cookies, they have very little info other than your browser and what you're trying to buy. With cookies, they know more.

I expect to see more of this in the future, then a backlash, then less, and a cycle of the same going forward.

It's not really unethical. Sales people do this all the time. It isn't wrong - no one's forcing anyone to buy anything. But it can create very bad PR.

 

[Elan0204]

I got $94.08 in Safari. I didn't bother trying other browsers.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

Maybe it is time to look at OWC? Prices and service are up there with Crucial.

OWC's price is $95.99. And guess what they aren't playing pricing games. I checked on IE and got the same price.

I will never buy from Crucial based on this news. It is just wrong.

 

[jsw]

I just realized that this opens up a new market - the trade/sale of cookies that indicate you're poor and frugal!

Now the people that are in the "business" of boosting Google ranks can sell something to consumers....

 

[ooohbeggie]

I just realized that this opens up a new market - the trade/sale of cookies that indicate you're poor and frugal!

Now the people that are in the "business" of boosting Google ranks can sell something to consumers....

you know, i'm laughing, but at the same time, that's a scary thought in that it's probably not entirely untrue.

on another note, i sent an email to Crucial's general manager a few minutes ago. hopefully i'll hear something back. i'd love to hear this explanation...

 

[Squire]

I just realized that this opens up a new market - the trade/sale of cookies that indicate you're poor and frugal!

The funny thing is, I don't have an excess of cash (I continuously got the $94.08 price), but if you checked out my cookies you'd think I was a millionaire. Damn, I had just read an article on Lamborghini on Forbes. They should be trying to rip me off!

Squire