Mike,
Thought you'd have fun with my Amazon story. I think you know that I have a board game out, and all the major online toy companies sell it. For some reason, etoys has been selling it for $19.99 (cheaper than any other place I've ever seen it), and Amazon for a little more than $25.
Malarky started selling well at Amazon and making some of their game bestseller lists (Amazon has so many subcategories that it's hard NOT to make one of the bestseller lists). As soon as it started selling well, Amazon DROPPED the price to $19.99. My guess, and it's only a guess, is that Amazon has bots that scour competitors on their best selling products in every category (I know that the game manufacturer gave them no incentives).
Amazon presumably is scared at the prospect of actually making a profit on any particular sale, and this practice assures it <g>. Dropping the price works, of course, and sales have really taken off since Amazon dropped the price, to the point where it has unfortunately been backordered now for a week.
If ever there were a case of separating a stock from a business plan from a company from a consumer's pov, this is the one. I truly admire the operation as a consumer. The service and selection are excellent. Amazon has a far better toy site, IMO, than any of the toy-only options. But I still have no idea how they are planning to make a dime. Amazon has no prospect of killing all their competitors, especially since they are taking on every business imaginable. This is a weird case of the the surgery being a success, the patient living, and the doctor dying! |
