Buying Amps from Amazon

clsmooth · #1 11-28-2011, 09:26 AM

Has anyone noticed the deep discounts Amazon gives on Amps and the like as their stock goes down? (Dynamic Pricing it is called).

I just scored an Aguilar DB 751 for $1600 bucks after seeing the price drop precipitously over the past week with only 3 of them left in stock. I bought mine with only 2 left in stock and as soon as I did I went back to look at it again and with one left the price reset to $2,299!!!

There are some deals to be had for the patient ones seeking new amps!

christw · #2 11-28-2011, 10:03 AM

I'm not sure how the pricing works with Amazon but I've seen guys over in Basses who score $1600 instruments for $700. I remember someone got an $800 Schecter for maybe $200 shipped or something in that range. I wish I had the patience and time to watch Amazon. Or the money to buy these things...

reasonbass · #3 11-28-2011, 10:12 AM

Yeah they had an Aggie 1X12 NT for like 322.07 minus the 15% discount. And I remember seeing a 4X12 Chocolate Thunder for around 800.00.

I myself scored a Sterling Ray35 for 378.00 off them.

oinkbanana · #4 11-28-2011, 10:39 AM

maybe you just scored a cyber monday deal. (one of those thanksgiving weekend specials)

reasonbass · #5 11-28-2011, 11:03 AM

Yeah It was Black Friday.

**jmattbassplaya** · #6 11-28-2011, 11:09 AM

Yeah... Cyber Monday... Black Friday... Amazon never has these kinds of deals on the reg...

I buy about 40% of my gear off of Amazon (another 40% from TB, and the last 20% from your major online retailers) because they consistently have amazing deals. The PedalTrain Pro I just sold for $100 in the classifieds I bought for $90 NEW on Amazon. They usually go for around $150 new. Likewise, I bought a $30 speaker cable for $8 not too long ago. The consistently have great deals. You just have to check for stuff you want every once in a while.

EricF · #7 11-28-2011, 11:13 AM

My Aguilar DB210 and DB115 cabs were scored on a short-term-super-discount deal. I've seen that happen with Aggie cabs often.

jeff7bass · #8 11-28-2011, 11:14 AM

Pretty sure MF.com has the same type of pricing deals because I’ve landed some gear for around ½ price only to see it go back to full the next week.

clsmooth · #9 11-28-2011, 11:38 AM

All valid points and true!

I think there is a little complexity to what is going on though that I failed to mention.

I have monitored Amazon quite a bit for FX and the Ag amps, etc. over the past year and have noticed that even outside of Black Friday/Cyber Monday that when the stock of an item gets low the prices go down even if more are on the way.

The DB 750 was $2299 regular, then Tuesday I noticed it was $1999 with like 5 left in stock. Then when I checked on Friday with 3 left in stock it was $1800 or so, then when I checked Saturday and there were 2 left it was $1600. When I bought it and then with one left the price reset to $2299. The same happened with a pedal I bought back in August.

So while it may have been sale related, I think Amazon utilizes the Dynamic Pricing model in some way shape or form.

Just more of a friendly FYI for ya'll!

Thanks for the replies!

RickenBoogie · #10 11-28-2011, 11:46 AM

Yes, Amazon is a price-setting engine that varies every 15 min or so. All depends on the quantity available. I work for an online retailer, and pricing is tricky, it's not set in stone, but rather, fluctuates depending on an items availability.

Tunaman · #11 11-28-2011, 11:47 AM

I run the Amazon deals thread in the HOT DEALS section of the classifieds. Keep checking in, they do it all the time

1) Must be sold directly from Amazon
2) Must be in stock
3) Usually ie 95% of the time its > 2 in stock
4) Once stock hits only 1, price shoots back up
5) Prices can go down daily 1% or 5% every 5 days, prices can also shoot up suddenly without any stock changes

ksandvik · #12 11-28-2011, 11:51 AM

Return policies are nice, too. Pack it back in and take it to UPS with a printed page with return info.

shackled · #13 11-28-2011, 11:57 AM

A great way to watch the prices on Amazon is to add an item to your cart. If you check it periodically they inform you of price changes...
Then you can pull the trigger when the price is right...

JB36 · #14 11-28-2011, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickenBoogie

Yes, Amazon is a price-setting engine that varies every 15 min or so. All depends on the quantity available. I work for an online retailer, and pricing is tricky, it's not set in stone, but rather, fluctuates depending on an items availability.

This is true. I just scored a Genz Benz Neox12T for 599. The next morning, which was only several hours later, it was back up to the standard 899. I think the quanitity may been 5 or so down to 2. The other thing I noticed was the cab was sold and shipped by Amazon for 599 and 899 by some other company.