How to find Amazon's hidden discounts

[Andy_D]

I found this helpful hint for uncovering Amazons hidden discounts

Step 1

Get the Amazon Department Code. this is stated in the url as node=xxxxxx In our case we will be looking for musical instruments so the node will be 11091801

Step 2

Paste this address into a new browser tab

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/?node=11091801&pct-off=75-99

"http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/?node=11091801&pct-off=75-99"


Step 3

Chane the discount range. This is indicated by the last 4 numbers in the address string. In the example given the search would be for discounts ranging from 75-99%. Just change the numbers as you want and feel free to experiment. For instance if you want to see only discounts more than 85% you would enter;

pct-off=85-99

Step 5

Use Amazon's tools at the left side of the page to filter and narrow your search.

The good thing about this is that it will uncover discounts that are often hidden and hard to find. I guess you could really turn up some great bargains by running this search on a daily basis. Oh, and to search for things other than musical instruments just substitute the appropriate node for another department.

Happy Bargain Hunting!

 

[Andy_D]

Note to moderator;

Perhaps you might want to make this a sticky.

 

[bongomania]

Hmmm... This is this the kind of thing where you have to be optimistic and wait for those insane "accidental" price breaks that sometimes we get lucky on. Everything on the list is crap, otherwise. If you narrow the search to "bass guitars", most of the results are toner cartridges, batteries, cell phone accessories, and video cables.

But again, we have had a couple of insanely good bass deals pop up on Amazon once in a blue moon, so I guess it's worth looking occasionally.

 

[Andy_D]

As I said you have to use Amazons usual tools to filter the results. I used it earler today and was able to find the Dean Q4,as well as the $229 Q5. While it's not perfect it's another tool that you can use. Unfortunately as with all computer systems garbage in = garbage out. What you are seeing is likely the result of many data entry errors where items ended up in a category where they likely didn't belong. Quite understandable in a system as large Amazon. It must be hard as hell to get all of the clerical data entry temps to enter the data correctly.

 

[Bongolation]

I've been doing my own tweaks on this for a while. You can get a lot better control over your searches than this, but there are also holes in the search feature that you have to work around, plus different places to look for the same items.

When you find something you're looking for but it's too expensive, keep checking the price daily, because at some point it may drop like a stone during a tiny window of opportunity.

Good hunting!

 

[Need2KnowBasses]

You can also put items in your cart and save them for later. Every time you check your cart if the price has changed there will be a notification. Once an item's price starts dropping it will usually go down $5-$20 a day but sometimes prices go crazy and can drop by $100 or more daily. I've also noticed that price drops generally happen between 3-5pm pacific time.