My sister says it's like the stock market! It would be interesting to compare prices and see if, like you said, we see individual prices affected by moving things in and out of the cart. Seems like it is more supply and demand, though.

This is interesting to me. I have heard that if you leave things in your cart, they notify you with an alert that it is on sale.

I never pay full price at Ann Taylor or Loft online. I put things in my cart and I get emails when there are sales. If I really want something, I check my once a day.

Lots of items on Amazon are actually sold by a third party. They could have changed the price.

There was something (don't remember what) I was going to buy last year. The price varied by, I think, about $13 from the first time I viewed it to the following day when I went to buy. I visited the item several times over the next few days and the price changed several times. My DIL, who shops on Amazon a lot, says this is very common. I think I ended up ordering it from another device.

I just receive an email from Amazon telling me that they are crediting my account $0.21 for a book that arrived here on Tuesday.

Because: "The price of the item(s) decreased after you ordered them, and we gave you the lowest price."

So of the price of items in your cart goes down Amazon honors the lower price.

I think it's overstock that raises the price if you don't buy it the same day you first look at it...or at least it seems that way...

I am a big Amazon shopper and have about 400 things in cart , Saved for Later. At the top of the cart, will be a list of all the price changes. Sometimes I put expensive out of my budget items, like shoes, in case at the end of the season they get drastically reduced. This occasionally happens, providing they still have my oddball size, 11.

However, a few weeks ago I put several Shrinky Dinks items in my cart at the original price of 37 and watched them spiral down to 19, and now they are creeping back up to thirty.

At the 19 mark, I should have bought it, but I seriously could not think of one single thing I wanted, (hence the huge cart to browse) to bring it up to 35 for free shipping. I figured something would occur to me that I need/want so I waited.

But now I want it to go back down!

Bumble - I only need to bring it to $35 if I want same day delivery for free. Otherwise it's free if it says Prime no matter what the total invoice is and arrives in 2 days.

They have a new thing - If you choose no rush (arrives within 5-7 day) you can get $5.99 off Amazon Pantry.

My problem is trying to fill the pantry box with enough !

I have many, many things in my watch list and the price fluctuates greatly, sometimes within the same day. If it is something I do not need right away or cannot purchase that day, I will add a note of the lowest price in the hopes of not spending too much. I find the magnitude of the fluctuations rather irritating and sometimes it makes me shop elsewhere. I am a prime member so do not need to reach a certain total for the shipping. The Amazon Pantry annoys me too, as a Prime member, I do not understand why I would want to be shopping from that. I like it better when you choose standard shipping and get a $1 credit towards ebooks or movies or music.

As of maybe 2 days ago I no longer have the $1 credit option for movies or music - just the $5.99 off pantry.

I hate that there is an item I want that is only available in pantry.

I recall hearing/reading recently about how Amazon (& perhaps other online retailers as well) has different prices for different demographics/regions...

What's this about a credit towards eBooks or Pantry? I'm a Prime member and order a TON from Amazon. I don't recall every seeing anything about receiving a credit for standard shipping.

I don't find the price fluctuations all that bad on Amazon. Overstock, however, drives me nuts with it. Their pricing has become a total ripoff if the last few years. I've watched small $100 items swing up or down by $40, usually based on which coupon they sent out that day.

Errant, when you get to the portion where you choose your shipping, it often states that if you choose standard shipping, you can get the benefit. Sometimes they have the pantry option and sometimes the digital credit. When it is the pantry, I just take the 2 day shipping instead as I really like the digital content credit. The one thing I do not like about it is I have not found anywhere that shows you how much you have saved (so I am not always sure if I have enough for a movie at the time or not). I have seen some pretty wild price fluctuations. For instance there are replacement swings on my watchlist that seem to hover in the $37 range but I once saw go down to $30. Percentage wise, that is rather significant.

I never ever put anything into my cart unless I am making a purchase right then. I do definitely utilize the wish list to put items I am interested in and might buy later plus if I need to find a quick item to bring my total up for free shipping I just go to my wish list. I mean that is why they offer the wish list service. I do the same with eBay utilize the watch list and wish list.

Thanks, Tish. I'll have to take a closer look next time instead of blindly clicking away :)

I also use the save for later cart.. as well as the wishlist. Fwiw, the prices change in ALL locations-- so there's no advantage to using the wishlist.

My understanding is that as prices change with the vendors/retailers, they also change on amazon. For instance, there are some stores that supply amazon but aren't identified as third parties. I am pretty sure Macys does.. Endless Shoes (which has been absorbed by Amazon) did. Target used to, not sure if they still do. When the store offers 25% off, the discount is reflected on amazon.

Prices go up and down.. I just know that if i see a super low price, i need to buy it then or risk paying more.

I was just looking at somethign I was interested in getting for DH. I was talking to him about someting else and came back to the screen -- still only one available and the description is the same, but the seller's name and location have changed as well as the price. And I had reservations about this seller before.

ETA: And then it disappeared comepletely.

You can always go to camel camel camel and see what the price history on an item has been.

I haven't noticed it too much on amazon either...

the absolute worst I've seen it from was coldwater creek... I never bought much from them, but I used to get their emails and would browse their website online... I noticed that they had significant price changes as their 'coupons' changed- what a racket!! I quickly requested to get off their email list!!

I was on the Houzz website yesterday and the price of a lamp went from 56 to 70 dollars literally overnight