Amazon offers a browser plug-in called "Amazon Assistant." It sits on the browser toolbar and watches your online shopping. If you're looking at an item on a different website, Amazon Assistant will generate a pop-up window showing similar items for sale on Amazon.

I was looking at a thread in The Lounge titled "I made popcorn!" There was a post in that thread containing a link to a site selling the original Whirley Pop for $22.99.

The Amazon Assistant pops a window showing popcorn makers mostly in the range from $35 to $55. That's somewhere between 50% more (on the low end) and more than double on the high end.

Wahl hair clipper model 9649, $30.99 on the Wahl website, $84.99 to $99.99 on Amazon.

Really? What's going on with Amazon?

While we're bitching about Amazon (I didn't think we needed yet another thread)..

Yesterday I searched for oral thermometers and sorted by rating. The three top-rated items had thousands of 4 and 5 star ratings each. Great! But then I read the reviews; they were all for BOOKS. Three (supposedly) different sellers had apparently changed the title, description, and pictures, but kept the ratings and reviews of previous items.

Really? What's going on with Amazon?

Delete the assistant, do your own shopping. I have a phone app that compares prices locally. Identify the item, it shows several prices. Very helpful.

Yay - another Amazon thread.

Try camelcamelcamel.com for price tracking things you actually want/need.

If you have Chrome, go into Settings, Extensions and enable Invisible Hand, it price searches the web.

You should still google-fu, or duck duck duck your choice...

Here's the thing about Amazon: don't like it? Don't use it.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
Here's the thing about Amazon: don't like it? Don't use it.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:

Here's the thing about Amazon: don't like it? Don't use it.

That would be an excellent suggestion if we were able to find the things that we are looking for in a local store.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
If you have Chrome, go into Settings, Extensions and enable Invisible Hand, it price searches the web.

You should still google-fu, or duck duck duck your choice...

It's available on Firefox as well

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:

or duck duck duck

You wouldn't believe how I mis-read that.

Well, maybe you would.

Valve cover gasket yesterday...
Summit Racing $26.99 and almost four weeks wait. (Huh?)

Same brand gasket on Amazon, $29.99 but one week wait. Tempted.

Before I do, I check Rock Auto, same brand gasket, $5.49 , one week wait.

That one puzzles me.

Their prices have been going up and delivery times slowing down, even with Prime. So convenience isn't what it used to be. As far as the pricing, maybe to offset their sizeable donation?

We're using Prime more for Fire Tv and movie watching, ordering nothing of anything else.

Amazon isn't always the cheapest (often not), but I will pay a few bucks more for the convenience of easy returns and less putting my information on the net. If it's anything over $100, I'm shopping it around for sure.

I've found on Lowe's type items and half of the other items I look at, small items, Lowe's is actually considerable cheaper.

Amazon Marketplace is turning into a shit show. Counterfeits, used sold as new, missing parts, seconds, blems, wrong items, you name it. I almost always make sure to buy from Amazon itself and not marketplace sellers, and I have Prime so that's another reason. You have to be careful to look at the list of all sellers and make sure you know where it is coming from.

Even Amazon itself gets stuff all mixed up. Read the review of a 4K disc, and you realize you are reading reviews of the Blu-Ray or the DVD. They do this all the time on things with the same name but different versions or formats.

Did get lucky buying discounted 600 Lumen Surefire X300's (600 is enough and the lower price is nice) and got the newer 1000 Lumen version instead.

quote:

Originally posted by Fredward:
Delete the assistant, do your own shopping. I have a phone app that compares prices locally.

Delete the app, do your own shopping, here's the great app I use...

I generally find E-Bay to be cheaper than Amazon.

Amazon is annoying at times (especially their new definition of "Prime"shipping, which used to mean within 48 hours ish, and now means sometime in the coming foreseeable future, see details). But generally I know what I'm getting and at least they are close on shipping times.

eBay, on the other hand, takes the cake. Ordered from a seller whose ad stated "Guaranteed delivery by June 21st." Ordered it that night within 5 minutes of seeing the "guaranteed" delivery date. Item arrived 2 days late, and one day late for my trip. My review said "Item as described, but 2 days late. Generally good seller." I get an email from the seller saying that I was out of line for dinging him on the delivery, that COVID and social unrest and blah blah blah. Told him no, you have no control over those things, but you CAN control what your ad says, and guaranteed delivery times should fall under your purview. So he complained to ebay and they stripped my review. Who'da thunk ebay would side with a seller (Top Seller, over 99% Positive, Buy with Confidence!) over lil' ol' me.

Fluidmaster replacement toilet flush valve kit. $14.98 at Lowe's. While looking at this item on the Lowe's website, the Amazon pop-up showed the identical item for the low, low, price of only $90.99. Whoo-hoo!

I use Amazon a lot, but price checking is usually good. I use Schultz water soluble tomato fertilizer. Menards has it for $4. So I do a Amazon search, $17.67 same size.