Crappy Amazon GoldBox Deals
4Has Amazon decided to rely on people not checking whether Gold Box Deals are really good?
Have noticed some pretty lame ones lately.
Today they have BÖHM Bluetooth sound-isolating headphones for $63.49.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/goldbox/ref=nav_cs_gb
These are pretty decent BT 'phones. But according to camelx3, 3rd party sellers usually offer them in Amazon for around $85 or less. Which makes about 25% off with today’s deal. How meh. More like a so-so flash deal.
Have seen similar lately. Gold Box Deals at their inception used to regularly offer discounts of 35-65% or so off Amazon’s usual price, not off list, which is always ridiculous anyway. I have seen this in other Gold Box Deals with tech also.
If someone is looking for headphones, I haven’t checked slickdeals (if I go there I wind up spending $), but I’m betting there are better deals for good headphones around, most reliably at Massdrop (they offer unique high-end time-limited deals in partnership with the manufacturers doing a special arrangement, you must create an account and login to see them.)
So has Amazon decided that the masses will just buy anyway? (I do, sucker that I am, for Ravensburger 3D puzzles).
Hey, Amazon, we notice your lame deals already!
- 2 comments, 8 replies
- Comment
I’ve actually seen on more than a few occasions deals (Gold Box, Lightning, who can keep track) where opting out of the deal was cheaper on Amazon itself.
I largely stopped checking the deals when they screwed up the formatting of that page though. And upped the free shipping threshold to $49. Much less Amazon these days.
@brhfl I’m annoyed by the Amazon pantry thing. I finally got Prime this year for the first time, and I hardly use it because most food items now aren’t eligible for free Prime shipping. So I can’t get Belgian chocolates or gourmet popcorn with my widgets and small electronics on Prime, I have to find 5 featured food items I’m willing to buy to get feee shipping or pay $5.99 per box of food. The featured items are not generally anything I want. I use fresh ingredients when I cook. The packaged foods I eat are not likely to be on their featured list. Greatly reduces its usefulness for me.
@brhfl The increased shipping threshold to $49 just about eliminated most Amazon usage for me, until we got Prime for free due to some linkage to some .edu account (kid’s school laptop made us free-Prime eligible somehow).
I was going to post some commentary on pricing, markups, and margins but decided not to as I’d probably catch flak for it. Go back to moaning and gnashing your teeth over discounts that are “only” 25% off list price and pay me no mind!
@jbartus
Yeah I know retailing sux. Relatives own/owned places.
Post your commentary. So that I can haiku or limerick it.
When I go for tech. I prefer discounts of at least 35% over current pricing. Slickdeals mindset, if you will.
Where there’s a fanatic will, …
@f00l those kinds of deals require manufacturer participation or they tend to kill retailers’ profitability. Not Amazon mind you, they probably get at least 20 points off of wholesale anyhow, but little companies selling on Amazon. Especially since Amazon gets a cut off of the top as it is.
@jbartus
I know. But without the extra extra discount, I won’t buy it at all. Ever. Or I’ll get it used. So, retailing is just a hard way to make a living.
@f00l We’re not ‘early adopters’ in our household. Used, refurb’d, repurposed, pre-owned; re-sale, thrift, auction, flea market, bazaar. Time is the biggest enemy in the search for bargains
@compunaut
I’m only v rarely an early adopter. Got a garmin watch caused I really really wanted one. And an echo and tap because of huge discounts. But I’ve bought almost all my phones and computers (and stuff for family or friends) from eBay or refurb on Amz or from Woot or Meh or Craigslist or Cowboom. So far so good on these.
@compunaut I have to admit that thrift stores, meh, and the old woot has spoiled me into “don’t-pay-typical-retail-store-sale-prices”.
(Exceptions do get made, of course.)