To not understand why Amazon bother to change the prices of things by a few pence?

[10FingersOnTheFender]

I'm often informed that there have been [however many] changes to the stuff in my Amazon basket...

But it's invariably changes by only 10 pence (or less!)

Why do they bother to do this?

10 pence times however million of things they sell is rather a lot of money, isn't it?

It will be done automatically, they will have a system behind the scenes checking that their pricing is competitive and automatically changing it where needed.

Sometimes it's a different seller/supplier, but I think mostly it's simply a way to get you to look at the item again (when they send you the alert) and potentially buy it. Unfortunately it often works on me - Not because of the price change, just because I've looked at it again and decide yeah, I want that!

@cantucciniamaretto So supposing Amazon reduces something by 5p.... any apparent loss to them as a result of that price decrease is very unlikely to be offset by an increase in volume of purchases (the discount won't be enticing enough).

If they increase something by 5p, are they really going to be selling so many of the item (before it's reduced again by 5p) to make the change worthwhile?

It's all calculated by an algorithm, so prices are automatically adjusted due to stock levels and demand. Amazon aren't actually doing anything.

@ILikeyourHairyHands ok, that makes sense. Sort of. But I don't understand why they operate an algorithm like that...insofar as It would seem to make more sense to build in an automatic de minimis threshold so that changes of 10p or less are not 'put into effect' as it were...or not recognised or whatever
It seems a lot of palaver for nothing

If they increase something by 5p, are they really going to be selling so many of the item (before it's reduced again by 5p) to make the change worthwhile?

The change doesn't cost anything, so yes, obviously. Are you imagining people at desks manually looking through the site and changing prices? Its all automatic.

It's no palaver at all, and if it wasn't worth their while they would not do it. Amazon are not losing money.

Its to get us to buy and they rely On how brains are wired.

Unconsciously we see a price much lower than what we're actually seeing with our eyes apparently. High street shops have have done this for years. Obviously shops don't send emails though so it was much more subtle.

9.99 seems much cheaper than 10.00 to our unconscious brain even though our eyes see it's only 1p difference.

Well it never makes me want to buy the thing...I just get irritated by the notification. I just think 'well that's a cheap trick' and if you think I'm so easily won over, then please don't (obviously that's not to say that I suppose Amazon think about the individual...just the generic purchaser)

I suspect some sellers do it because it’ll send you a notification. It’s annoying.

The margin they make on each item may only be 50p, so increasing or decreasing prices by pennies is actually quite a big percentage change in the margin. And they are selling in sufficient quantity for it to make a real difference.

Amongst other things, their algorithm will be looking at how much the same or similar items are currently retailing for on their rivals' sites, and adjusting prices to keep their own price competitive (i.e. cheaper, or close enough that a sufficient percentage of customers will still buy the item through Amazon). Yes, pennies will make a difference. Not to everyone, but pennies will 'swing it' for a lot of people.

It's all no palaver to Amazon, it's an automated process that keeps everything balanced for them.

They're not doing it just to persuade you to buy the item because they've taken 10p off it. Thousands of people are searching for things every day. The prices are constantly changing. But if they didn't point out that items have changed prices while sitting in your basket, they'd certainly get complaints.