It's an ancedote sure, but back in 2012, we shopped only at Amazon. Now they are no longer King.
I was attracted to Amazon only because of lower prices. That was it and now it is no longer the case. As soon as another big player steps up and offers lower prices and simple UI there won't be a need for me to shop on Amazon.
Living near a metro area, I can get items from Amazon items within 24-48 hours (with Prime). Sometimes it even arrives later the same day.
Plus the whole free shipping (as long as you're Prime) thing..
I do agree that fast shipping is a big part of amazon but I think another big player could match the processing speed.
The listing being offered to you father probably wasn't eligible for prime (not shipped by Amazon) so the price+shipping was lower than Amazon's price+non-free-shipping (and the third party was likely intentionally undercutting Amazon to be shown first). Once you signed it, it offered you the one with prime shipping because the total was cheaper.
I may be wrong. I will try to take some screenshots another time, as it seems like nobody else noticed, therefore, i may be in the wrong here.
Target was caught doing this. People with location services turned on using the target app would find pricing for an item jump up as they approached their local store.
search for "The Target app price switch: What you need to know"
I wanted to get a sweater shaver. Amazon had it for 22. I bought a NIB one from Ebay for $12.
As far as I am concerned, the only thing Amazon has going for it right now is that it is a a one stop shop. That's worth something… how much? I'm not sure, but I know I'm buying a hell of a lot less stuff from Amazon now than 2 years ago.
Also you knew it was Genuine. I'd love Amazon to do a "Guaranteed Genuine" label or something, but I can see why they don't. I used to buy everything on Amazon, now I only buy stuff that I'm willing to accept might be counterfeit.
Nevertheless, it remains questionable how this change would be a fair competition for Amazon sellers, not just the Alibaba private label sellers but also all the sellers with popular products.