Blade advice needed

[tstop4me]

(And speaking of affordability, in my first Google search for sellers, I was surprised to find those blades on Amazon.ca. I was even more surprised when I looked at their price. Her size, 8.75, was $1,804CAD. Sizes 8.5 and 9 were $383CAD or around there. I know I often try different colours for clothing on Amazon and find varying prices for colours, but that did seem rather a large price difference for one small size difference!)

I was intrigued, so I checked the amazon.ca site. The blades are not sold directly by Amazon Canada, but by two different marketplace sellers. The ones selling for about $384 CAD are sold by a supplier in Spain. The ones selling for about $1805 CAD are sold by a supplier in (... drum roll ...) Canada! The Canadian supplier is obviously a price gouger trying to see whether anyone is desperate enough to buy at those exorbitant prices.

I'm in the US. I once was interested in buying a CD by a Canadian singer that was released only in Canada. I could buy it directly from her website for about $30 US (including shipping). One US importer had it listed on Amazon US for a whopping $3000 US; a second had it listed for $6000 US! Insane.

 

[Diana Delafield]

I was intrigued, so I checked the amazon.ca site. The blades are not sold directly by Amazon Canada, but by two different marketplace sellers. The ones selling for about $384 CAD are sold by a supplier in Spain. The ones selling for about $1805 CAD are sold by a supplier in (... drum roll ...) Canada! The Canadian supplier is obviously a price gouger trying to see whether anyone is desperate enough to buy at those exorbitant prices.

I'm in the US. I once was interested in buying a CD by a Canadian singer that was released only in Canada. I could buy it directly from her website for about $30 US (including shipping). One US importer had it listed on Amazon US for a whopping $3000 US; a second had it listed for $6000 US! Insane.

Yes, I've seen astronomical selling prices like that on Amazon and wondered did they actually expect someone to pay that? Or do they just catch someone sleepshopping who doesn't notice the price difference? In this case what got me was that it was just that one size of blade. A quarter of an inch either way in length and the price dropped to normal. Most skate shops selling online in Canada that I checked for comparison were in the $430-$499 range for the same blades, but with free shipping.

And of course (OT, sorry) you have to compare prices for the same item in USD and CAD if possible and remember that today, for instance, the CAD is worth about 70 cents to the USD so the American price appears much lower but is just the same price translated from one currency to the other. Shipping from Canada to the USA is more expensive than the same item travelling in the opposite direction, as my consignment dealer gradually selling off my huge doll collection has to keep telling eBay customers who complain that he's charging too much for postage.

 

[tstop4me]

In this case what got me was that it was just that one size of blade. A quarter of an inch either way in length and the price dropped to normal.

More than just one size. The Canadian supplier has 8.75, 10, and 10.5 for about $1818 CAD now. You can also get a real bargain for a 9.25; a steal at about only $1070 CAD! Looks like these are the sizes that the Spanish supplier are out of.

 

[Diana Delafield]

More than just one size. The Canadian supplier has 8.75, 10, and 10.5 for about $1818 CAD now. You can also get a real bargain for a 9.25; a steal at about only $1070 CAD! Looks like these are the sizes that the Spanish supplier are out of.

Surely there's a way to make a profit here! Buy up the rest of the Spanish stock, resell them for more, but a lot less than my greedy compatriot wants for them.... [I want to add appropriate smilies here but my computer is refusing to load them]

 

[MCsAngel2]

When you see prices like that on Amazon, be aware they are not being physically set by a person. It's an Amazon algorithm that has to do with availability and how often the item gets searched/clicked on. Scarcity automatically drives the price up.

 

[Diana Delafield]

When you see prices like that on Amazon, be aware they are not being physically set by a person. It's an Amazon algorithm that has to do with availability and how often the item gets searched/clicked on. Scarcity automatically drives the price up.

Oh, darn. My dreams of making a fortune as a skate blade seller are crushed. Educational, though. I've only sold things on eBay where I get to set the price. I do almost all my shopping online (in my apartment building I'm known as "the Amazon queen" because of the driver's daily visits) and never knew that was how the sometimes odd prices were set. Learn something new every day.

 

[tstop4me]

Oh, darn. My dreams of making a fortune as a skate blade seller are crushed. Educational, though. I've only sold things on eBay where I get to set the price. I do almost all my shopping online (in my apartment building I'm known as "the Amazon queen" because of the driver's daily visits) and never knew that was how the sometimes odd prices were set. Learn something new every day.

You still might have a shot. When Amazon itself is the vendor, their own prices change throughout the day according to their algorithms. I'm not sure how pricing works with marketplace sellers though. I've often come across items in good supply, with maybe 10 or so different marketplace sellers, and a wide range in prices at the same instant; so obviously Amazon is not fixing the same price for all marketplace sellers for the same item at the same time. And it would be odd for Amazon itself to set such an exorbitant price for marketplace sellers that the item would be highly unlikely to sell. A legitimate marketplace seller would not be pleased.