RockAuto playing games with prices.

Nope the $$$$ does not equal the sales tax and that is not applicable in my state. The only one that has been made to collect tax's and it is a individual agreement between them and the state is amazon. Additionally there was a law suite just settled with discount tire about this as the state of ma wanted them to collect tax's for people who went to the next state over (where there is no sales tax) to by tires. The State of MA lost the law suite.

OK, I'll be that guy. So what? They can charge what they want, you are free to buy or not buy from them. Amazon does this all the time, they study your buying habits and charge you as much as they think you will pay and not a penny less. That amount may be different for you than it is for me or someone else. They are trying to maximize their profits, which is, you know, their job. Maybe it's the heartless MBA in me, but I don't see what's dishonest or deceptive about it.

Bottom line: It's your job as the consumer to compare prices and get your best deal. It's their job as a seller to make as much money off you as they can.

irish44j wrote: Just another thought: could it have to do with sales tax? The new internet regulations that require internet places to charge sales tax on the buyer at the buyer's local tax rate?

I noticed RockAuto can now handle Canadian sales tax last time I ordered from them - it showed up as a separate line in the cart, it didn't adjust the price of every item.

Datsun1500 wrote: They're $88.79 when I search. Both of your screen shots show $5.46 shipping though.

Haha their algorithm really isn't working at all, is it!

I noticed another shop, which actually gave me really good service otherwise did this exact thing to me. Went to private browsing and a ~$270 order was now ~$250. A small business too. I never established an account to buy from them and made all previous purchases from them with a private browser. The browser I was using also accumulates minimal cookies etc - HTML5 storage disabled, flash cookies cleared on launch/exit, traditional cookies only allowed from sites I've whitelisted, and it has a plugin which randomizes browser information for each new tab.

I wonder if the randomized browser info happened to come back as an Apple computer, I know a lot of hotel/travel websites will go into "rich dude mode" if you view them with an Apple laptop/desktop.

A lot of travel sites do this. I've noticed it if I've been searching the same destination for a few weeks, the price will slowly rise. I think they want you to buy before it goes up even more. Then I search from work and it's back down to a lower price.

I got a response from Rock Auto and they are saying that it is based on my shopping cart being older and thus that is why it has the higher price showing in my logged in shopping car where as my secure browser visit to there site was "current".

I call BS on this as the pricing in the catalog when I went to view it at the time I I created the screen clip of my shopping cart was also showing the higher pricing. I only used the shopping cart as it is a neater easier comparison then screen clipping form the catalog. I don't have visual proof of this and when I went back today logging in to my account the price is now (wonders of wonders) the lower one. So in short I think I caught them but they have an out and are going to stick to the date of the shopping cart of the screen clip and a price change between those two dates reflecting market price fluctuations.

Here is there response:

Hello,

Karl
RockAuto Customer Service

I still think it is BS but they technically have a valid out. It just does not sit well with me.

So my new email back to them is asking if they would have adjusted the price upon ordering.

Hi Karl

Dean Smith

Tom_Spangler wrote: OK, I'll be that guy. So what? They can charge what they want, you are free to buy or not buy from them. Amazon does this all the time, they study your buying habits and charge you as much as they think you will pay and not a penny less. That amount may be different for you than it is for me or someone else. They are trying to maximize their profits, which is, you know, their job. Maybe it's the heartless MBA in me, but I don't see what's dishonest or deceptive about it. Bottom line: It's your job as the consumer to compare prices and get your best deal. It's their job as a seller to make as much money off you as they can.

To me it equates to discrimination. Why should you log on at the same time I log on and we order the same part but because they have a profile of me they charge me more than they charge you because they know nothing about you. I don't understand a business model that charges repeat customers more. You would think that as a repeat customer that has some loyalty I would not get charged more.

I see the logic behind this from the other side and it is an ingenious method of boosting the margin by a couple of percentage points but it annoys me and makes me feel that I am not valued as a repeat customer. In fact it makes me feel like they think that they can take advantage of my trust in them as a repeat customer.

Hence forth I am re evaluating my parts shopping practices I have purchased almost exclusively from Rockauto for many years. But this just does not sit well with me and from now forward I have to log on 2x in different browsers to make sure I am getting the correct price? Ya that makes me feel good.

Tom, I am a business man. I sell rebuilt steering shafts for 944's I charge everyone the same price no matter what. But Tom because I set up a algorithm in my on line software that automatically charges anyone with the name Tom 10 percent more. I am sure you are ok with this yes?

I don't know what triggered the price increase. A cookie of some sort from some other on line re seller? The fact that I am on Porsche websites and forums a lot? Who knows but I should not be targeted as a company's personal cash cow.

Ohya Tom as far as I know I am the only one offering the rebuild service (due to me having a monopoly on sourcing the parts) for 944 steering shafts at this time so you would have no choice to purchase from me if you want a rebuilt one. And for the record I would never dream of doing that sort of thing.

It's possible that it really wasn't any kind of price discrimination and due to some kind of caching on your machine (not cashing - same pronunciation, different spelling).

Or it could be something in between. If the person has an item at a higher older price in their cart, don't update it and show the higher price in the catalog too...it's technically possible. In fact I set up something like this on my company's website to keep people from cheating on a signup date.

If it really is an honest mistake caused by the date you originally put the item in your cart, they should modify the site code to update items to the latest prices to avoid any appearance of morally questionable price discrimination or taking advantage of older prices.

dean1484 wrote: To me it equates to discrimination. Why should you log on at the same time I log on and we order the same part but because they have a profile of me they charge me more than they charge you because they know nothing about you. I don't understand a business model that charges repeat customers more. You would think that as a repeat customer that has some loyalty I would not get charged more.

You are exactly right, it is price discrimination. Wiki entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_discrimination

I see the logic behind this from the other side and it is an ingenious method of boosting the margin by a couple of percentage points but it annoys me and makes me feel that I am not valued as a repeat customer. In fact it makes me feel like they think that they can take advantage of my trust in them as a repeat customer.

And that is one of the downsides of price discrimination from the POV of the seller. They run the risk of alienating current customers. But they obviously think it's worth it overall.

Hence forth I am re evaluating my parts shopping practices I have purchased almost exclusively from Rockauto for many years. But this just does not sit well with me and from now forward I have to log on 2x in different browsers to make sure I am getting the correct price? Ya that makes me feel good.

But what is the "correct price"? For you, it's the lowest price, for them, it's the highest. Generally speaking, you meet somewhere in the middle. An item or service is worth only what someone is willing to pay for it.

Tom, I am a business man. I sell rebuilt steering shafts for 944's I charge everyone the same price no matter what. But Tom because I set up a algorithm in my on line software that automatically charges anyone with the name Tom 10 percent more. I am sure you are ok with this yes?

100%, yes. You can charge whatever you want. I don't have to buy it.

I don't know what triggered the price increase. A cookie of some sort from some other on line re seller? The fact that I am on Porsche websites and forums a lot? Who knows but I should not be targeted as a company's personal cash cow.

It seems like you are taking this personally. They do it to EVERYONE. And of course you are their "cash cow", you are the source of their revenue, you are the customer, etc.

Ohya Tom as far as I know I am the only one offering the rebuild service (due to me having a monopoly on sourcing the parts) for 944 steering shafts at this time so you would have no choice to purchase from me if you want a rebuilt one. And for the record I would never dream of doing that sort of thing.

Good for you. I mean that sincerely, that's a good, customer-friendly way to do business, especially when you have a monopoly. But Rockauto doesn't have a monopoly, and they aren't a single-person operation like you. They are a large corporation with shareholders, and their job is to make as much money as they possibly can for those shareholders. If they jack their prices up too much, Autozone/Pep Boys/Advance/Amazon will eat their lunch.

And, as I said, Amazon not only does this too, it's my understanding that they invented the algorithms used to do it.

GameboyRMH wrote: It's possible that it really wasn't any kind of price discrimination and due to some kind of caching on your machine (not cashing - same pronunciation, different spelling). Or it could be something in between. If the person has an item at a higher older price in their cart, don't update it and show the higher price in the catalog too...it's technically possible. In fact I set up something like this on my company's website to keep people from cheating on a signup date. If it really is an honest mistake caused by the date you originally put the item in your cart, they should modify the site code to update items to the latest prices to avoid any appearance of morally questionable price discrimination or taking advantage of older prices.

I would agree with you BUT I checked the on line price of the item before I went to my shopping cart and the in line price matched that of my shopping cart so this makes me a bit skeptical of what you are proposing. OR they have software that looks to see if you have it in your cart and makes sure that the price of the item in the cart matches the catalog (smart programming on the part of the software).

Tom_Spangler wrote: It seems like you are taking this personally. They do it to EVERYONE. And of course you are their "cash cow", you are the source of their revenue, you are the customer, etc.

Discrimination is Personal. It is like saying to me hay you have a mustache don't take it personal we treat everyone with a mustache that way. Well ya ok but it is me and my mustache that you are discrimination against rite now so yes it is personal.

Make cense?

Datsun1500 wrote: The old shopping cart is a valid reason, and probably what happened. I have seen this when my wife does clothes shopping and is hitting the sale items. She will put something in the cart, continue shopping for 30 mins, and by the time she's ready to check out, it will show no longer available (sold out). It will show in the cart, but when you go to actually check out, it's different.

I hope you are rite.

Maybe you should go over into the sponsored Rock Auto thread (here in GRM) and post up your concerns...........

typically dirty weasels don't like to be seen... and so often times those dirty weasels (certain money grubbing occupations) don't like the light of day being shined on their dirty little plans

dean1484 wrote:

Tom_Spangler wrote: It seems like you are taking this personally. They do it to EVERYONE. And of course you are their "cash cow", you are the source of their revenue, you are the customer, etc.

Discrimination is Personal. It is like saying to me hay you have a mustache don't take it personal we treat everyone with a mustache that way. Well ya ok but it is me and my mustache that you are discrimination against rite now so yes it is personal. Make cense?

OK, but what about Ladies' Night? Military discounts? Those are examples of charging one person or group a different price than another person or group. This kind of thing happens all the time and nobody bats an eye.

Tom_Spangler wrote:

dean1484 wrote:

Tom_Spangler wrote: It seems like you are taking this personally. They do it to EVERYONE. And of course you are their "cash cow", you are the source of their revenue, you are the customer, etc.

Discrimination is Personal. It is like saying to me hay you have a mustache don't take it personal we treat everyone with a mustache that way. Well ya ok but it is me and my mustache that you are discrimination against rite now so yes it is personal. Make cense?

OK, but what about Ladies' Night? Military discounts? Those are examples of charging one person or group a different price than another person or group. This kind of thing happens all the time and nobody bats an eye.

Yes and you go to another bar (just with out the ladies ) But you know that going in to it. I had no warning no sign at the door as you will. I only figured it out by dumb luck. I guess the fact that it came off to me as being sneaky instead of being up front about it. That is the difference here.

oldeskewltoy wrote: Maybe you should go over into the sponsored Rock Auto thread (here in GRM) and post up your concerns........... typically dirty weasels don't like to be seen... and so often times those dirty weasels (certain money grubbing occupations) don't like the light of day being shined on their dirty little plans

I did not know it existed but this thread has taken on a life of its own at this point. I also want to see if I get any kind of final response to my last email to them or if the matter is closed. I am betting the latter as there is no benefit for them to address this any further. I do know that I have two non linked accounts at Rockauto and they now know at least one of them (as the pricing seems to have been fixed) but you can bet I will be looking carful at my business account.

Tom and I are getting pretty far afield on this turning it in to a philosophical discussion of general internet trade practice and it should probably be continued in a new / different thread/

Tom_Spangler wrote: OK, I'll be that guy. So what? They can charge what they want, you are free to buy or not buy from them. Amazon does this all the time, they study your buying habits and charge you as much as they think you will pay and not a penny less. That amount may be different for you than it is for me or someone else. They are trying to maximize their profits, which is, you know, their job. Maybe it's the heartless MBA in me, but I don't see what's dishonest or deceptive about it. Bottom line: It's your job as the consumer to compare prices and get your best deal. It's their job as a seller to make as much money off you as they can.

So what I am hearing you say, is that a store could charge somebody more money compared to somebody else... because of their race?!

Oh man, that felt good.

HiTempguy wrote:

Tom_Spangler wrote: OK, I'll be that guy. So what? They can charge what they want, you are free to buy or not buy from them. Amazon does this all the time, they study your buying habits and charge you as much as they think you will pay and not a penny less. That amount may be different for you than it is for me or someone else. They are trying to maximize their profits, which is, you know, their job. Maybe it's the heartless MBA in me, but I don't see what's dishonest or deceptive about it. Bottom line: It's your job as the consumer to compare prices and get your best deal. It's their job as a seller to make as much money off you as they can.

So what I am hearing you say, is that a store could charge somebody more money compared to somebody else... because of their race?! Oh man, that felt good.

Well, there's a law against that, now isn't there?

In Canuckland, pretty sure there is a law against price discrimination as far as I can tell:

http://www.mccarthy.ca/pubs/cach4.htm

Sounds like it is actually pretty similar to the US, but I only skimmed it.

It's called 'pounding the base'; how to get as much money as possible from a customer (usually repeat customers). The Canadian telecoms are infamous for it (friends used to work for them). It sucks, but it's how a lot of business is done these days.

Not to make light at ALL concerning you're concerns and argument, I HATE this kind of crap and especially when it comes to something that impacts my day-to-day.

"OK, but what about Ladies'Night? Military discounts?"

But . . . whenever I go ANYWHERE, a coffee shop or a parts house, even the Post Office. I always (I mean every single time) ask if they offer the "stupid old fat man discount?" And I sometimes get it ! ! ! ! !

Not sure if it's real or not, but they discount my purchase and joke around with me. I've even asked if they offer a "homeless discount" and turns out that Cumberland Farms does. I almost got it at the Post Office as well . . . almost.

Maybe it will work on Rock Auto, couldn't hurt to ask, I'll let you know when I order up my distributor.

Re travel site analogy.

I was booking for 8 people to go to Vegas a few years ago. So I booked two groups of 4, since travel sites don't allow for bookings of more than 6 at a time.

The price changed between group 1 and 2!!!

Offering better "introductory" pricing to attract potential customers than current customers can get (without knowing to ask) is nothing new, and is far from exclusive to internet sales. It's an age old business practice based on value added services like brick and mortar stores, expertise/guidance, or in this case exceptionally well developed searchable parts databases. Even if it's not always the case in reality, the hypothesis is that the repeat customers are the ones who are more likely to value your company as a supplier, seeing the additional value being provided through the 'free' services you provide as being worth allowing you a fair profit margin. As opposed to new customers who are far more likely to be the ones that (ab)use your free services just to buy somewhere else, and wouldn't bat an eyelash at you going out of business as long it meant they could save a few bucks on their purchase...Although they would still manage to be upset at the loss of those 'free' value added services if you did go out of business.

To close the loop on this I got a response from Rock and it is interesting to note that they said that the price would have changed when I went to check out. I have to give them the benefit of the dought and go with there explanation for now but I will be keeping a close eye on things from now forward.

Hello,

Danielle C.
RockAuto Customer Service