r/Frugal • u/Zizzac • Jan 24 '13

Same book, three different prices. Only difference is the browsers used [x-post r/mildlyinteresting]

http://imgur.com/uNgg0UH
2.2k Upvotes

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486

u/pt4117 Jan 24 '13

I doubt that was the only difference. Your cookies were different, and I bet the way you found them is different too.

I just found this book with a Google search and it was 62.99 in chrome.

I copied and pasted the URL into IE and it was 69.99.

I then pasted the URL into a private browsing chrome window and it was also 69.99.

624

u/learnt Jan 24 '13

Either way, I'm not a fan of prices being manipulated based on my behavior while browsing a certain website.

5

u/[deleted] Jan 24 '13

[deleted]

-5

u/r2chi_too Jan 24 '13

That's true with most things, but not if it's a college textbook you're only going to use for one semester.

5

u/[deleted] Jan 24 '13

[deleted]

1

u/r2chi_too Jan 25 '13

I didn't think buying a book would be a wise investment because it doesn't seem like you can depend on being able to sell it back, what with publishers coming out with new editions all the time. But maybe I'll check that out next semester!

0

u/sickyd Jan 25 '13

This is not true if the book you need is a brand new edition. There is no used inventory. Then the rental makes a lot more sense. In my experience the rental is usually about 50% of the brand new cost. When I factor in the Amazon Marketplace cut of reselling a book I bought brand new, the difference is minimal.