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[telecom] Websites Vary Prices, Deals Based on Users' Information
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Monty Solomon
Dec 25, 2012, 12:30:24 AM12/25/12
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Websites Vary Prices, Deals Based on Users' Information
By JENNIFER VALENTINO-DEVRIES, JEREMY SINGER-VINE and ASHKAN SOLTANI
December 24, 2012
It was the same Swingline stapler, on the same Staples.com website.
But for Kim Wamble, the price was $15.79, while the price on Trude
Frizzell's screen, just a few miles away, was $14.29.
A key difference: where Staples seemed to think they were located.
A Wall Street Journal investigation found that the Staples Inc.
website displays different prices to people after estimating their
locations. More than that, Staples appeared to consider the person's
distance from a rival brick-and-mortar store, either OfficeMax Inc.
or Office Depot Inc. If rival stores were within 20 miles or so,
Staples.com usually showed a discounted price.
...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323777204578189391813881534.html
***** Moderator's Note *****
It may be that the best online deals are to be had while standing in
the parking lot of a discount store in an economically depressed area
of a city in the rustbelt.
Or, perhaps, to have an app that makes online stores /think/ you're
their. Let the games begin!
Bill Horne
Moderator
By JENNIFER VALENTINO-DEVRIES, JEREMY SINGER-VINE and ASHKAN SOLTANI
December 24, 2012
It was the same Swingline stapler, on the same Staples.com website.
But for Kim Wamble, the price was $15.79, while the price on Trude
Frizzell's screen, just a few miles away, was $14.29.
A key difference: where Staples seemed to think they were located.
A Wall Street Journal investigation found that the Staples Inc.
website displays different prices to people after estimating their
locations. More than that, Staples appeared to consider the person's
distance from a rival brick-and-mortar store, either OfficeMax Inc.
or Office Depot Inc. If rival stores were within 20 miles or so,
Staples.com usually showed a discounted price.
...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323777204578189391813881534.html
***** Moderator's Note *****
It may be that the best online deals are to be had while standing in
the parking lot of a discount store in an economically depressed area
of a city in the rustbelt.
Or, perhaps, to have an app that makes online stores /think/ you're
their. Let the games begin!
Bill Horne
Moderator
T
Dec 26, 2012, 11:20:33 AM12/26/12
to
In article <p0624082eccfee983139c@[10.0.1.3]>, mo...@roscom.com says...
Nothing you can't defeat by using a proxy based in another area. Sure,
it'll cost you a few bucks for shell accounts on a bunch of hosts, but
at least you'll save a whole 50 cents.
***** Moderator's Note *****
Like all trial balloons, this one is small. The price differentials
are tiny, and easily explained away: what Staples /really/ wants to
know is if anyone cares enough to switch to the competition.
Bill Horne
Moderator
it'll cost you a few bucks for shell accounts on a bunch of hosts, but
at least you'll save a whole 50 cents.
***** Moderator's Note *****
are tiny, and easily explained away: what Staples /really/ wants to
know is if anyone cares enough to switch to the competition.
Bill Horne
Moderator
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