It's Kinda Like Buying an Airline Ticket... (Long Post...)

I was looking for a new fuel tank for a Ferguson TO-20, and found that Sparex makes one like the original - right size, holes in the right place, etc.

After some searching, the best price I found on the tank was at an online seller that's not discussed on the board very often. (Sorry, it wasn't our host, as their tank didn't look quite right, and it wasn't the "other" big seller - they had the Sparex tank, but at a higher price.)

Anyway, I had a question, and I got a prompt e-mail response from the "low-priced" seller, so I was all set to order.

However, his e-mail message also included a link to another affiliated site, that turned out to be a Yahoo commerce site.

Out of curiousity, I checked that site, and was able to get the same tank, shipped to me, for about 14 bucks less!

I know a lot of sellers with "regular" websites also have eBay listings where things can sometimes be bought at a lower price, but I've never been an eBay fan.

It just doesn't seem like a buyer should have to work quite so hard to find a lower price, and it doesn't make it any easier when sellers are competeing against themselves.

Can someone explain the reason for the different prices for the same item, sold by the same seller, but on different websites?

Welcome to the wacky world of "E-Commerce".

Check out Amazon dot com- They will have many different sellers for the same item, at various prices. Lets say your looking at a book- the lowest priced vendors are selling it for, say, around 12 bucks. There will be several within a few cents of each other, plus $3.99 for shipping. There will be some more with "free shipping", but the price will be about 4 bucks more (!). But then scroll on down the list- price will keep going up, until at the end they will be in the 50 or 60 dollar range! Why? I have no idea! Do they ever sell any at that price? It would sure seem like a perfect example of my dad's Old Saying #2875: "Anybody rich enough to swing that deal ought to be smart enough not to."

I know this doesn't explain the price difference on your tank, but it does indicate that the practice is pretty universal.

Could just reflect how much it cost the seller to do business on each site.

Nobody can just "eat" overhead. When you buy something you help pay thier taxes, insurance, & bad checks.

Just ain"t no free lunch.

Thanks, Mike - I hadn't thought about the Amazon deal, but I've noticed that, too.

And of course, the title of my thread comes from the old saying about never asking the guy in the next airplane seat how much he paid for his ticket!

And, once you buy your own tickets - NEVER check the price again!

In either case, there's a 50/50 chance that you'll be very disappointed.

The airline ticket thing reminds me of my brother in law- world's greatest ticket shopper (really). My wife and I, and my two sisters and spouses went to Branson a few years ago. BIL was working about 24/7 on a rush job, so he put his wife (my sister) in charge of getting tickets. She didn't get that great a deal, and you could tell it really rankled him the whole trip. But of course, no one said anything (thats why my family still all gets along great with each other, after all these years- "don't sweat the small stuff").

Yehbut just wait, the news says we're about to be hit with an online sales tax.

I buy a lot of books, read them,then donate them
to the library. I was recently looking at a book
review, for a $50 book, but found it at a 1/2
price sale for $25, and free shipping.And a $32
book was $24 at Barnes & Noble, but $16.95 at
Amazon.com. It pays to shop around!

Pick an item and go to 4 or 5 stores and price the item it'll be different everywhere.So what?
A little time and effort wil get you a good deal be lazy and only want to check one place you take what they offer.

I went Amazon to get a new AC recovery machine they had the one I wanted they listed the seller i got for $100 cheaper from the dealer and shipped for free.

I agree, TF, and I don"t mind shopping around for a low price - but in my example, it was like the price was different in the same store, depending on which door of the store you walked in through! LOL!

I agree with Lloyd in SC, Amazon charges a transaction fee for the use of their web site, just like Ebay. If you buy directly from the seller there is no fee to Amazon.

What I think your post is asking is, why can't there be a site/ search engine that simply lists all the prices for a specific item from lowest to highest, for instnce. If you can be linked to that info it should be available to anyone that is savvy enough to create such a searchy thingy. Right?

Needed a spare tire and wheel for a small trailer I bought used. Got one from my local tire dealer for several dollars less than the price at Northern or TSC. Was at a local flea market and noticed one for a few dollars more than the box store price. All these were new.

KEH

Oh, BTW, the local price was less than the online price.

KEH

I agree, KEH - if I can buy any of this stuff locally, I do - most of the people I do business with locally also do business with me in one way or another.

And, that said, I also wouldn"t mind paying local sales tax on my online purchases: I usually purchase online because that"s the only place I can find something, NOT because it"s cheaper, or to avoid paying local sales tax.

I use my local street and other services, and they"ve gotta be paid for somehow!

I think that you used to be able to live in a communist country and pay the same everywhere for something. But they decided to give up on that and allow some free enterprise. It could be that the days of price controls are gone.