The Buy Box

In cases where Amazon and partner vendors offer the same item, how do you ensure you get the best price? It's not as easy as Amazon would have you believe.

Berman initially told me that if a third party "can offer the product cheaper than us, then they win the buy box"; that is, that company is chosen by default if you click the 'Add to Shopping Cart' button on the right side of a product page.

The contest for the buy box is based on the bottom-line price, which includes shipping. Because Amazon charges nothing for standard shipping on purchases over $25 (and has to include sales tax only for merchandise its ships to Kansas, Kentucky, North Dakota, and Washington state), it often gains an edge over the competition.

That edge increases if, like me, you subscribe to Amazon Prime, paying $79 a year to get free two-day shipping for anything you buy from the company. Someday I'm going to figure out if Prime really pays off for me--and you should do the math, too. In some locations standard shipping winds up taking only two days anyway, and with a little planning you can always reach the required $25 minimum to make it free.

But even with the free shipping, I found at least one instance in which Amazon was the default supplier even though its bottom-line price wasn't the lowest.

In March, when I was shopping for a camcorder, a Canon HV10 high-def MiniDV model's price on the product page was $900 from Amazon. But Ace Digital Club was selling it for $830 (including standard shipping). Even more annoyingly, the Amazon product page indicated that the camera "usually ships within 4 to 6 weeks." Ace Digital's estimated ship date, on the other hand, was within a day or two.

When I asked about this apparent contradiction, Berman acknowledged that bottom-line price isn't the only factor determining the buy box winner. Other considerations include "availability, volume, refunds, customer feedback, [and] A-to-z Guarantee claims....This means that there can be times when the seller with the lowest price (product price plus shipping) is not the winner of the buy box. This information is communicated to our merchants and sellers so they can improve on all factors, increasing their chance of winning the buy box."

But customers who rely on the product page may not realize that a lower partner price is available. And they aren't alerted to any problems that are keeping a company from winning the buy box.

Elusive Low Price

Similarly, don't assume that because Amazon shows offers from third-party partners, it has the best prices on the Web. A search of PCWorld.com's own shopping engine, powered by PriceGrabber.com, showed that Dbuys.com was selling the Canon HV10 for $814, also with free shipping (seven to ten business days, no tracking number).

The depth and breadth of product offerings on Amazon.com are unquestionably impressive, and the company's A-to-z Guarantee may ease concerns about shopping with an unfamiliar merchant. But Amazon isn't always going to deliver the best deal, or even make it supereasy for you to find the best deal it is offering. As usual, that's up to you.

Yardena Arar is a senior editor, for PC World. You can send her e-mail at consumerwatch@pcworld.com.