Amazon....unreal!

[figment814]

I've tried for several "hot" items, and have gotten...zero. It hasn't made me angry at Amazon. I actually assume that by the company calling them "lightening" deals that they will go very quickly. IMHO, it is a great gimmick, of the non-deceptive variety.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Hello. I'm employed by said company. I think your posts are a gimmick.

As far as how amazon works their lightning deals, the items that are sold that way are bought and sold by amazon. This means that they deal directly with the manufacturer of the product as to how many they can release at a time. So if the manufacturer wants to release 10 or 10,000 it's their call and amazon follows suit. Amazon has been offering the tv's for $147 most of this week. This isn't rocket science, it's business.



Will you see items that were lightning deals on sale once they run out of lightning deals, yes. Once again, I will say that the whole inventory of a said item will not be put up for a lightning deal, as well as other retailers who use amazon as fulfillment centers also will sell that same product.

If the 'deal of the day' is such a gimmick, how come kmart and walmart now have their own versions. Obviously, amazon has figured some things out and you just haven't had any luck with the site. It sucks for you, but once again, life isn't fair. Those people that waited at Walmart for iPads and other things and got the "one hour guarantee" thing, yeah, that's the in person version of getting put on the 'waitlist' on the amazon website. It's a version of a raincheck. ...........

Happy Shopping!

Thanks - good explanation.

 

[MomToOne]

Not that you particularly care, , but I didn't find your comments rude or belittling at all. I did find the amazon worker's post to be defensive and rude however. Eh, to each their own....

Ditto.

And yes, the Amazon lighting deal is a gimmick. So are all Black Friday door busters. I'm not sure why mousehockey37 takes such offense at the word.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Considering every university has their own degrees, you would have to check all of them. For example, there are degrees in theme park management. I think retail management would be much more common than that.

I Googled. Whole most Retail Management degrees seem to be offered by online universities, Scottsdale Community College has had this AS program since 2005 - so it's entirely reasonable that other bricks & mortar schools would as well.

I have fast internet and know what I am doing and I still didn't get the deal

Define 'fast'. I'd say I have a fast connection, too - 12 Mbps - but I repeatedly miss out on the good stuff. But in the breakroom at work, at least I can make the waitlist. Connection speed there is about 100 Mbps. I'm tempted to go in today, on my day off, just to shop

 

[ssawka]

Define 'fast'. I'd say I have a fast connection, too - 12 Mbps - but I repeatedly miss out on the good stuff. But in the breakroom at work, at least I can make the waitlist. Connection speed there is about 100 Mbps. I'm tempted to go in today, on my day off, just to shop

By today's standard, 12 Mbps is average. FIOS now offers 50 Mbps - 75 Mbps to people's homes. It's funny you mention going into work to purchase. Back in the 90's I used to do that to get concert tickets. Now a days I have a much faster connection at home. Speaking of concert tickets, I'm assuming that PPs who are complaining about how quickly the lightening rounds sold out have not tried to buy concert tickets lately!

 

[BubMunkeyBles]

I missed out on a couple things yesterday. I did end up buying the Nabi2 from Best Buy instead though as a result since they had it on sale and Amazon's regular price was higher. I think the term gimmick has a negative vibe for a lot of people, even though it probably is a gimmick.

Our internet is 18 Mbps and that's considered fast for Alaska, lol.

 

[RitaE]

I Googled. Whole most Retail Management degrees seem to be offered by online universities, Scottsdale Community College has had this AS program since 2005 - so it's entirely reasonable that other bricks & mortar schools would as well.

Define 'fast'. I'd say I have a fast connection, too - 12 Mbps - but I repeatedly miss out on the good stuff. But in the breakroom at work, at least I can make the waitlist. Connection speed there is about 100 Mbps. I'm tempted to go in today, on my day off, just to shop

But "fast" doesn't just depend upon your own internet connection speed. It also depends upon how quickly your data packets are going to be passed along every internet hub between you and the Amazon end point server.

So just do what you can do and relax. Much of it really is just luck of the draw and you aren't going to be able to control it or beat it.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Okay, with my average connection - which should be 50, but I haven't reset the modem - The French Laundry Cookbook I wanted sold out in the two minutes it took me to scroll to its link. I joined the waitlist with a 'poor' chance of getting it (at number 157) and, while I read the information/reviews for an item I didn't know I needed - the book became available.

 

[theworldneedscolor]

I think the term gimmick has a negative vibe for a lot of people, even though it probably is a gimmick.

I agree with this. Even though I see how people in this thread are using it, it definitely has a negative connotation for me. I always think of it as deceiving, and where I am from, people use it as a synonym for scam

 

[runsandjumps]

At least we are disappointed at home. I would much rather waste a few minutes sitting at home than hours or days in the elements. Besides, the deals will come back....eventually.

 

[ssawka]

Ok, if we assume for a moment that a gimmick has a negative connotation, then would you say that an auction is a gimmick since only one person can walk away with the item? Amazon tells you up front that quantities are limited, even though they don't tell you what that limit is.

 

[ssawka]

But "fast" doesn't just depend upon your own internet connection speed. It also depends upon how quickly your data packets are going to be passed along every internet hub between you and the Amazon end point server.

This is true, it can also depend on the speed that your system connects to the DNS server if the link is hitting a different Domain Name than Amazon.com. Sorry, that might be too much "geek speak".

BTW, if you are interested in the speed you are connecting at, go to http://www.speedtest.net. It is actually the Upload Speed that matters in terms of snatching the lightening deals. Upload speed is generally slower than Download Speed. Most people probably have an Upload Speed of around 5 Mbps. If you have FIOS and pay for upgraded service, you may get an Upload Speed around 25 Mbps.

 

[theworldneedscolor]

Ok, if we assume for a moment that a gimmick has a negative connotation, then would you say that an auction is a gimmick since only one person can walk away with the item? Amazon tells you up front that quantities are limited, even though they don't tell you what that limit is.

No, I don't think an auction is a gimmick. I also don't think Lightening Deals are. They have limited quantities. Lots of people want it, it doesn't mean they are being unfair.

 

[mousehockey37]

After reading through things after my explanation, here's where the trouble for this thread started:

Same experience with a TV at exact same time you tried. It is clearly a gimmick by Amazon (as it went immediately to "waitlist full"). Yet, the item I was waiting for is still available from Amazon (not a 3rd party) at the regular price. Amazon playing the old false advertising game.

Goofy D used gimmick in what seems a negative sense. Does every business have a gimmick? Yes. Amazon's is the deal of the day and lightning deal. This poster had the misfortune that they waited, with many others, and the clicks didn't fall right. This negativity towards the gimmick turned everything into the devious side of a gimmick.

I also don't think Lightening Deals are. They have limited quantities. Lots of people want it, it doesn't mean they are being unfair.

Thank you, it's nice to have people that DO understand. I'm sure there are plenty of us out there that went shopping on Gray Thursday/Black Friday and missed a deal or two, possibly getting a waitlist/raincheck, but now you go back to the store a few days later and there the item is, at its normal price. That's the ideals of Black Friday. They take a certain amount of items (some places it's everything, some its a certain quantity) and put the sale tag on it. Hot items plus limited quantity makes for fierce competition.

I noticed tonight that Amazon has the Xbox Kinect bundle with the Disneyland game as a deal. I saw it yesterday too. The deal was sold out in a heartbeat yesterday, but it's still going on today.

As others have said, if you do your homework and do it right, you can land the deals, no matter where you are or when it is.

 

[cats mom]

My problem with the lightning deals has more to do with kinks in the system than marketing or limited availability.

I clicked on a very hard to get item the second it popped up on the screen and was #11 on the wait list. A bit later I got the message that I had ~ 2 minutes to add it to my cart and check out. OK, great! Except no matter what I did I couldn't get it into my cart. Later I got the you missed out on the deal because you didn't purchase it in time message. Grrr!

I also know I'm not the only one who has stalled out on that darn spinning checking deal status nonsense. One person on another board reported he left it up for the duration of a deal with no further updates or messages. On easier to get items I've either used a different browser or closed that screen, refreshed, and been able to immediately add the item to my cart, so I know it can sometimes be a glitch. But on harder to get items there's no way to mess with all that and still get in on the deal. Another Grrr!

That said I'm with the folks who feel it's easier to invest the time trying to score a deal at home in front of the computer than being out and about fruitlessly running from store to store for hours on end, so I'll continue to try with Amazon.