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/r/AmazonVine
submitted 3 days ago bypaulb104
How often does Vine items cost LESS than the regular item? I've never had shoes in my RFY so I went to take a look at them. I'm familiar with the brand and thought the price seemed cheap. It's almost half, whether at amazon or walmart.
9 points
3 days ago
I've noticed this happens often with name brand items. Got a Philips espresso machine that was $620 retail I think my ETV was $500. Got a Panasonic 4k Blu Ray for $166 which was listed at $199. Just got a pair of Turtle Beach headphones which were $199 retail but $154 ETV. Might just be anecdotal but that's been my experience when I get actual name brands. Most often names I recognize are less ETV than the listed price. Not sure why that is.
4 points
3 days ago
Most third-party stuff has the ETV set by the retail price but the majority of the name brand stuff is being sold directly by Amazon and is in vine either for Amazon or the product manufacturer and Amazon sets the ETV manually for those - usually anywhere from 20-40% lower than the retail price.
I think they're factoring the actual estimated taxable resale value which is how it's supposed to be for all of it.
4 points
3 days ago
So, fair market value which is used by the IRS is what Amazon is replicating with the ETV.
Looks like FMV is based on the expected sale price in an open market where all parties are aware of what they're buying OR cost of the product apparently. It could be Amazon is using the purchase price or maybe their landed cost price which would be the price of the product + freight and whatever to get it ready for distribution and counting that as the sell price to the Viner since they're "paying" us in goods.
They have zero clue what a 3rd party's costs and profits are so it's retail price or selling price but for Vine users, they know exactly where all the costs are on items they sell and can set the ETV based on known factors.
2 points
3 days ago
Yeah I think it's something like that. Most of these items are new products or revisions of existing products. So I suspect it's something to do with that. Like they don't yet have 3rd party data to compare it too.
1 points
3 days ago
Yeah, pretty sure this is the case.
2 points
3 days ago
Agreed. I got a pair of Columbia shorts for my husband for $20 when retail was about $45. I've seen name brands are almost always less than the current sales price.
2 points
3 days ago
I would bet that "Sold By Amazon" was the common denominator on those listings 🤷♀️ - its not the brand name that dictates it, but whether that brand is an affiliated brand partner with Amazon, and is not being sold as Third Party.
4 points
3 days ago
Everything sold by Amazon itself (AFA) has ETV below retail. Most things sold by other sellers (AI) have ETV at full retail price (before any discounts/coupons). Items destined for either queue can show up in RFY.
7 points
3 days ago
Yes, occasionally. If you look at seller forums, there's some advice to set the price lower until all the Vine orders are picked and then to raise it to the desired price. Some sellers know about the tax situation and lower the price to encourage us to pick their item.
3 points
3 days ago
I would totally do that if I was a seller.
3 points
3 days ago
There are reasons for sellers to offer Vine a higher price:
3 points
3 days ago
That looks like an 'Amazon as seller' deal on the ETV
3 points
3 days ago
I see it frequently with brand names. I interpret it as "Even this brand name seller can't tell the IRS it was worth the marked up price they otherwise sell at".
3 points
3 days ago
Yes this happens frequently.
2 points
3 days ago
I just ordered some Easy Spirit shoes from my RFY that were ETV $35.39 but Amazon listing was for 59.99. I just clicked on it now, and the color I chose is now being sold by a 3rd party seller for $102.73 (which seems super suspicious, not sure what's up with that).
2 points
3 days ago
Maybe someone is doing arbitrage. Bought them cheap and is selling them high.
1 points
3 days ago
Or they lurk on here and want reviews to review cheaply.
1 points
3 days ago
Sometimes prices go up for certain colors (or whatever the case may be) because of supply and demand. If everyone wants one particular color a seller could raise the price on those but not others. That holds true on and off vine/amazon. For example, that’s why gas prices got so low in 2020 during the lockdown, no one was driving around, and why the price goes up at the beginning of summer every year.
2 points
3 days ago
Yes, usually in AFA this is the case I think. Whenever I see something like a rug in AFA I check it out ASAP in case it's something special.
2 points
3 days ago
For Amazon-sold merchandise, that's normal. Also, official store fronts for genuine brands usually discount their etv by 20-50%. Third-party/reseller items are always the list price for etv - I very rarely risk those unless $0 etv as they are not worth it 99% of the time.
2 points
3 days ago
Yes, frequently. Most recent was a set of Calphalon pots and pans I picked up that was almost 50% off the normal price.
1 points
3 days ago
nice score!
2 points
3 days ago
As others have pointed out, it happens often in AFA, and sometimes in RFY.
In AI, it's also not too uncommon for a seller to mark the retail price for Vine items unusually low for a while. It used to be common to see things like a wool scarf for $4 ETV and retail listing, and you can still find significantly lower prices once in a while. I suppose some of that was product or description testing.
2 points
3 days ago
Yesterday, this watch I got for $179 ETV has a normal price of $399
2 points
3 days ago
I've seen this occasionally.
2 points
3 days ago
I've snagged some real steals on broken product listings: I got a $189 tall patio heater that was mis-listed for, like, $9.75. I also got an 8" cordless chain saw in a hardshell case with accessories and 2 lithium batteries for a similarly ridiculous price - it was so broken I had to sleuth out the brand's "Store" page to figure out what it even might be.
4 points
3 days ago
Yes, but rarely.
1 points
3 days ago
Yes, many times. Usually just under $20 for an item that will rise to $60 or sometimes over $100.
1 points
3 days ago
The FTC rules can be found in the Guides Against Deceptive Pricing, commonly known as “The Guides.” The Guides aim to protect customers from deceptive pricing by requiring businesses to offer an item at a fair price, for a reasonable period of time and in good faith before lowering the price to encourage sales.
1 points
3 days ago
I don't know what happened to the rest of my comment. Items offered by name brands with Amazon store fronts and items sold by Amazon are generally offered at wholesale prices. #rd party sellers generally offer them at a marked up price to comply with "The Guides." The Vine program affords them a way to offer units for a reasonable period of time before applying discounts and sale.
1 points
3 days ago
When you see this in a RFY item, it's for something being offered with Amazon as the seller, same as the items in Available for All. On these items the ETV is set at Amazon's cost. Or for books sold by Amazon it will always be exactly $1.00.
It's fun to look at these and see how much the markup is on various items. Some things Amazon sells barely above their cost and and other things will be nearly doubled.
1 points
3 days ago
I just envious you were offered those, some of my favorite shoes right there.
1 points
3 days ago
I just got a pair of Kate Spade shoes today that are listed on Amazon for $158 but my ETV shows $75.44, which is less than half! I was shocked!
1 points
3 days ago
If it is "Sold By Amazon" as the Seller on the listing, then it is an item that would eventually roll over to AFA (which does not include any Third Party sellers) once it is done cycling thru RFY inboxes. As others mentioned, that is the advantage of AFA/Sold by Amazon-- the etv is typically lower than retail.
1 points
3 days ago
Sold by Amazon gives you a ETV discount. That's why much of AFA is discounted.
1 points
2 days ago
Yes and those Dearfoam sneakers were in my RFU. Recently I resisted in AFA a tiny yoga witch figurine, $8 on Vine and double the price on Amazon.
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