Kogan - Adventures in Price Fluctuations

LNalar on 23/09/2015 - 06:28
Last edited 29/09/2015 - 23:25

Hey guys,

Over the last 3 days I've looked at a 12,000 BTU portable air conditioner each day, and to my shock the price has gone up each time. Now the skeptic in me immediately thinks "hey, they track that I'm interested in the product so they are going to keep putting the price up until I'm scared into buying it" or maybe they are jacking the prices because lots of people are looking at the same time?

So, am I right or is it just a normal practice for Kogan to just change prices daily? Can anyone share their experiences? Will incognito or maybe a VPN reset it back to it's original price?

Day 1: $249
Day 2: $259
Day 3: $289
Day 4: $289
Day 5: $289
Day 6: $289
Day 7: $289
Day 8: $289 + Shipping
Day 9: $289 + Shipping

new edit No longer available on EBay, maybe stock levels dictate price?

https://www.kogan.com/au/buy/reverse-cycle-4-1-portable-air-…

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Comments

  • oscargamer on 23/09/2015 - 10:02
    +1

    no idea about Kogan, but some websites increase prices of items based on number of visits

    then people panic and buy thinking the price is increasing….which it is

    a good sales tactic i reckon

  • boomramada on 23/09/2015 - 10:16
    +2

    It is a common practice by most businesses these days, either find the bargain on ozbargain or just wait for the cheaper day and buy it. No big deal.

  • spackbace on 23/09/2015 - 10:28
    +2

    Might be related to the ebay sale

  • KaTst3R on 23/09/2015 - 10:43

    Looks like an air ticket website. They use cookies to log how many times u have visited the page and adjust the price accordingly.

  • ChickenTalon on 23/09/2015 - 11:05

    If I was selling A/C units I'd adjust the price with the weather :)

    I actually did this once in my spare time, bought a bunch of heaters during summer on ebay. Left them in the garage and then auctioned them off at the start of winter, pretty much doubled the price or close to.

    Fun and rather profitable but wasn't worth it in the end. Dealing with some morons picking stuff up on ebay is a nightmare.

  • Nalar on 24/09/2015 - 08:30

    Day 4 and the price has remained steady, with the weather holds out I may just see a price drop before the worst of summer….

  • harrribo on 24/09/2015 - 13:49

    of course they are tracking your interest !!!

    the item I was interested in ( before I found out it was NOT included in the free shipping deal - as now moved to pantry -

    although a health & beauty item )

    is showing now as an ad in the top 3rd half of the ozbargain page I logged onto again - and they already sent me an email that they are holding that item for my convenience for now - shipping is about as much as the item = no deal !

    I can't even clear the shopping trolley ( other online websites have a paper asked symbol next to trolley - so you can clear the trolley - NOT @ KOGAN

    ( I am on an iPad 3 )

  • inherentchoice on 24/09/2015 - 20:46

    Looks like their prices are fluctuating more than the ASX. Latest thing seems to be prices jacked up because of free shipping site-wide…

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/212539

  • Nalar on 27/09/2015 - 09:53

    Day 7.

    Today the song price remains the same. I feel like this is the 'base' price and anything cheap will be a discount. The saga will continues

  • Talonparty on 29/09/2015 - 15:19

    I was inspired by your post because I was looking for a portable air con. I watched the price stay at $289 with free delivery but that's gone now. It's still $289.

    I bought it a couple of days ago from the ebay 15% sale and it ended up being just over $250. They're all sold out now but when I look at the price over the last few months the highest price on ebay was $370 in june and now $297 is the lowest on ebay for that price over that time period (although the ebay one might include delivery and it's quoted as lik $60 on the kogan page).

    After it sold out it went up to $340 on ebay again.

  • Nalar on 29/09/2015 - 18:36

    Damn, I did see that on Ebay with the 15%, should have jumped on it. Oh well, the watching continues

  • rompastompa on 29/09/2015 - 18:42

    Why don't you post the link, and we can check the price on our end?

    As others have said, likely the ebay sales recently factoring the price hikes (Spend $100+$50, 15%, etc). You'd assume that they're not moving so many units that the daily rate changes, though if they don't actually have the stock and need to import it in (likely), daily price will change with our currency.

  • Talonparty on 05/10/2015 - 18:40

    And now it's gone from kogan's website and from ebay :(

  • Nalar on 06/10/2015 - 06:35

    Sadly this adventure has come to a close :(

    But one last twist?! Kogan had a "hot deals" promo just before the air con was de-listed, the very first item on the "hot deals" page was the 12,000 BTU unit, but it was still $289 + Shipping, which doesn't seem like a hot deal at all

    So, what have we learnt? I think there are two lessons:

    Don't trust Kogan's current price, as it can change for no reason seemingly whenever they like.

    Jump on a deal if you feel like it's a good price or you've seen it more expensive in the past.

    mmmmm both those lessons seems to contradict each other, so I guess I've learnt nothing? Thanks Internet!

    • Talonparty on 09/10/2015 - 18:07

      Heh I don't know why this has become a hobby of mine but now there's a new 12,000 BTU model for $309 (no delivery included) for presale (arrives on the 14th). It's got a different shell but apparently all the same functions. My guess is they jacked the price as they saw summer approaching and they probably wont lower it until after :(

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