Amazon: Dynamic Pricing?

[Late]

I'm sure members here have experienced this phenomena before:

You bookmark a page for a certain CD at Amazon (or simply put it in your cart), and then don't buy it right away. Then, if you check back on this page from time to time, the price begins to fluctuate. Usually, it seems, the price goes down for a while, and then — if you don't finally purchase the title — it jumps back up anywhere between $2 and $5.

I was checking some Steeplechase titles (always ridiculously expensive) recently, and listening to sound samples. Each disc had a slightly different price — somewhere between $18 and $20. Now, today, every title I bookmarked is $19.39. Is this because I clicked on a title too many times without purchasing?

I've always wondered how Amazon's pricing system works, and if there's a program at play.

Thoughts?

[Quincy]

I wonder about this too. I don't have an answer other than to suggest using the camelcamelcamel price tracking site. They have graphs for items sold through Amazon proper, new items through marketplace vendors and used items. Sometimes an item is of too limited interest to generate enough data (I've run into this with some blues titles) but it's a great resource for looking at past price movements and planning your purchases (and of course, setting your price).

[Late]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4zyjLyBp64