Wow over a $100 dollars difference on some that is crazy!

I find this one hard to believe, somehow, although assuming that this is true, I wonder if it always give him the same prices on the same computer (the one you browsed from) or were there different prices from the same computer different times he got on?

I know students at MIT familiar with a research project where DELL is a sponsor. They are trying to predict behavior and decide who is likely to buy and who is not. The web page will change depending on what the predictive engine thinks the person on the other end of the browser is likely to do. It can and will change not only the price, but the content as well. This is no joke. This is actually happening.

Not a Dell employee, but I think this is to test offerings at various price points.

Believe it or not, some products sell better at high price points rather than low price points. I suspect this is random, time-limited test to figure out how effective various price points are at generating profits.

Dude, you're getting a Dell?

Well i guess there acting like scummy car dealers then... i guess it pays check more than once

I wish when i went to Dell they took $100 off their stuff automatically, then i might actually buy something there :D

Here is a link to an abstract on my assertion:
[digital.mit.edu]
Customer Retention at Dell Using Data Mining
Professor Dimitris Bertsimas
Sponsor: Dell Computer Corporation
In this research we study the problem of retention of prospective customers that visit a web site using data mining techniques. Current data suggest that retention rates are extremely low, yet web sales represent a significant portion of corporate revenues. Hence, improving the retention rate is a problem of undeniable importance. We propose to partition the study into three areas.
(1) Classifying customer's behavior using data mining methods from click stream data. (2) Development of behavioral models that explain the clusters found in Part 1. (3) Control mechanisms to improve customer retention. The goal is to understand and influence how customer interest can be converted to purchase.

@captbob: Not hard to believe at all. The higher price point makes the product seem to be of higher quality, higher value, or more powerful.

you gotta look for the pre-configured support options... they always mess up the starting prices

Another thing to note about dell.com is that when you select different hardware packages for the same model, clicking "customize it" to bring each option to have the exact same hardware, never gives you the same price.

So you could purchase two identical devices, for different prices, just based on the layout of the website.

@vastrightwing: So if you come back a second time to the page, you're judged as more ready to buy than the first time you were there. My suggestion is to dump your cookies and try a third time to see if the lower prices come back.

I certainly hope that Professor Dimitris Bertsimas isn't using any federal grant money to study how to rip people off.

When I went to buy my Dell desktop 4 years ago, I found that the prices for the same computer were HIGHER after I put in my company's Employee Purchase Program number. Thought it was weird back then.

I'm going to create a getdellsbestdeal.com and it will crawl all over dell.com to simulate a user clicking all over the website adjusting its behavior such that the prices eventually go to zero. Then it will generate a list of links to click on in the proper order so everyone can get free stuff!

@vastrightwing: Sort of brings to mind the old late night TV ads for all kinds of sleazy stuff:

"NOW how much would you pay???"

I was attempting to get to both screens to see if the underlying hardware is the same, but I cannot seem to find the vostro page at $824, I can only find the $699. Perhaps old cache?

the problem with the screenshots is it would be great if it included the navigation information that is closer to the top of the screen with all the > symbols.

Yeah, dell is not 100% consistent with pricing. I bought a desktop from them in 2003, and priced out quite a few different configurations. I found you could start with 2 different "base systems," but configure both to have identical specs when all was said and done, and often have at least a $100 difference in price between the two.

Also, they run a different special every week, whether it be on shipping or simply a dollar amount off based on total price, so it's hard to compare prices week to week.

So it's worth it to do your homework before buying there.

When buying from Dell, check the home user prices, small business prices, etc. They are all different. I saved $200 on a monitor by buying from the home instead of small business section.

Wait.. why would I buy a Dell?

This definitely is true. Whenever I have to buy a laptop from Dell, I'm forced to browse using the various discount programs my company has, then I go back in as a regular joe blow. Quite often I get the best price going in as Small Business, no discount programs.... then I call up my Dell rep and bitch until they're willing to undercut that price.

I would have thought more consumerist readers would be familiar with this practice from their deal-hunting :-) When buying from Dell, you have to check everything from multiple angles, as they employ differential pricing. This has been going on for years.

here's a crazy idea...

maybe people who still use IE explorer are more willing to buy expensive dells than firefox users... that would be the only difference i can tell. i can't say for sure, but lets just say people who download firefox are a little more tech savvy than IE users, which means to an IE user, if it's shiny enough and it sounds good, why not pay the price?

or is this too much conspiracy theory? i'm just trying to spot the differences...

the only difference between the screens is that one of them uses firefox (cheaper price) and the other uses internet explorer (more expensive price)

so maybe IE users are more like to pay for something shiny than firefox users, who are more tech savvy (maybe?)

or is that too much of a conspiracy theory? i'm just trying to spot differences...

sorry for dbl post, didn't see my first comment :(

.@Siegeman: Just last week I was attempting to buy a server on Dell's Small Business site. They were advertising 35% off on selected servers, including the model I was building. As I add on they have a running total which eventually shows discounts of $957 on a $2800 purchase (est.) When I clicked purchase the discounts changed to $750. Much like Tom, I tried several of their sites(not simultaneously) but kept getting screwed out of the full discount... screw Dell and their computers

They have been doing this for years. When I used to order from Dell (years ago), I would always check the pricing from multiple IPs and browsers, then lock in the one with the lowest price. The difference was very often a few hundred dollars, just like in your example.

This is another non-news item. Different Dell divisions run their own specials and deals - which accounts for the exact machine in the Small Business division selling for a different price than one in Home User.

In this case, it's predictive and supply-side adjustments within a single division (Small Business). This is nothing new and it's nothing earth-shattering like the falsehoods of Best Buy having an 'internal' web site with higher prices than the real external web site.

These complain-about-something-before-the-first-bit-of-research-on-the-topic posts on an otherwise great site are starting to get tedious.

Dell has used market segment pricing for years online. They have had a different price for consumer/SMB/Large Biz for a very long time. What is not generally known is that you can say you are a big business get a slightly better deal for the same product.

Also, Dell will offer pricing discounts to individuals if they purchase thru their company at whatever the company has negotiated as a discount. Talk to the HR dept and see if they have a Dell discount code. The webpage will honor it and adjust pricing.

@Siegeman: Yep I just purchased a dell from their Canadian website and even if it's the exact same model but just different presets your options will restricted, often forcing you to purchase more ram or giving you only options for the worst and best of a system component.

A couple weeks ago I was looking at ordering a laptop on Dell. On the 27th I configured an XPS for $2,600 and saved the cart in my account. The next day the same configuration was over $4,000. Needless to say I didn't end up buying the computer.

I have only one thing to say to this thread,

"Yeah! Duh!"

Don't forget, when you go to customize, remember to check the warranty details. Sometimes with a cheaper model, you get 90 days warranty, and the more expensive one gets 1 - 3 years added.

I tried this on one computer, and got a similar result as the OP got(although I used 3 different browsers).
Prices on Vostro 400 Mini Tower
IE: $699
Firefox: $699
Safari: $824

I'm on a Windows XP Pro.

Variable pricing, horrible service, layoffs galore and mediocre bloatware filled computers- how can you lose?

Oh, and every browser takes me to the SAME EXACT PAGE:

[www.dell.com]

Way too many factors.

Besides the $999 less discount of $200 = $799, Dell will sell the same identical computer for $799 without any discounts. The landed costs are the same but the one unit appears to be "on-sale".

Then there are different servers providing the web content. I know Dell's update starts on Wednesday night, but the web servers are updated on a rolling update that can several hours to complete. (yes, they really do have that many web servers in operation).

Different segments. log-in's versus not logged-in etc.

This is really par for the course with Dell. I've seen similar issues time and time again. Also, prices for the exact same system can be dramatically different depending on whether you access the consumer section of the site vs. the small business section, which any consumer can purchase from anyway.

A lot of times with Dell they will have different configured products depending on various factors like whether you are accessing it from the home division or small business division. So some model computer will list with different prices because it has different components as "standard" in them. You can usually go into the customization page and make all the options the same and come up with the same price. Sometimes, though, they don't allow certain options, so there is no way to match the prices.

They also offer sales all the time, so it gets confusing. It is a good idea if you want a Dell to get to the product various ways, including looking at online coupon sites.

When I was shopping for a laptop to replace my stolen one it seemed like everytime I refreshed the page the price was different. Over the course of a week the price fluctuated several hundred dollars for the exact same specs ordered through their premier site (Higher Education portal). When I called Dell on the phone to ask about a feature, the agent couldn't even get the same price I was staring at my screen at online.

Eventually when I decided to buy the computer, between the time I added it to my shopping cart and I entered my credit card info the discount went from $299 off to $799 off with no warning. If I had been 5 minutes earlier I would have paid $500 more.

I'm convinced Dell gets their prices from the phase of the moon and the position of the planets in the stars.

That said, the 4 or so non-custom, pre-specced systems we have with Dell are an incredible deal and the prices are rock solid (at least until we negotiate another spec).

Can't stand Dell or HP websites,they're slow, they drag you through the process.ONE time I got a decent offer with Dell over the phone.I also notice bundles are getting tougher to find-choice is one thing but shopping online or at Dell many are looking to control cost.

One thing I noticed over years that late spring seems to be the best time to buy.Tax season and school will be over and they will want to clear out for back to school.

Sounds like they use the same software that HotWire.com and Travelocity.com...

the real wtf is they are buying a dell...ooops wrong site

Wait until you check the government contract price for the exact same computer - it's always a LOT more. When I worked for the Fed. government, we would buy buy off-contract with credit card or P.O. tied to non-govt funds, then get that account reimbursed, saving the taxpayers about $250 per computer.

You're welcome.

@Shadowman615: Oh yeah.

When I got my M1330 I noticed that if you start with the most expensive option and the cheapest option.

And then "customize them" to the exact same specs.

The most expensive option turned out to be a few hundred dollars cheaper than the cheap option.

My wife and I just got a catalog from them offering "free shipping & handling". The day we got the catalog, we placed an order for a computer for my mother-in-law, which we had planned to do for some time.
Yet, when placing the order online at Dell.com, the so-called free shipping was nowhere to be found, nor was the code on the catalog accepted for free shipping. So, before completing the order online, we called Dell to redo the order manually to see if they would give us the free shipping that way. The CSR claimed no such offer existed even after my wife read it to him verbatim right from the catalog. Finally he relented as a "courtesy". Yeah, it was a pain, but worth saving the $19.99 or whatever the frack they were going to charge us.

Dude, it's a Dell?

Full disclosure: I work at Dell.

It looks like Tom is viewing a beta test we're running on the website re: Vostro pricing. The way it works is a random sample of Dell shoppers see the beta test vs. our standard Website, which allows us to gather real-time customer feedback before we make broader pricing or promotion moves. For this specific test, we're looking at a simplified pricing approach on Vostro desktops and will use the results to make customer-driven decisions on future Vostro pricing and promotions. Our overall goal is to make it easier for customers to find the best pricing on Vostro when they come to our website. Hope this makes sense and thanks for bringing your questions to our attention.

This is actually a fairly common thing. If I plan on buying something from dell, I check the price in multiple ways. First through the home/home office page, then small buisiness, and if I have one of their catalogs, there too. Sometimes the items are in all three sections all at different prices.
As far as I can tell its been that way for a very long time.
It could also be a slight configuration change, different video card or more warranty coverage.