Buy.com are almost certainly using an algorithm-based pricing system. They have bought a boat load of n800s from Nokia and they want to shift them out of their warehouse ASAP.

They know how many they have, how quickly they are selling, when they want their investment back and exactly how much it is costing them just to hold the units in inventory. As the units sell they tweak the price up/down to optimize their final profit.

What puzzles me is that Nokia are pushing a lot of n800s through the distribution system. Why?

One answer would be that they are following a pricing strategy that basically says it is better to make a lot of money off the wealthy _and_ a little money (many times over) off the poor. So you make a range of products so that you can sell a high-end model to the rich at a very high premium and a low-end model to the poor at a very low margin. Apple are very good at this, so are Toyota/Lexus. Everybody gets the opportunity to buy an iPod and no money is left on the table for another competitor.

Another answer would be that Nokia is actually incompetent at warehousing and pricing and have loads of n800s in stock that they now know will never sell against the N810 unless it is significantly cheaper. I suspect that the build cost of an n800 is <$100 so we do not need to weap for them.

The question is what happens once the supply chain is empty:

(a) Will Nokia discontinue the n800?
(b) Will Nokia reset the price of the n800?
(c) Will Nokia simply keep the n800 recommended price at its current level?

Given Nokia's past behaviour on setting prices I suspect that they will initially go with (c) and then discover that they cannot sell very many at that price so they will discontinue the n800 in the hope that they can turn all sales into n810 sales.

I hope that they go with (b) but I suspect the price will be over $300, which I think is too high.

This is just speculation of course, but now might be the right time to buy an n800.

All of this makes ordinary shopping feel more and more like a poker game.

hahah dont, I liked that post, how much schooling did you have to know all of that?

how do you explain buy.com placing the n800 on the main page advertisement? that had to up the sales significantly.

The minute the n800 go's under $200 i will buy another one just cuz i love it

I bought mine from buy.com after it went back up to $239. I did go to dealnews.com's coupon section and found a 5% off coupon though. With that and free shipping I can't complain. I got my n800 quickly and am pretty impressed with it.

-grantbob

$8 may not sound like much to you guys but consider this: $8 PER unit. Buy.com sells an additional... 10,000 units than it expected to?

BOOM. $80,000 in extra profits.

Oh and if the N800 dropped bellow $150, I too would consider grabbing another one. Though I'm not sure what I would do with TWO N800s....

(Clustering! )

I would buy another n800, 1 for home, 1 for the road. if the price drops $30 bucks.

Stick one on the couch/bed/bathroom (:P) and use it as a movie-viewer/ebook reader/weberator.

You're SO gonna get me in trouble.... I'm seriously considering the "benefits" of grabbing 4 or 5 and placing them at different spots in the house....

Language trouble again, are you looking for $30 price cut or price drops to $30? Price cut $30 that may come soon. Price drops to $30 I am afraid, it aint goin to happen


bun

if the price drops $30 bucks. price = current price.