IT experts: Can computers really do this

[gmerkt]

Okay, here's the deal. I know that web sites can track your purchasing history. For instance, I'll visit Midway, then go to another website, and a Midway advertisement might pop up.

But here is the core of my question. Do websites jack up prices to your particular IP address subsequent to your having looked at things?

Mrs. Merkt looks at travel stuff online. She prices things. Often enough she tells me, "I just looked at this cruise / air fare yesterday and it was $1X. Today, I went back and the same thing is $1.5X." Do they raise prices based on your looking at them? I know prices for travel arrangements are subject to shifting around. But I get this creepy feeling that they jack them based on your personal hits on the site. Mrs. Merkt says I'm crazy for thinking this. Am I being paranoid?

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[Certaindeaf]

Okay, here's the deal. I know that web sites can track your purchasing history. For instance, I'll visit Midway, then go to another website, and a Midway advertisement might pop up.

But here is the core of my question. Do websites jack up prices to your particular IP address subsequent to your having looked at things?

Mrs. Merkt looks at travel stuff online. She prices things. Often enough she tells me, "I just looked at this cruise / air fare yesterday and it was $1X. Today, I went back and the same thing is $1.5X." Do they raise prices based on your looking at them? I know prices for travel arrangements are subject to shifting around. But I get this creepy feeling that they jack them based on your personal hits on the site. Mrs. Merkt says I'm crazy for thinking this. Am I being paranoid?

I've heard of realtors electronically eavesdropping on potential buyers while they thought they were alone.. which would then jack up the price accordingly.

 

[SonicBlue03]

They don't do that (yet)

You got caught by the window of time triggers before go-date or any number of unknown other factors that trigger automatic pricing adjustments. You may have seen the last day of a sale, any number of things.

If you want to test it, use a VPN for browsing and see what you get.

 

[Nosferatu]

I work in IT, but I'm not an expert, so take this with a drop of Hoppes #9;

Websites can and do track activity on products and services. Amazon does this all the time. When a particular product gets a bit of unusually heavy traffic, the system will adjust the pricing to maximize their profit.

Now a SINGLE person browsing it won't make it change, it's likely you and 100+ other people looking at the same product(s) at the same general time, and the site is adjusting the price dynamically based on recent interest.

 

[JDubDub]

Most sites that take advantage of that level of tracking will actually drop the price if you click away. I drop items into a cart all the time and click away. I know several sites that will send out follow up emails to with lower prices or offer specific discounts.

 

[Ay Dios Mio]

Clear cache/cookies...original airline price will come back.

 

[gmerkt]

Most sites that take advantage of that level of tracking will actually drop the price if you click away.

This idea seems to support Mrs. Merkt's opinion.

Clear cache/cookies...original airline price will come back.

But then again, I will try this and see what happens.

 

[parallax]

It was either Priceline or kayak. I was searching for a one way rental car checked one site it was let's say 56.00 went to the other site it was 121.00 went back to the first site price jumps up to 86.00 I clear browser history try first site again it is at 56.00 I gotta assume they are seeing me when I don't clear my browser history