The Problem of Dynamic Pricing

If you go shopping at your local shops, then you expect the prices of goods will stay basically the same. Inflation means there will be upward movement and sometimes special offers, but usually there are consistent prices.

Buying petrol is a difficult game as the price is set each day and petrol stations near each other will often change their prices to compete but there is usually at least a tiny difference in price for each petrol station you pass. You can fill your tank expecting the price to go up but it might go down instead.

Airlines have operated demand pricing for some time – the price fluctuates depending on the level of demand so passengers on the same flight may well have  paid a wide range of prices for the same seats from the early bird prices to higher last minute prices.

But what about online giants such as Amazon?

Amazon operate ‘dynamic pricing’ which means they will change prices frequently depending on demand and changing circumstances – this can be multiple times in a day but is more usually once or twice a week for many goods.

The weather forecast changes and the prices of some items changes accordingly. Monday and Tuesday are the least popular days for online shopping so there are more bargains to be had whereas the weekend is more popular so the prices go up.

Anything that potentially changes the level of demand can trigger price changes.

So, how do you deal with this?

It can be difficult to know whether prices for what you want are likely to go up or down but it can be advisable to watch the price of items for a while and see if you can get a good deal.

If you find dynamic pricing to be a problem, then you can use price comparison sites and you can try viewing items you want on various days and at different times and note the cheapest day and time.

Also, to avoid the retailer setting a price based who you are and where you live, switch your browsing to incognito mode so as to be anonymous.

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Warning – Employer Matches

Numerous emails appear almost every day from employermatch.co.uk and the same messages from careercandy.com and wherejobs.co.uk

The titles of the emails are strange, such as:-

  1. Help Requested
  2. Urgent Tesco Openings in Walton-on-Thames

There is no Tesco in Walton-on-Thames and there isn’t one planned.

  1. Urgent ASDA Employment in Weybridge

There is no ASDA in Weybridge – the nearest is about 10 miles away.

  1. Cabin Crew needed in Walton-on-Thames

No airplanes in Walton-on-Thames that I know of.

Employer Match is not a recruitment agency and does not appear to have any jobs to advertise.

Instead they copy job adverts from recruitment agencies and present them as if their own and send out huge volumes of emails with misleading titles and misleading content.

e.g. one email had a Librarian Assistant as the first job vacancy but if you click on it then the site changes to Retail Choice advertising site, showing an assistant manager job vacancy – nothing to do with libraries.

On the Employer Match website there is a search facility – if you put Library assistant and press search – it tells you there are 1,355 Library Assistant jobs near Weybridge.  I would guess that there are at most half a dozen such job vacancies within the whole of Surrey and it would need hundreds of libraries to employ a total of 1,355 Library assistants.  Weybridge has just one library with only a handful of staff in total.

How does Employer Match make money from their spam emails and website?

That is unknown.

The website claims the company is registered in Poole, Dorset but the home page shows jobs in America and the website seems to be hosted from America.

It does seem to be a strange new form of Marketing that is producing huge amounts of misleading spam messages.

Best avoided.

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Facebook Marketplace Scams

Facebook Marketplace is an online shop where you can buy and sell items and services. It’s Facebook’s equivalent to Craigslist ad it includes Facebook Checkout for payment services.

There are a great many scammers on Facebook and even if you’ve been in contact with someone on Facebook for some time – do not believe that you know them and they are who they say they are.

The most common scams on Marketplace are:-

  • Fake products: counterfeits are much cheaper than genuine
  • Romance scams: people use fake photos to lure victims into a fake romance then con money from them
  • Family emergency: a family member’s Facebook page is taken over hacked and their contacts sente a plea for financial assistance
  • Prizes: Lots of prizes to collect – once you have handed over your personal information. There are no prizes of course
  • Celebrity scams: You will see photos of celebrities who supposedly promote some product or service. These are fake and difficult for the celebrities to have these removed quickly enough to stop people being scammed.

Tips on Staying Safe on Marketplace

  1. Only use Facebook Checkout, PayPal, or cash – not money transfer services or anything else
  2. If someone buys from you and claims to have made an accidental overpayment then asks for that money back – be very suspicious as this is a common scam. It can take up to 10 days for a cheque payment to clear beyond being cancelled
  3. Be Aware of Fake Facebook Accounts – there is a huge number of these
  4. If you’re going to meet with your buyer or seller, make sure it a safe public place – do not let a stranger into your home

If you have any experiences with these scams do let me know, by email.

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Tips on Facebook Privacy

If you’re happy with the amount of information that Facebook has about you, then no problem.

But if Facebook’s intrusion into your private life does concern you, then there are ways to reduce what they know about you.

  1. Revoke app permissions

It is convenient to let other APPS and websites use your Facebook login and password rather than having to create and remember yet another login and password.

But that gives Facebook a lot of information on your activities on those APP – that’s probably why Facebook let you login to other APPS using your Facebook credentials.

Click on the arrow in the top right hand corner of your screen, then select Settings and Privacy then APPS and websites to review which services use your Facebook credentials and consider revoking them.

  1. Categories used to target adverts at you

Facebook collects your data so that they can sell it to advertisers.

But you can which categories they have you in and delete them.

In Settings and Privacy select Ads and you’ll see the categories and be able to change them.

  1. Turn off Location History

If you turn off Location Tracking on your smart phone then Facebook on that phone cannot track locations.

You may want to turn this feature off in your computer as well.

Settings and Privacy, then select Settings, then select Location and you cans top Facebook trying to track where you are.

If you have any experiences with these scams do let me know, by email.

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