This is all old, old news. Back in the 1970's, a friend of mine was shopping for a nice SLR camera. He knew which camera he wanted, and diligently researched ad after ad, finally settling on one with the cheapest price. We all piled into his car to go get it.
Sure enough, he bought the camera body dirt cheap. But he walked out of the store with a lense, filter, case, flash, film, and a few other accessories. When back home, he ruefully discovered that the total price he shelled out was higher! He didn't realize that the accessories were priced higher than the competition. People simply are not price sensitive to add-ons, and salesmen have known that for centuries.
Gillette is famous for pretty much giving away the razor and making money on the blades.
There's even a word for it: "loss leader".
All Amazon has done is automate it. Pretty much all retailers do it.
Sure enough, he bought the camera body dirt cheap. But he walked out of the store with a lense, filter, case, flash, film, and a few other accessories. When back home, he ruefully discovered that the total price he shelled out was higher! He didn't realize that the accessories were priced higher than the competition. People simply are not price sensitive to add-ons, and salesmen have known that for centuries.
Gillette is famous for pretty much giving away the razor and making money on the blades.
There's even a word for it: "loss leader".
All Amazon has done is automate it. Pretty much all retailers do it.