Why the huge price differences between same CF cards on amazon?

So I decided to check amazon's Japanese site with the view of buying a new CF card, something I haven't done for several years. What struck me was the differences in prices between the same CF cards, check this page out for example. Some are double the price of others!

This was just Lexar, SanDisk is the same too. Why is this? Are the cheaper ones fakes?

There are several ways that a seller can get prices down:

• By selling fakes
• By selling "offshore" products (when another country has better prices)
• By splitting and selling "bulk-packaged" or "OEM bundled" items

Fakes, plus people are stupid and some people like to take advantage of that stupid and take their money.

I lived in Japan for several years so I don't have native speaker skills but what I can tell you from that page is that not all of those cards are being sold by Amazon. Just like here in North America many of those cards are being sold by marketplace sellers and the fulfillment is done my Amazon. Amazon has no influence on what price a marketplace seller puts on an item. There are a lot of reasons why an individual might pay more for an item. I've done it in the past when Amazon wouldn't ship an item to Canada but a marketplace seller would. In any case your location says Japan. Unless things have changed drastically since I left Japan you'll likely find better deals on Rakuten.

Thanks for the replies. They all seem to be sold by marketplace sellers, I guess the cheapest ones must be fakes. I'm surprised amazon allows this, can't be good for its image/reputation.

I'd personally beware of Amazon's marketplace sellers. IMO a lot of them are just one step up from ebay. I think Amazon are doing themselves more harm that good by having them.

Jon wrote in post #17782335
There are several ways that a seller can get prices down:
By selling "offshore" products (when another country has better prices)

This is what's called a "grey import", there's no real downside to buying such products other than the fact that you might get the manual/documentation in a foreign language, unless there are specific regional changes in the product that you need to be aware of.

HokkaidoStu wrote in post #17782925
Thanks for the replies. They all seem to be sold by marketplace sellers, I guess the cheapest ones must be fakes. I'm surprised amazon allows this, can't be good for its image/reputation.

That's like being surprised how eBay allows fakes. Or any other service that offers products sold by other retailers. Amazon has long stopped being just a retailer and is more like a search engine for products.

I find it silly to pinch pennies on something as cheap (relatively speaking) as flash media, so just buy some good ones from a reputable store.

A seller can also sometimes get the price down by simply selling out right stolen products or through fraudulent supply channels. Entire shipping containers can 'disappear', and their content gets sold at highly cut prices to move them as quickly as possible.

There are also various capital fraud schemes that can rely on moving a lot of small product like electronics as quickly as possible. Seller brings in goods on credit, sells it all as quickly as possible, and then walks off with all the cash rather than actually paying the suppliers.

Different suppliers... Amazon is simply a medium for wholesellers to post their products, similar to Ebay.

NinetyEight wrote in post #17783725
I'd personally beware of Amazon's marketplace sellers. IMO a lot of them are just one step up from ebay. I think Amazon are doing themselves more harm that good by having them.

I agree, I only buy from Amozon direct. My method is to pick a card and WAIT! Every no and then the price can plummet for a few days. Then I buy direct from them.

I live in Japan

The cards stated as 'BULK GOODS" not only mean no retail box, and they are GENUINE CARDS,
but they are usually defective regarding read and write speeds.

I bought a Sandisk Extreme Pro 32Gb card as new without box. Tested it, and it only had 20-30Mb read / write speeds after many many tests.
I returned it for a full refund less my own $1.30 return shipping cost and never looked at a 'bulk item' again.

I learned from my experience. The card was NOT fake, but I believe the seller knew what they were selling....

Now I only buy for AMAZON itself with any purchases I make there; whether in Japan or in the US.
While I respect the many small business on Amazon, often Amazon itself has the lowest price.

To be honest I use Adorama.com much more than Amazon and they will price match Amazon with a screen shot and a quick email.

Re: The link.
I believe many of those very high priced items are bots posting FULL MSRP or even higher.
If a 6D camera has a retail MSRP of $1,500 and your bot posts one for $2,500, $2,000 and $1,500
Then you list your actual item at $1,400 It appears to be the 'lowest price'
Buyer: "Wow! This must be a steal! (buys immediately without further research)