Office Depot Price Discrimination?

[samcasey]

I saw Office Depot put Canon PowerShot A80 on sale today, but when I tried to search for the item, I was told it's not available in my area. I suspect they're committing price discrimination since a few areas I've tested that have the deal have relatively low costs of living. Although I can't prove it, I think they deliberately keep the deal localized so they can get higher profit from more affluent areas. I've never seen other major chain stores zone their deals.

[mar122999]

It could be avaliable online only. Sometimes products are located only at the store's main facility and they don't stock it in their local stores.

no real way to tell if its a ploy, but i know great deals go fast and stores run out of stock like there is no tommorow.

[Ruler2112]

I tried ordering something from their online store a few months ago and was told it wasn't available in my area. Amazingly, I put in a SoCal zip and voila - it appeared as being available. (Told me to go to hell when I put in a michigan shipping address though. )

That was the last time I tried to order from them. I'll go with somebody who wants to sell the stuff they have advertised. (Staples and NewEgg have gotten more money than I care to think about since I started working at my current job.)