09/21/98 COMPARING PRICES ON THE NET: CAVEAT EMPTOR (int'l edition)

COMPARING PRICES ON THE NET: CAVEAT EMPTOR (int'l edition)

''A new chapter for Amazon.com'' (American News, Aug. 17) and its plans to become an E-commerce destination glossed over the fact that all of this growth won't necessarily be good for consumers. Amazon's purchase of Junglee, an Internet comparison-shopping company, could actually raise prices. The products that Amazon sells (currently books and CDs) are unlikely to be included among the categories that consumers will be able to comparison-shop.
A similar situation occurred earlier this year when Excite acquired Netbot, another Internet comparison-shopping company. The first thing they did was to remove the ability to comparison-shop for books and CDs. According to Excite, these shopping categories were removed as a result of contractual obligations.
Before Excite's purchase, the Netbot agents would scour dozens of sites looking for the best price for a book. Now, Excite allows consumers to search only one bookseller, its partner Amazon. A similar situation exists in other categories. Consumers need to look carefully when a site says it can help find a good price. That bargain might not be as good as it is made out to be.
Kurt Thearling
Boston