Discrepancy in affiliate product pricing?

“Sometimes the prices I see on ZARMarketplace for Affiliate Products are different from the prices I see when I proceed to pay for an item on the Affiliate’s own site, such as Amazon. Why is this?”

Products on ZARMarketplace that are categorized under ZARProducts, PRIVATE SELLERS AND NON-PROFIT SELLERS will always show the exact price that you will pay at check-out.  However, this is not always the case with all our Affiliate Sellers’ products.  You will often be transferred to the web site of our affiliate to pay for a product displayed on ZARMarketplace, to complete your purchase, and in some cases the price you saw on ZARMarketplace may not be the price advertised on the affiliate’s web site when you go to purchase the product.

The price differences you see are not an attempt at deception or false advertising on our part, but a simple limitation of the affiliate relations technology at use between ZARMarketplace and the various businesses with whom we have entered into affiliate relationships.

Some of our affiliates are large corporations, such as Amazon.com, and they have over time established their own affiliate relationship systems, which we are obliged to comply with, if we wish to offer you, our customer, products from these affiliates.  Some of the affiliate relationship systems maintained by the larger corporations are complex and often managed electronically, by computer systems.  ZARMarketplace is linked to these affiliates through these automated electronic systems, that enable our affiliates to update the information displayed to our customers, on our site.  This includes the prices of the Affiliate Products.  However, it appears that there is a lag-time, or a delay, in the communication of price-changes adopted by some of the affiliates, and when those changes are finally reflected on ZARMarketplace.  As a result, the most up-to-date price for an affiliate product, my not be readily displayed on ZARMarketplace.

Another reason to the apparent discrepancy in prices is that the ZARMarketplace affiliate system is designed to identify the lowest available price for any given product displayed on our site, from the affiliate source.  However, when you are transferred to the Affiliate site, the first product presented to you may not be the only one available, and may not necessarily be the lowest priced product available.  Amazon.com for instance often has less expensive options of the exact same product available on their site.  There may be used products identical to the one you are interested in, and our system may be displaying the prices for these used products instead of the brand-new, unused product.  So when you do get to the affiliate site, look around to see if the same product you are interested in, may be offered at a lower price, for one reason or the other.

Our aim is to bring you a variety of pertinent products, at the best available prices that will benefit you as a buyer, but will also benefit us, in meeting the objectives of our charitable efforts.  Our affiliate relationships allow us to bring you this variety of products, and do help support our efforts.  We hope to always transparently address your concerns so that you remain comfortable in supporting us directly and through our affiliates as well.