From some very basic research :<p><i>Katie Notopoulos is a senior editor for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York.</i><p>I really don't get it. She's based in New York. I don't know how many music speciality stores can be found in New York, but my guess is it must be in the dozens.<p>A bassoon strap sounds <i>exactly</i> like an item you find in a speciality store. Probably in a few varieties and I'd wager a guess that they don't break in 4 month (or if they do a good store will replace it).<p>I understand the reflex to use Amazon for something more generic, say bass stings. I understand why you would use Amazon if you live somewhere in the sticks with a 200 mile drive to the next shop carrying a meager selection of bassoon straps.<p>But I really don't get it why you wouldn't use a physical store, with knowledgeable people, very much engaged in the same hobby as you, selling the very speciality item you're looking for when you live in fucking New York!<p>In addition. By ordering such an item at Amazon you kill exactly those shops on which you depend on when you have a slighly more esotheric hobby and you make the world a bit porer in the process.
Pricing mistakes happen every day on ecommerce sites, the "bargains" websites are full of them.<p>Amazon really could do better with not allowing the fictitious discounts though. Listing 80-90% off RRP for an item which was never sold at that price is very common on all the daily deals, (and is illegal/unlawful in the UK/Europe from memory), along with all the drop-shipped trash from China (which you can usually get from Aliexpress/Gearbest/etc at a fraction of the price anyway) makes me largely ignore them and Black Friday specials anyway.