[allochthon]

I think it's the lack of price vetting on Amazon's part that makes me hesitant to buy certain things there, e.g., groceries. That wariness happened after buying several packages of dried beans that were also available at Walmart (a retailer in the US), and then realizing I had paid literally three times the Walmart price.

Now I buy directly from Walmart if something's available there, because I have more confidence that their usual price controls are at work.

[URSpider94]

Amazon is a marketplace. There is no price vetting. If a third party wants to sell beans on Amazon for more money than they cost elsewhere, that’s not Amazon’s problem. They do not set prices for third-party sellers.

In fact, most of those beans are probably being drop-shipped from Wal Mart.

For items that Amazon is selling first-party, you can bet that they know exactly what all of the other major retailers are selling for, and they’ll be within pennies of their price, if not beating it.