Tuesday: Sony WH-1000XM5 for $340 [international?]

If you don’t want or don’t plan to use the 1-year USA warranty, Woot, for 8/30/22, they are offering the international version (judging by the 90-day Woot warranty they offer) of the Sony WH-1000X M5 ANC/BT closed over-ears for $340 with up to two per customer at the sale price. The USA version currently goes for $400…

Monday: Samsung Galaxy Buds PRO truly-wireless for $120 [international edition]

If you are fine with a 90-day warranty (instead of the usual 1-year manufacturer warranty), Woot is offering the international version of the Samsung Galaxy Buds PRO truly-wireless earphones, in new condition, in the “Phantom Black” color scheme, for $120 with free US shipping for Prime members [non-members pay a flat shipping fee]. Up to two per customer…

Offer ends on Monday 7/12/21 at 11:59pm central time…

UPDATE: the Musician’s Friend Daily Deal (expires Tuesday 8am ET) is the new condition closed-back wired over-ear Tascam TH-300X going for $40 with free US shipping. This is an unpretentious type of a studio headphone 🙂

Manufacturer Refurbished Sony MDR-1A drops to $150

The last time I posted about the manufacturer refurbished Sony MDR-1A in late August it was going for $180, but as of the time of writing, the price dropped to $150 with free shipping by Secondipity through Amazon Warehouse Deals. It ships directly from Secondipity, so it is not Prime-eligible.

The competing price to the manufacturer-refurbished are new-condition but international versions, imported to the USA without the blessings of Sony USA, so they don’t get their warranty. Their prices too have dropped a bit since, settling around $187 depending on the seller. Check the detailed listings for the either the silver MDR-1A or the black MDR-1A to see all price options.

The new condition price from authorized Sony USA dealers is $300.

[DEAD] Kingmaker price drop: Zero Audio ZH-DX200-CT In-Ears for $35.50 w/free S&H [updated]

UPDATE 8/31/16 at 2:42pm ET: now the lowest is around $61, with three pages of sellers

UPDATE 8/31/16 at 12:12am ET:: lowest price currently is $51 shipped with three pages of results…

UPDATE 8/30/16 at 3:24pm ET: Prices now sky-rocketing, lowest is $82~…

UPDATE 10:46pm ET: the lowest price now at Amazon.com is $44. I suspect this price tug-of-war will continue as more Japanese Amazon sellers learn of this and rush to offer it up for sale…

UPDATE 7:24pm ET: Demand overwhelmed supply as of this time, the lowest price has skyrocketed from $35.50 to $52.57, and it went from ten pages of results to just two pages of results… The Hype Is STRONG 🙂

ORIGINAL POST
Kingmaker is a brand new term I am proposing, when a high profile website or reviewer is picking a fairly unknown or under the radar product and singing its praises or hyping it up.

We have a new Kingmaker today! Earlier in the morning, The Verge posted a very favorable hype-building post on the Zero Audio ZH-DX200-CT in-ears (“stop what you’re doing and buy these”).

The unusual thing about this is that they are a Japan product so you can’t get them from USA retailers. This sudden spike in demand apparently triggered a mini price-war among Japan-exporting/importing marketplace sellers at Amazon.com with the price currently at $35.50 with free shipping. There are ten pages of listings (!!!), and none of them is Prime eligible. Supply and demand have complications, the Economics 101 textbook examples rarely happen in the real world 🙂

If you can’t resist playing the Hype Headphone Roulette, make sure you evaluate each seller’s profile (score, total reviews, actual reviews, most recent reviews/feedback, other items they are selling, etc).

Sony MDR-1A for $180 manufacturer-refurbished OR $190 new but no Sony warranty

If you are interested in the Sony MDR-1A closed-back over-ears and want to pay under $200, there are two options. If you want Sony USA’s blessings, you can get them manufacturer refurbished with a 90-day warranty for $180 with free shipping by Secondipity through Amazon Warehouse Deals.

On the other hand, if you don’t want Sony’s blessings, but prefer them new condition, you can get the International Versions in new condition but without a Sony USA warranty from various marketplace sellers with some of the orders fulfilled by Amazon (Prime eligible) for $190 with free shipping in either the silver MDR-1A or the black MDR-1A.