31–40 of 73 posts
Also, why does Amazon seem to be the only site on the internet that will give you a guaranteed delivery date and refund you the shipping cost if they miss it?
Ugh. That is just nasty.
If you are ever tempted to write something like that, don't.
> The UI on everything Amazon does looks like it was designed by Helen Keller. Ugh. That is just nasty. If you are ever tempted to write something like that, don't. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Keller
He sounds like he would complain about having to WAIT IN LINE if he had to return the item at a physical store. What a load of crock.
Yes, Amazon's prices aren't the lowest for many things. They never say they are. Prices at Home Depot are often much, much lower for many home items, and you definitely have to do comparison shopping. Which means continuing to sit down, and move your mouse and clicking and typing. Not exactly coal mining and not exactly driving around from store to store like how we did 20 years ago.
But for me, the combination of free, fast, reliable shipping and a decent price is enough to get me buying stuff almost 3 times a week from Amazon.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Exactly. My time has a value and it is most definitely worth more than $4. If I need something but I don't need it right now , Amazon is the answer. Need a pack of sharpies? Yeah, they might be a few bucks cheaper at Walmart, but then I'd have to go to Walmart. That's an hour of my time wasted driving to the store, walking all over the place to get the sharpies, waiting in line for 15 minutes or struggling with the a…
... and that is if they have the Sharpies. There is no way to check the inventory at Walmart before you go, so you are left to hope it is there. Each time we go to Walmart there are a couple of items not on the shelf. They are still struggling with it. http://www.forbes.com/sites/retailwire/2015/08/23/is-walmart...
Yes. I actually do accept this, and it's OK with me. Prime has saved me so much time -- and, arguably more valuable, attention -- obtaining objects I need. I literally do not care about the price difference between a $1 and a $5 roll of tape: as long as I don't need it sooner than 2 days from now, it's comin' on amazon, because the alternative is either searching online and actually thinking about it, or leaving my h…
Of course I would prefer that Amazon is as competitive as possible. However, as mentioned by others, the time savings of going to a store vs. shopping online justifies a little extra cost to me. Amazon solves a few other problems too:
* Security: The more online stores I use, the higher my risk of identify theft. Amazon isn't perfect, but they both have more resources and more incentive (higher stakes) to protect my information than small online retailers. One tradeoff that must be balanced is that Amazon knows more about me.
Note that if Bitcoin were more widely accepted, and retailers collected less personal information, the security offered by Amazon would be less important.
* Selection: Amazon doesn't have every product available, but it does have more selection than most retail stores. I tend to look for high value (high quality to cost ratio) products because I want things that work well and last long. It's often difficult or impossible to find the same selection at local stores.
His complaint about returns is curious, not sure if it's country specific. I returned something to Amazon a couple of weeks ago in the UK due to some missing parts. I printed out the label, put it in the box and the next day a delivery guy showed up, slapped his own label on the outside and took it away. I had the refund applied 2 days later. I've never returned anything to Amazon before so was surprised at how well…
The bulk of his complaint about returning is the process that you went through as well (print label, put in box). Amazon has legitimate deficiencies ie. killing off local stores with pricing pressure, horrible ui, etc, but the article goes into the deep end, like the person wants everything to be done his way without having to do any work.
Being upset that you need to put a label on a box is one of the most first-world-problems I've ever heard.
Amazon is ok. Kindle books on the other hand are becoming a ripoff. Just dusted off the library card last week for the first time in years.
BTW, most libraries have a digital lending thing now where you can get a kindle book for free for a month or so. (And presumably renew it after that.)
And my local library's digital catalog can also find books that they don't actually have and let me click a "recommend purchase" button. Last time I clicked it, I got an email a few days later that the book was now available.