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Amazon will pull the plug on dash buttons

marketwatch.com

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Re: Amazon will pull the plug on dash buttons

#31

Post by dlhavema »

mcpherrinm wrote: post #15
Jun8 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but at $19.99 it's pretty expensive. I don't know what the right price point for something like this but, given the fact they are easily lost, definitely HW people on HN, is this impossible at scale?

$5: probably doable. An esp8266 dev board goes for $2 on AliExpress. That leaves $1 for plastics and $2 for a lipo battery.

If you're talking price point $5 would be $0 profit by that bill of items.

Was the original/intended purpose to always sell them at cost and make the profits up through increased sales?

Re: Amazon will pull the plug on dash buttons

#32

Post by jandrese »

mcpherrinm wrote: post #15
Jun8 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but at $19.99 it's pretty expensive. I don't know what the right price point for something like this but, given the fact they are easily lost, definitely HW people on HN, is this impossible at scale?

$5: probably doable. An esp8266 dev board goes for $2 on AliExpress. That leaves $1 for plastics and $2 for a lipo battery.

That's zero margin for Amazon though and no budget for assembly. If the materials cost is $5 then $10 is the absolute lowest you could probably hope for. $15 is a more sustainable (profit generating) product.

Re: Amazon will pull the plug on dash buttons

#33

Post by dlhavema »

tbdr wrote: post #8
michaelbuckbee wrote: post #4

I've no real love for the intended use of the dash buttons (re-orders of items) but do hope that some other company comes up with a similarly easily hackable wireless button for interactions.

like Puck-JS https://www.puck-js.com/ ?

They're also roughly 2x the cost of the dash enterprise buttons. Granted they have more functionality

Re: Amazon will pull the plug on dash buttons

#34

Post by beatgammit »

gdulli wrote: post #26
sct202 wrote: post #11

I never really got the point of them since they were usually for things that stored really well and get used up at a relatively constant rate so it's usually not a surprise when you run out, so like why would I need to rush and blindly push the button to buy more detergent/toothpaste of a certain brand without knowing the price when I'd just eventually buy it in my normal shopping run/order.

It's not for your benefit, it's for Amazon's. It's for them to train people to lower both the cognitive and physical barriers to buying. And specifically, buying from them by default without exercising the thought process of evaluating other vendors, noticing price increases, etc.

I've started only using Amazon as a last option, not a first option, because I've noticed that their process aren't really any better and buying through them can make some things more difficult (warranties, refunds on reduced price items, etc).

That being said, it's very easy to just default to Amazon and not bother looking elsewhere.

Re: Amazon will pull the plug on dash buttons

#35

Post by Jun8 »

dlhavema wrote: post #31
mcpherrinm wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$5: probably doable. An esp8266 dev board goes for $2 on AliExpress. That leaves $1 for plastics and $2 for a lipo battery.

If you're talking price point $5 would be $0 profit by that bill of items. Was the original/intended purpose to always sell them at cost and make the profits up through increased sales?

"We lose a little money on every customer, but we make it up on volume." :-)

I think in Amazon's case it was just experimentation with a sunk cost. Based on the discussion above it looks like it's impossible to form a company to sell these to turn a profit, at least in the dash button form.

Re: Amazon will pull the plug on dash buttons

#36

Post by kaypro »

donatj wrote: post #18

I’m probably alone but I’m pretty bummed about this. I regularly used them to order detergent and Clorox wipes when we were getting low. Haven’t been fully out of either in a couple years. How much work would it honestly be for them just to keep the existing ones going.

Not alone. We have half a dozen of these scattered around the house and use them often. We'll eventually get used to asking Alexa to re-order items but the buttons will be missed. Much less friction than having to ask Alexa and going through the verbal confirmation back and forth. No clue as to why they would discontinue existing buttons. Very odd.

Re: Amazon will pull the plug on dash buttons

#37

Post by driverdan »

donatj wrote: post #18

I’m probably alone but I’m pretty bummed about this. I regularly used them to order detergent and Clorox wipes when we were getting low. Haven’t been fully out of either in a couple years. How much work would it honestly be for them just to keep the existing ones going.

I don't understand why you'd need it. It's not like detergent is something you need to order every week. It takes me over a year to use a large jug of laundry detergent.

All you have to do is get two containers, one open and one backup. When you use up the first buy another one the next time you go grocery shopping.

Re: Amazon will pull the plug on dash buttons

#39

Post by close04 »

prepend wrote: post #29
sct202 wrote: post #11

I never really got the point of them since they were usually for things that stored really well and get used up at a relatively constant rate so it's usually not a surprise when you run out, so like why would I need to rush and blindly push the button to buy more detergent/toothpaste of a certain brand without knowing the price when I'd just eventually buy it in my normal shopping run/order.

They were fun. I bought a few back when they were $1. It’s more fun to press the red bull button than to say “computer, order more Red Bull.” I didn’t really use them that much because amazon’s prices got a lot worse so I ordered my Red Bull and batteries from other places. I hope I can repurpose them for other iot signals.

I think most buttons were actually used for other purposes (so for the hardware) instead of for Amazon purchases.

In some countries selling something without showing the price at the time of purchase is not entirely legal.

Re: Amazon will pull the plug on dash buttons

#40

Post by anbop »

pmlnr wrote: post #23
ihuman wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The $15 "1st Generation AWS IoT Button" is out of stock, but the $20 "AWS IoT Enterprise Button" is still in stock. Is there a difference besides the label?

AWS IoT Enterprise Button creates a JIRA ticket and sends approval requests as well. /s

This is the first thing I’ve ever upvoted on Hacker News
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