Shopping Sucks Now • Hacker News Board

Re: Shopping Sucks Now

#221

Post by nswest23 » Sun, Dec 15, 2019, 1:25 AM UTC

OnlineGladiator wrote: post #68

JohnFen wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think your comment makes really excellent points. This line: > The infinite variety of online shopping tells us to set our expectations higher than that. made me think a bit -- that used to be true for me, but the effect is trending in the opposite direction now. I have learned that it's very nearly impossible to tell if a product being shown is actually any good or not unless I'm already familiar with that company…

Being overwhelmed with choice is known as analysis paralysis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analysis_paralysis https://xkcd.com/1801/

see also The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz

Re: Shopping Sucks Now

#222

Post by advarckcal » Sun, Dec 15, 2019, 4:47 AM UTC

egypturnash wrote: post #181

qrbLPHiKpiux wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At Sam's Club today, eyeing a watch. Waiting for associate to let me see it. Open Amazon, read reviews. Over $20 less on Amazon. Asked if Sam's price matches. > No. In two taps, right in front of her, ordered it. Said she understood. Thanked her for showing it to me.

Dude, that’s a total dick move. Is twenty bucks really that precious to you that you’ll throw money out of your local economy into Bezos’ pockets? Right in front of someone who just helped you decide this is the watch you wanted and could have put it in your hands right now instead of waiting for shipping in the middle of the super-busy Christmas season and hoping it’s not gonna end up be a counterfeit copy?

And the Walton family needs another buck? I don't think Sam's club is any better for the local economy then amazon.

Re: Shopping Sucks Now

#223

Post by kthejoker2 » Sun, Dec 15, 2019, 2:26 PM UTC

smacktoward wrote: post #32

egypturnash wrote: post #12

When I was living in the PNW and realized I direly needed gloves, I just hit up a few of the department stores downtown until I found some that met my criteria. Which are probably similar to those of this author, I wanted some that looked cute, had a conductive patch on the finger so I could use my phone without taking them off, would fit on my long hands with long fingernails, and weren’t super expensive gloves desi…

I think the key to the article can be found in this passage: > [T]he problem is that now, somewhat suddenly, perfect knowledge of the perfect glove, for you specifically, exists, if you simply do enough research. When you're shopping in a physical store, you have no expectation that you're going to find the absolute, one-and-only perfect glove (or whatever) in the world for you. Even in the largest stores, you unders…

Nobelist Herbert Simon coined it satisficing in 1956, there's a lot of economic theory around it.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satisficing?wprov=sfla1

Re: Shopping Sucks Now

#224

Post by kthejoker2 » Sun, Dec 15, 2019, 2:32 PM UTC

rabidrat wrote: post #171

Reedx wrote: post #3

Anyone working on a Trader Joes meets Amazon? That curates maybe 1-3 versions of things, largely eliminating paradox of choice. I guess Costco is kind of a bulk version of that... Also I've been increasingly interested in just buying things once and having them last a decade+, ideally a lifetime (less waste). But this takes a lot of research. Trader Joes does a good job of curating groceries and I've come to trust th…

In 2006, I started a blogstore called "Reasonable Goods", and this was the whole premise. I got a Consumer Reports subscription and did a bunch of online research and tried hard to pick the one I thought would work well for ~80% of people in a bunch of categories. The first category was "toaster", and I found a decently-reviewed $20 basic toaster from a major manufacturer. I started using the tagline "It shouldn't ta…

Without irony I say the first two paragraphs of this post are one of the best parables of all time.

Re: Shopping Sucks Now

#225

Post by h4waii » Sun, Dec 15, 2019, 4:07 PM UTC

I'd just like to add, since nobody else has mentioned -- Hestra. They make extremely high quality gloves that will last you well over a decade.

If you spend time "optimizing" your life according to the Diderot Effect, you'll find these brands that are sitting at the top of their industry, quietly producing excellent products used by people who know exactly what they want.

It can be a dangerous thing to start only using the "best products", but once you start knocking off the low hanging fruit, you can make a noticeable difference in the quality of your life by having products that excel at their job.

Re: Shopping Sucks Now

#226

Post by kleinvin » Mon, Dec 16, 2019, 12:08 AM UTC

The best part about going to a speciality retail is getting expert advice (running shop and getting advice on the best running shoes from a runner or best bikes from a biker) wondering if that value add could be usuario to bring online. Open to feedback

Re: Shopping Sucks Now

#227

Post by 0x262d » Tue, Dec 17, 2019, 3:42 PM UTC

AnimalMuppet wrote: post #120

0x262d wrote: post #79

Buying things sucks now. This drives me nuts all the time and is one of many reasons I want a democratically planned economy. In addition to too many choices to meaningfully use, the vast majority of them are trying to essentially trick you into buying them. The drive for each glove (or whatever) manufacturer to increase profits causes them all to buy fake reviews, use cheap materials, imitate the style of the authen…

Hard pass. I admit the corruption (wasn't the FTC supposed to be about preventing false advertising?), but your alternative is worse. It won't actually be "democratically planned". It will be as democratic as a "democratic republic". It will be bureaucratically planned (by your salaried people). Historically, that has worked out badly. It hasn't worked out with the consumers being happier. Yeah, I know, "this time wi…

the argument is actually "this time it will be different because without material deprivation people will participate fully and democracy is oxygen to a planned economy, in contrast to Russia which was desperately impoverished when it started this".

Re: Shopping Sucks Now

#228

Post by 0x262d » Tue, Dec 17, 2019, 3:44 PM UTC

AnimalMuppet wrote: post #135

dsego wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aren't big corps not hierarchical bureaucracies anyway? Historically there were centrally planned economies. Nothing to say we can't organize things differently with collectives and worker's self management. "Consumers" might not be happier, but working people just might live a more fulfilling life.

Big corps were hierarchical bureaucracies, but they were replaceable . Let's say that GM messed up, and didn't build cars that people wanted to buy. Well, you could buy a Ford or a Chrysler instead. You could even buy a VW or a Honda. But if your central planning bureaucracy messes up, there's no way to bypass it to get what you want to buy. Or was your point that workers' fulfillment is more important than consumers…

this isn't a real distinction. people only displaced things like standard oil with a lot of outrage and after years.

Re: Shopping Sucks Now

#229

Post by kortilla » Tue, Dec 17, 2019, 6:52 PM UTC

chihuahua wrote: post #158

kortilla wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is pretty much the main reason to shop at Costco. I’m not really convinced anything is actually a good bulk deal. It’s just a matter of having a place to shop where you can safely grab stuff and have a decently high floor on quality.

There are many things at Costco where you save quite a bit compared to buying elsewhere: Cheese, smoked salmon, maple syrup, vitamins, cereal bars, peanuts, Kerry Gold butter, Chobani plain yogurt ($3 vs $6), socks.

Do you know of a good resource that tells you which things are significantly better priced?

Re: Shopping Sucks Now

#230

Post by riversflow » Fri, Dec 20, 2019, 8:32 PM UTC

fmajid wrote: post #219

riversflow wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t understand how selling items manufactured in a country with the environmental regulatory environment of China can honestly be sold as eco-friendly.

China is improving, if only because a rising middle-class is demanding air that doesn't choke their lung in cities like Beijing or Shanghai. The US, on the other hand, is regressing.

There are many vectors to environmental health besides the PM2.5 and PM10 levels. Chinese industry dumps straight into the rivers and onto the ground. Among many other environmental shortcomings relative to western industry. They also have no/toothless Occupational Safety,a separate but still reasonable concern.