Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#101

Post by dangrossman » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:55 PM UTC

bluetidepro wrote: post #84

dangrossman wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not a dark pattern that shipping actually costs everyone that isn't Amazon a lot. Go get a shipping quote from UPS or FedEx for sending a desk across the country. It's not going to be any cheaper than these stores are charging. They're not hiding extra profit in their shipping fees. People are so used to Amazon Prime that they have no idea what things cost to ship any more. I run a small online store and every 1…

It IS a dark pattern when they don't show you that cost until the final step after you have invested time getting there. You misunderstand, I'm not arguing that it costs money to ship things, I understand that to be true, I'm saying it's a shitty dark pattern when you aren't clear about that cost up front in the funnel. People can be honest, there is nothing stopping them from doing that.

They don't know the cost to ship you things until they know what's going to be in your cart and what address it's getting mailed to. Shipping costs are based on package dimensions, weight, and distance between the sender and recipient. This is the reason that in nearly every ecommerce platform, shipping costs get displayed at the second to last step of the checkout process, or in the shopping cart only if you provide your zip code there. They don't have the information needed to run a postage quote any earlier.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#102

Post by Diederich » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:55 PM UTC

justforyou wrote: post #96

Diederich wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for your response. We do have a fair amount of such emergency supplies, primarily in the form of protein bars, but a lot of other things as well. We would rather leave those be until (and if) there's an actual legit emergency for us to face. I think the Whole Foods via Amazon is still working, it's just extremely over-used in the bay area, so the orders we actually manage to get through are very small.

This is an actual legit emergency.

> This is an actual legit emergency.

No disagreement; remember, we consider every box that arrives as potentially life threatening. And we're quite aware of the local, national and global scope and impact.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#103

Post by colmvp » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:56 PM UTC

thebean11 wrote: post #3

The estimates on Amazon right now seem way longer than the reality. I'm getting all my packages in 2-3 days despite Amazon estimating a week or more.

In Canada at least, some Prime shipping estimates are ONE MONTH.

At the end of the day, I'm not complaining because prioritizing medical supplies is prudent but I have to imagine that a lot of people are choosing to use alternative sources like Order-and-Pickup instead.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#104

Post by julianramirez » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:56 PM UTC

Diederich wrote: post #41

Help requested. My wife, who is in her 50s, is immunocompromised, and she also has a history of fast escalating and difficult to treat respiratory problems. We are and have been (for the past 32 days) treating this bug very carefully. If she catches it, she has a very good chance of not surviving it. Our son and I are at less risk, but we can easily bring this bug home. We've been having more and more trouble getting…

We’ve been using a meal delivery service like Blue Apron for several years now and have increased our order from 3 nights to 7 nights. We still use grocery delivery for snacks and other meals, but it’s been a great having dinners taken care of.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#105

Post by bluetidepro » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:58 PM UTC

dangrossman wrote: post #101

bluetidepro wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It IS a dark pattern when they don't show you that cost until the final step after you have invested time getting there. You misunderstand, I'm not arguing that it costs money to ship things, I understand that to be true, I'm saying it's a shitty dark pattern when you aren't clear about that cost up front in the funnel. People can be honest, there is nothing stopping them from doing that.

They don't know the cost to ship you things until they know what's going to be in your cart and what address it's getting mailed to. Shipping costs are based on package dimensions, weight, and distance between the sender and recipient. This is the reason that in nearly every ecommerce platform, shipping costs get displayed at the second to last step of the checkout process, or in the shopping cart only if you provide…

Again, you still aren't following. I'm saying many sites don't do that. You are correct, I should be able to see estimated shipping from my cart on any e-commerce site by just putting in a zip code in, and them knowing what is in my cart (product wise). It's a dark pattern that MANY sites don't do this, they make you fill out a ton of info to get to that point. It's sketchy and a dark pattern to put that many walls behind a final price including shipping. I understand there has to be a few walls, but you wouldn't believe how many sites put extra walls in there to try to "trap" you in their funnel.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#106

Post by markkanof » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:58 PM UTC

ebg13 wrote: post #23

I tried ordering some things from Home Depot the other day, and they silently cancelled half of my order while still charging me the same amount for delivery from the store and while saying that some things can only be delivered from a warehouse and that some things can only be delivered from a specific store and that delivery from each store has a $45 minimum purchase before they'll even consider delivery despite th…

I'm really surprised to hear so many horrible experiences with Home Depot ordering online. Over the past 2-3 months I have placed multiple orders for things that are shipped to my house, and that has gone off without a hitch.

I've also placed an order for "express delivery" which seems to be a HD delivery driver coming from either a store or a local warehouse. I placed an order for a bunch of screws, insulating foam, joist hangers, etc. My ordered was placed around 1pm and I had the items on my porch by about 6pm the same day.

I also ordered a bunch of lumber, sheets or rigid insulation, etc. that needed to be delivered by truck. The driver arrived on time, used his all-terrain forklift to navigate around a bunch of parked cars (I live in a fairly dense residential neighborhood), and place the whole load right where I wanted it on my front lawn. Couldn't be happier with the whole process.

Just thought it was worth sharing some positive experiences, as a counter point to the negative ones here.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#107

Post by Diederich » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:59 PM UTC

julianramirez wrote: post #104

Diederich wrote: post #41

Help requested. My wife, who is in her 50s, is immunocompromised, and she also has a history of fast escalating and difficult to treat respiratory problems. We are and have been (for the past 32 days) treating this bug very carefully. If she catches it, she has a very good chance of not surviving it. Our son and I are at less risk, but we can easily bring this bug home. We've been having more and more trouble getting…

We’ve been using a meal delivery service like Blue Apron for several years now and have increased our order from 3 nights to 7 nights. We still use grocery delivery for snacks and other meals, but it’s been a great having dinners taken care of.

We have been avoiding prepared meals until there is clearer data about how safe they can be.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#108

Post by dvtrn » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 6:00 PM UTC

justforyou wrote: post #89

dvtrn wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This has long been an issue I've had when trying to use online shopping/curbside pickup for grocery stores, and this comes even before the COVID-19 pandemic arrived and pushed more of us fortunate to live in cities where online grocery buying is a thing to....well start buying groceries online. Found myself just as baffled/apoplectic as you are: why would this be on your online storefront if you don't have the invent…

>> why would this be on your online storefront if you don't have the inventory for me to actually buy? Twofold: 1) They're betting that you'll still buy something once you're surrounded by merchandise. 2) This allows them to play games with shrink, imventory, and insurance.

They're betting that you'll still buy something once you're surrounded by merchandise.

Hrm. Good point, that’s exactly what’s ended up happening. Just never actively considered it

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#109

Post by coding123 » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 6:02 PM UTC

jakearmitage wrote: post #72

ebg13 wrote: post #23

I tried ordering some things from Home Depot the other day, and they silently cancelled half of my order while still charging me the same amount for delivery from the store and while saying that some things can only be delivered from a warehouse and that some things can only be delivered from a specific store and that delivery from each store has a $45 minimum purchase before they'll even consider delivery despite th…

HomeDepot's ecommerce is a joke. Not only the shopping experience is poor, they treat logistics as if they were doing you a favor. And, on top of all that, you get damaged items. I made 7 purchases and all 7, in different periods of time, had to be returned or replaced. Same for Lowe's. There's a reason people shop on Amazon. Other than BestBuy, no other retailer "gets" ecommerce.

This is a key point. Especially for prime items, but largely to other items they sell that are not fulfilled by them. It just feels like there is more responsibility through the amazon platform than other websites.

I ordered a case of water through Amazon through a reseller. The shipment literally got lost. Amazon dispute, 20 minutes later, refund is done.

I am waiting for a resolution through Paypal from another website - off amazon - since Friday for toilet paper that will definitely not be sent. After looking at policies, etc.. they generally don't do refunds.

Though, I did have luck on one other site.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#110

Post by kbash9 » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 6:03 PM UTC

jakearmitage wrote: post #72

ebg13 wrote: post #23

I tried ordering some things from Home Depot the other day, and they silently cancelled half of my order while still charging me the same amount for delivery from the store and while saying that some things can only be delivered from a warehouse and that some things can only be delivered from a specific store and that delivery from each store has a $45 minimum purchase before they'll even consider delivery despite th…

HomeDepot's ecommerce is a joke. Not only the shopping experience is poor, they treat logistics as if they were doing you a favor. And, on top of all that, you get damaged items. I made 7 purchases and all 7, in different periods of time, had to be returned or replaced. Same for Lowe's. There's a reason people shop on Amazon. Other than BestBuy, no other retailer "gets" ecommerce.

Never had an issue with costco.com where I've made some of my big purchases.