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Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

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Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#331

Post by AnssiH »

fma wrote: post #280
dawnerd wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Flip side is sometimes something that could ship fast ends up being delayed so they can group it with something that comes from a further away warehouse.

That makes no sense. If you order 2 items, and they're in 2 different warehouses, you'll get 2 packages. They aren't going to ship from 1 warehouse to a 2nd warehouse and then bundle them.

In my experience, they are (if more economical than sending 2 packages). That is often one reason when it takes long to ship.

If you are a FBA seller, you can see these warehouse transfers in the event reports often between a new order coming in ("pending") and the order being shipped.

This is obviously more common with slower shipping options - they won't have a lot of time to combine anything with 1-day shipping.

I've also clearly seen the difference myself as a buyer between the shipping options - if I select faster shipping, the items tend to ship quicker but they are split into more shipments more often.

Also, they may do the same when you order a single item as well - they first move the item to a nearer warehouse and only then ship, if cheaper than shipping directly and if they have the time.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#332

Post by fmela »

noncoml wrote: post #326
Wistar wrote: post #323

Although the focus is somewhat narrower than amazon, for my professional needs I have had nothing but an excellent online experience with bhphotovideo. I have ordered hundreds of items worth tens of thousands of dollars from them starting about 2007. Their site can be a little frustrating, mostly from not narrow-enough categorization, but their app for iOS is very good. Their prices are usually as good and often bett…

Another B&H Photo Video happy customer here. Pity they were forced to start charging state taxes. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but can't help to think that Amazon was somehow involved in that.

Right or wrong, you can get around the sales tax using B&H's Payboo credit card (for use on their site only): https://www.bhphotovideo.com/credit-cards

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#333

Post by jasonjayr »

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.

I assist a small drop ship supplier listing their product in Home Depot. Their item management system is absolutely the pits, and requires the use of awful protected excel worksheets in order to get mass data in and out of the system. All the product syndication systems that they recommend are obnoxiously expensive for the amount of SKUs we need to maintain due to product variants.

Overstock & Wayfair are way easier to work with by comparison.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#334

Post by sneak »

bdcravens wrote: post #272
sneak wrote: post #266

A lot of the things I used to buy on Amazon I buy on eBay instead using “buy it now”. Even free shipping items are frequently less than Amazon. I’ve already phased out AWS, I hope to stop using amazon.com by the end of the year. I don’t like doing business with military contractors.

I assume you use Linux for your operating system then? Both Apple and Microsoft do business with the military.

My personal morals find a difference between “we sell physical goods and anyone can buy them without restriction” and “we will build you a whole set of dedicated custom data centers with racist hiring policies”.

https://aws.amazon.com/govcloud-us/

Also, Apple doesn’t sell OSes. One could buy secondhand Macs.

Linux is used by the military, too. The issue is not “not matching”, it is a question of providing financial support to those who deliberately assist in the undertaking of violence.

Selling (or giving away) your goods to all comers isn’t that. Custom services and consulting absolutely is.

There’s also that whole Apple tapping-iCloud-in-China-for-the-CCP thing. I don’t think I’ll be on iOS much longer, especially now that Signal is fully cross-platform and runs on iPad. I’ve already deprecated iMessage amongst everyone I talk to in anticipation of the switch. Hell, I’ve even been on broadcast radio talking about how iCloud will leak your private data.

I think it’s a mistake to view the attitude of Apple toward military contracting (not just sales) as the same as that of Microsoft or Amazon. If when Apple employs hundreds of people who are full-time embedded in the military to help them use their products, maybe that situation will change.

To your point, I have moved off of GitHub, and have encouraged others to do the same:

https://sneak.berlin/20200307/the-case-against-microsoft-and...

We can all take small steps to improve our choices each day. Over time and across people, these things add up.

The worst thing we could do is assume that every choice is the same and carries the same negative consequences and act uncritically. In that vein, I appreciate your pushback: critical thinking about our choices should be the one constant. There is always a place we can improve.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#335

Post by kevindong »

noncoml wrote: post #326
Wistar wrote: post #323

Although the focus is somewhat narrower than amazon, for my professional needs I have had nothing but an excellent online experience with bhphotovideo. I have ordered hundreds of items worth tens of thousands of dollars from them starting about 2007. Their site can be a little frustrating, mostly from not narrow-enough categorization, but their app for iOS is very good. Their prices are usually as good and often bett…

Another B&H Photo Video happy customer here. Pity they were forced to start charging state taxes. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but can't help to think that Amazon was somehow involved in that.

B&H Photo Video started collecting sales tax due to the Supreme Court case South Dakota v. Wayfair (2018) which held that retailers can be compelled to collect sales tax even if they don't have a presence in the state.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Dakota_v._Wayfair,_Inc.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#336

Post by thewebcount »

richjdsmith wrote: post #227
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…

Same story happened to me last Friday. I put in an order on their website, met their minimum delivery order amount, and yet when I got the confirmation email an hour later, I found out 3/4 of my items were being shipped to my nearest (35min, 60km) home depot. I called customer service and was told it was impossible to change the order so all get delivered, and that it was impossible to cancel the order. My only recou…

I'm pretty sure if you call the credit card company and do a chargeback they'll side with you on this.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#337

Post by odysseus »

Shebanator wrote: post #81
CaliforniaKarl wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never heard of "baking steel". Looking online, it seems to be like a pizza stone? If yes, that's cool!

it is a pizza stone, but metal. I have one and it is super heavy, which makes it inconvenient to use, but it does improve the crust quality of oven-baked pizzas.

How much of an improvement is it? I was considering getting "the original baking steel" for crispier crusts but wasn't sure if it was worth ~$80 for a hunk of metal. Is it significantly crispier crust than a regular old oven rack (which really isn't very crispy at all)?

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#338

Post by thewebcount »

LatteLazy wrote: post #292

>Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online They sort of are at the moment, at least here in greater London... My normal groceries company have cancelled online orders silently and will not deliver anything. They can't even update their websites with new opening times. The local DIY (B&Q) store are taking order for essential items only (loft ladders and plants are essential, but not light bulbs or fuses wtf?) Amazon randomly…

Instacart in Los Angeles did this to me. I ordered groceries and the local store uses Instacart to deliver them. When they didn't show up, I had to call Instacart to find out they had canceled my order. They were just not going to tell me, apparently.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#339

Post by thewebcount »

MBlume wrote: post #222
vonmoltke wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You don't specify why Instacart "became less usable", though if your experience is like mine I'd guess it's a combination of delivery windows being a full week out I can't get a delivery window at all in Instacart right now. I can't get pickup of delivery from any grocery store in northern New Jersey right now.

Check out immediately after midnight, this is what's worked for us.

Likewise. Same with Shipt who are doing Target orders.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#340

Post by Zenbit_UX »

sneak wrote: post #334
bdcravens wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I assume you use Linux for your operating system then? Both Apple and Microsoft do business with the military.

My personal morals find a difference between “we sell physical goods and anyone can buy them without restriction” and “we will build you a whole set of dedicated custom data centers with racist hiring policies”. https://aws.amazon.com/govcloud-us/ Also, Apple doesn’t sell OSes. One could buy secondhand Macs. Linux is used by the military, too. The issue is not “not matching”, it is a question of providing financial s…

Well said, I have a similar stance. OOC do you agree with the need for militaries in general or are you strictly against?
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