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The Anti-Amazon Alliance

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Re: The Anti-Amazon Alliance

#291

Post by stiray »

thr0w__4w4y wrote: post #225

Way way back, when Amazon got bigger than just books, my motivation for using them was a) very good selection (in one order, I can order bagel chips, wiper blades and a router?) and b) price. Implicit in this was authenticity and good customer service -- for me, if the product isn't the real thing, or the company is a nightmare to deal with, it's a non-starter. Well now here we are. Fake reviews, counterfeit products…

I would add one more thing (and that are two things), they are really sleezy with the results. You already pick a seller when you figure out that they dont ship to your country. The second one is not seeing the final price untill you go trough all the hassle of ordering. I hate shopping at amazon and typically I do it only when I exhaust all other options.

Re: The Anti-Amazon Alliance

#292

Post by A4ET8a8uTh0 »

It is interesting. There is definitely a concerted effort to take Amazon down. I can't really say I am against that outcome. The reason I find it interesting is that is not appear to be some grass root movement of customers ( despite good reasons, in my opinion, to switch ). And if that is the case, the question becomes what is behind that steady stream of anti-Amazon stories. Competitors? Bezos crossed someone too big to cross? My guess is as good as yours.

Re: The Anti-Amazon Alliance

#293

Post by samstave »

thr0w__4w4y wrote: post #225

Way way back, when Amazon got bigger than just books, my motivation for using them was a) very good selection (in one order, I can order bagel chips, wiper blades and a router?) and b) price. Implicit in this was authenticity and good customer service -- for me, if the product isn't the real thing, or the company is a nightmare to deal with, it's a non-starter. Well now here we are. Fake reviews, counterfeit products…

Who the hell tries to put bagel chips in a router and wipe their internet history with blades?!?!?

Re: The Anti-Amazon Alliance

#294

Post by rhizome »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #159
rhizome wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing to recognize (or at least something I feel is under-recognized) is that Capitalism prefers monopolies or monopsonies, whichever the case may be. Capitalism talks a big game about the benefits of competition, but history tell us that it is actually their enemy. It reminds me of a Big Lie: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_lie

This is precisely why we need capitalism as well as strong, enforced antitrust laws.

Is it still capitalism with strong antitrust? If so, why do capitalists keep chipping away at and denigrating antitrust laws? What about capitalism's concurrent drive: toward slavery for its workers? What about a third drive: zero taxes? Taken together, what is the benefit of the capitalist ideology at all, and to whom do those benefits accrue?

Re: The Anti-Amazon Alliance

#295

Post by TheTrotters »

lucb1e wrote: post #190
alkonaut wrote: post #187

These days when Sweden is often touted as “the experiment”, you can actually go there to see what e-commerce looks like in 2020 without Amazon. It might sound crazy but there is... no Amazon. If I go to amazon.se I end up at amazon.de There is no same day delivery of household products (like toilet paper). If I want a book I need to go to an online bookstore. Why this is I’m not sure. But it’s interesting.

Same in the Netherlands, it was recently announced that Amazon will open a Dutch store (not sure when) but it was quite a shock for me when moving to Germany that people here have no clue how to order things other than by going to Amazon. Too much effort to use google and try different web shops if all the web shops can come to a monopolizing marketplace instead I guess? Too bad that the marketplace also competes wit…

Amazon.de delivers to the Netherlands and Poland, for example. They offer Prime for the Netherlands too. And you can set language to English.

No Amazon would mean I’d have to use comparison sites, make a bunch of accounts on different websites, pay for shipping each time, and make more orders in total. I’m beyond happy that Amazon.de works perfectly for Poland. I see almost no upside to the alternative.

Re: The Anti-Amazon Alliance

#296

Post by TheTrotters »

emilecantin wrote: post #137

Lately (since the start of the COVID crisis), I find Amazon has become much worse. 2-week deliveries instead of 2-3 days, prices that are way too high, a lot of items out of stock, etc. For instance, I was looking at a cordless drill, and it was twice the price of Home Depot. Maybe Amazon will just fall on its own at some point.

That says little about Amazon. There’s a pandemic.

Re: The Anti-Amazon Alliance

#297

Post by katbyte »

hyperdimension wrote: post #275
caseysoftware wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I know vaguely what a product should do, I use Amazon to find the specific brand, product, and models. Then I try to buy it directly from the manufacturer whenever possible. What's the search engine equivalent of "showrooming"?

Funny, I heard of Best Buy (a major US electronics chain of stores) being called the "Amazon showroom" more than a few years ago. I never would've thought the situation would've flipped like that.

Yep, anything of real value where I worry about quality I order from Best Buy. I don’t want to deal with amazon for a tv or freezer.

Re: The Anti-Amazon Alliance

#298

Post by lucb1e »

dalai wrote: post #220
lucb1e wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same in the Netherlands, it was recently announced that Amazon will open a Dutch store (not sure when) but it was quite a shock for me when moving to Germany that people here have no clue how to order things other than by going to Amazon. Too much effort to use google and try different web shops if all the web shops can come to a monopolizing marketplace instead I guess? Too bad that the marketplace also competes wit…

In Germany there are a lot of price comparison sites, geizhals and idealo being just two examples. If I am looking for electronics the filtering capabilities of geizhals are way better than Amazon and it is often the case that I can get a better price in one of the many other web shops.

Geizhals is really crappy compared to the Tweakers Pricewatch I was used to, but yes I use that one to at least narrow down the comparison. Still, thanks for the tip!

Re: The Anti-Amazon Alliance

#299

Post by noizejoy »

qvrjuec wrote: post #265
noizejoy wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Less than 40% of Average Joes apparently [0] [0] https://morningconsult.com/most-trusted-brands/

Either you missed the point of that survey or you're deliberately misrepresenting its results. Did you miss the sentence that said 'This ranking is determined by share of "a lot" responses.'? Amazon is the 2nd most trusted brand, according to that survey.

I might have translated that survey result more into something like “No major brand deemed trustworthy by majority of consumers. Amazon a little less distrusted than most other major brands”.

Re: The Anti-Amazon Alliance

#300

Post by Wowfunhappy »

rhizome wrote: post #294
Wowfunhappy wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is precisely why we need capitalism as well as strong, enforced antitrust laws.

Is it still capitalism with strong antitrust? If so, why do capitalists keep chipping away at and denigrating antitrust laws? What about capitalism's concurrent drive: toward slavery for its workers? What about a third drive: zero taxes? Taken together, what is the benefit of the capitalist ideology at all, and to whom do those benefits accrue?

> Is it still capitalism with strong antitrust?

IMO, this is like asking "is it still a democracy if the people don't decide on every bill directly?" In a sense, the answer is no–but I still feel comfortable using the word democracy.

I'm going to keep going with this analogy—IMO, idolizing the idea of a completely unregulated market is akin to idolizing the governing structure of ancient Athens. Yes, the rules we've added over the past millennia make us less free in a way—but they also make for a more sustainable system. These refinements are a sign of maturity.

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