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Chrome extension recommends local businesses while shopping on Amazon or eBay

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Re: Chrome extension recommends local businesses while shopping on Amazon or eBay

#231

Post by wtvanhest »

adrianmonk wrote: post #200
robbrown451 wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As long as you can find your size. I'm tall and thin, so if I want to buy something as basic as Levi's jeans, I have to go to a ton of stores and have limited choices. Now I just get them on Amazon, problem solved. This is a problem that should have been solved years ago. You should be able to measure yourself very accurately and thoroughly, keep it on some sort of file that you can share what you need, and then use…

There's a company called True Fit ( https://www.truefit.com/ ) which attempts to solve this. True Fit partners with several stores. You go on a store's web site (for example, macys.com), and you tell True Fit about some clothing you already have that fits well (brand, size, style). Based on that, it refers to its database to recommend the best size of the product you're considering now, and it tells you whether it th…

True fit is more of a conversion boosting tool rather than a tool to help the consumer.

I worked at Levi’s Corp for 3 years and was surprised to learn that clothes have large tolerances in sizes to keep costs down.

True fit says you should select a size based on the size you wear in another brand. That won’t work because no brands have consistent sizing. Even if a brand used extremely tight size tolerances, brands actively size up and down their clothes based on the whims of merchants.

The solution is to just buy 3 sizes of each item you want and select the best fit and return the rest.

Re: Chrome extension recommends local businesses while shopping on Amazon or eBay

#232

Post by dnndev »

cerved wrote: post #215
mcv wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plenty of online stores let to order stuff to fit them and return what doesn't fit.

who wants to return stuff

Most make it super easy. I think Amazon even includes a return label just in case. Waaay better than driving to a store with perfume masking stink, wait in line for fitting rooms, wait in line to pay. So many cons to going in store… most stores are stink boxes.

Re: Chrome extension recommends local businesses while shopping on Amazon or eBay

#233

Post by jbrahms33 »

_rpd wrote: post #203
jbrahms33 wrote: post #180

Just had a golden idea of how to get inventory online. You crowd-source it by rewarding customers to log inventory. Essentially customers are setting up their own little drop-shipping stores with inventory found throughout retail stores around them. Let me know if anyone is interested in helping with this

Just replying to encourage you. I think this is a great idea.

Thank you. Wish i could make it, let me know if you know anyone that can help

Re: Chrome extension recommends local businesses while shopping on Amazon or eBay

#234

Post by Bob_LaBLahh »

8note wrote: post #163
Bob_LaBLahh wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FYI, things like jeans can have a lot of size variability between seemingly identical pairs (same brand, model, and nominal size). My understanding is that this is because the denim is stacked and then die cut in the factory. Since denim is highly deformable, the cut outs from the top of the stack are not the same size as the cut out from the bottom of the stack. And this can lead to considerable size variance within…

I've only found differences for pants bought in different years. If I buy two of the same pair, the match each other throughout their lifespan.

Interesting. I've noticed about a half size difference in both waist and leg length on one occasion. One pair didn't fit but it's twin was perfect. \_(ツ)_/

Re: Chrome extension recommends local businesses while shopping on Amazon or eBay

#235

Post by Krasnol »

jasonladuke0311 wrote: post #219
notatoad wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yeah, this is a problem i've solved by learning what brands are internally consistent with their sizing. i know my size in Levi's, and as long as they don't suddenly start making 36/32 jeans fit differently than they used to, i'll keep ordering from them without having to worry about fit.

Levi's is one of the worst offenders. There is such a massive sizing variance that I stopped buying them years ago unless I found them in a store.

I gave up on pants sizes. You really have to go there and there is no system to it. Sometimes the numbers get bigger, sometimes smaller.

With shoes there is at least consistency because it seems like it became a penis enlargement thing there. On some brands my size grew from 43 to 47 in the recent years.

Re: Chrome extension recommends local businesses while shopping on Amazon or eBay

#236

Post by _qwfv »

notatoad wrote: post #206
_qwfv wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not just aesthetic value. Yes, there is aesthetic value but also there is the value of "People can afford to live and work here." A community that contains some shop owners, some office workers, some landscapers, etc. is a better community in my eyes.

i agree with you that a community where people can afford to live and work is good, but the work needs to actually be productive. if a retail store's only value is unrelated to their retail business, then i think it's fair to call them only aesthetic. paying people to work in shops that are worse in every way than the alternative except for being local is not productive. no real value is being created. it's a make-wo…

It is productive. My local bike shop sells me bike parts I need, just not as conveniently or efficiently as Amazon.

The ruthless pursuit of efficiency as it's own goal is a trap. Squeezing out every societal optimization is a very engineering centric mindset. There are many, many times where the most efficient solution to a problem isn't the "best" one, and we need to collectively get better at recognizing when that's the case.

Re: Chrome extension recommends local businesses while shopping on Amazon or eBay

#237

Post by jeromegv »

jdasdf wrote: post #227
sokoloff wrote: post #38

I’d be happy to support local merchants, but they have to get the overall value proposition somewhat competitive. For the most part, they aren’t. Maybe it’s pricing, selection, policies, hours of operation, or some combination, but other than grocers and large chains, I’m not even sure they’re trying. Amazon is winning by serving the customers. Local shops will continue to have a hard time if the primary value prop i…

> I’d be happy to support local merchants, but they have to get the overall value proposition somewhat competitive. For the most part, they aren’t. Maybe it’s pricing, selection, policies, hours of operation, or some combination, but other than grocers and large chains, I’m not even sure they’re trying. This. I actively avoid local businesses because with few exceptions they always try to screw you, whether that's pr…

“They always try to screw you”. Wow. Wow. Wow.

That’s how we end up with monopolistic companies. Instead of actually making an effort to look for great small business in your city, you’ve just going to spend all your money on Amazon and when you get called on it your answer is they “always try to screw me”. I don’t know if you believe it or you just want the moral high ground for your bad consumer behaviours.

Re: Chrome extension recommends local businesses while shopping on Amazon or eBay

#238

Post by rammy1234 »

One thing covid taught me is , so far online shopping was seen as supplementary to in-store shopping. Websites are designed in such a way that users know what they want. Unlike in-store shopping which surprises you when you go across the aisle. websites are flat out search based. For Local Businesses, there should be a straight out website, where businesses can enlist for a zipcode and publish their catalog so we can find them. But this is a good start for sure.

Re: Chrome extension recommends local businesses while shopping on Amazon or eBay

#239

Post by sokoloff »

_qwfv wrote: post #236
notatoad wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i agree with you that a community where people can afford to live and work is good, but the work needs to actually be productive. if a retail store's only value is unrelated to their retail business, then i think it's fair to call them only aesthetic. paying people to work in shops that are worse in every way than the alternative except for being local is not productive. no real value is being created. it's a make-wo…

It is productive. My local bike shop sells me bike parts I need, just not as conveniently or efficiently as Amazon. The ruthless pursuit of efficiency as it's own goal is a trap. Squeezing out every societal optimization is a very engineering centric mindset. There are many, many times where the most efficient solution to a problem isn't the "best" one, and we need to collectively get better at recognizing when that'…

That’s the odd thing though: Amazon has several disadvantages compared to your local bike shop (not being local, not being able to see your bike, not having a human who can talk to you, and not being able to hand you the parts right now). That your local bike shop, despite starting with these significant advantages, manages to be less convenient and efficient for you is interesting and unexpected (and does not bode well for them and others like them).

Re: Chrome extension recommends local businesses while shopping on Amazon or eBay

#240

Post by maerF0x0 »

dataflow wrote: post #223
fortran77 wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A Levi's "36" today is probably more like 39 inches. In fact, most companies have been "vanity sizing" to make people feel better. The worst offender is "Old Navy" where a 36" is actually a whopping 41 inches. It seems like men won't buy pants that are labeled over 39 inches, so as sizes go up from 30 inches, the "vanity" excess goes up exponentially. See: https://www.esquire.com/style/mens-fashion/a8386/pants-size-.…

How is vanity sizing not false advertising?!

No one is getting mad or feeling bad about fitting a smaller size than they've earned. It takes a complaint for it to be an issue.
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