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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

#261

Post by walrus01 »

snuxoll wrote: post #245
walrus01 wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Somehow in the process I goofed and ordered batteries with the wrong connector (xt60 v xt30). I spent this morning trying to find other batteries or an adapter in the local metro area. As someone with direct experience in this whole class of hardware (hobbyist grade UAS stuff), you're going to want to have a soldering setup and low cost consumables (heat shrink tubing, etc, extra connectors that cost a few dollars…

For a lot of hobbies involving electronics having a decent soldering station (and possibly a decent hot air station) is extremely useful. A Hakko FX-888D isn’t terribly expensive, but even a Pinecil or TS-100 will get you far for cheap.

Indeed so, and even some $80 soldering stations sold on amazon are remarkably not terrible these days. Some even come with hot air guns. somewhat randomly chosen example:

https://www.amazon.com/YIHUA-Soldering-Conversion-Temperatur...

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

#262

Post by Karunamon »

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…

My annoyance with the local stores is that they don't even try to compete on the only things they can compete on.

They're never going to win on pricing or selection. The Amazons and Walmarts of the world are backed by huge logistics networks and software, with ruthless efficiency.

What they could absolutely thrash the big guys on is service and experience... yet they don't even bother. Disinterested jobsworth sales droids (usually teenagers) who know nothing about what they're selling or where they're selling it don't make for a compelling experience. The times I've had to flag someone down who was either playing on their phone or chitchatting with coworkers who then proceeded to look at me like I'm the one being an asshole in this interaction for interrupting before being absolutely no help at all has placed quite a few local businesses on my "do not shop here" list.

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

#264

Post by jiveturkey »

dataflow wrote: post #221
jasonladuke0311 wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Yeah, I've had Levi's in front of me where nominally "smaller" sizes of the exact same jeans were visibly bigger. For the life of me I don't understand why measuring jeans to better than an inch is so hard in the 21st century. How is there no incentive for them to fix this? Do they profit from giving people the wrong size?

i think i figured it out. they measure cut sew dye wash. the size changes during the wash, variably depending on the dye and randomness. it would be cost prohibitive to control for this so instead you get size variability which is fine because most people buy in store.

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

#265

Post by jiveturkey »

halikular wrote: post #117
londons_explore wrote: post #60

Small business near me never seem to have online catalogues or stock levels. Hunting for a specific product (for example a washing line) might involve walking into 3 different shops and guessing which shop might sell what you need. When you arrive in the shop, they always arrange aisles differently so unless you have 20 minutes to hunt you might not find it either. Whereas online it's a simple search and click "buy n…

Being able to test clothes before you buy them to so if they fit is so much more convenient than ordering the wrong size online.

i don’t buy clothes online but in the rare event i do i buy from amazon and super high end retailers where you just send it back without calling.

i order 2-3 sizes and send back the ones that don’t fit.

convenience of online with just the added small bump of a trip to the post office or UPS.

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

#266

Post by dataflow »

jiveturkey wrote: post #264
dataflow wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I've had Levi's in front of me where nominally "smaller" sizes of the exact same jeans were visibly bigger. For the life of me I don't understand why measuring jeans to better than an inch is so hard in the 21st century. How is there no incentive for them to fix this? Do they profit from giving people the wrong size?

i think i figured it out. they measure cut sew dye wash. the size changes during the wash, variably depending on the dye and randomness. it would be cost prohibitive to control for this so instead you get size variability which is fine because most people buy in store.

I'm not sure what wash you're referring to, but I'm talking about brand new jeans. Can't they measure whatever they want at the end of manufacture instead of the beginning? It's not like the consumer wears anything but the end product. The error bars are ridiculous.

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

#267

Post by jiveturkey »

dataflow wrote: post #266
jiveturkey wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i think i figured it out. they measure cut sew dye wash. the size changes during the wash, variably depending on the dye and randomness. it would be cost prohibitive to control for this so instead you get size variability which is fine because most people buy in store.

I'm not sure what wash you're referring to, but I'm talking about brand new jeans. Can't they measure whatever they want at the end of manufacture instead of the beginning? It's not like the consumer wears anything but the end product. The error bars are ridiculous.

brand new jeans are washed before you get them. it gives them the texture.

i noticed that a certain jean i buy fit consistently only within a given dye and wash. darker pair or different wash fit differently.

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

#268

Post by dataflow »

jiveturkey wrote: post #267
dataflow wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure what wash you're referring to, but I'm talking about brand new jeans. Can't they measure whatever they want at the end of manufacture instead of the beginning? It's not like the consumer wears anything but the end product. The error bars are ridiculous.

brand new jeans are washed before you get them. it gives them the texture. i noticed that a certain jean i buy fit consistently only within a given dye and wash. darker pair or different wash fit differently.

Yeah I get that they're washed, but I don't care if they're washed... can't they just measure something after the wash? Is what I'm asking.

I'm talking about the exact same dye btw. Like the same color, number, everything. Only difference is sizes. I've gotten smaller sizes an inch larger than the "larger" sizes for the exact same jeans. It's ridiculous.

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

#269

Post by snuxoll »

walrus01 wrote: post #261
snuxoll wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For a lot of hobbies involving electronics having a decent soldering station (and possibly a decent hot air station) is extremely useful. A Hakko FX-888D isn’t terribly expensive, but even a Pinecil or TS-100 will get you far for cheap.

Indeed so, and even some $80 soldering stations sold on amazon are remarkably not terrible these days. Some even come with hot air guns. somewhat randomly chosen example: https://www.amazon.com/YIHUA-Soldering-Conversion-Temperatur...

I’m always wary of no-name stations not because I think they’re inherently garbage or something, but that few people who really care about a quality station would give them a passing glance so reviews come from people who have no idea what even makes a quality station. I have seen tear downs of Hakko counterfeits that could be confused for the real thing and others that have serious reliability, consistency of safety issues - and these random Chinese direct-to-Amazon ones have the same problems.

Do they probably work most of the time? Sure. But I want the temperature display to mean 500C when it reads 500C and not 450C, and for my iron to be up to temperature just as quick as my FX-888D does without being a fire hazard or potentially let out the magic smoke because some cheap component died.

That said, if anybody is looking for a hot air station don’t buy from Hakko - they’re current models are overpriced and take forever to heat up. Atten (a Chinese brand) sells fantastic stations in the $250 price point that heat faster and have a saner interfaces. Point I’m trying to make here is don’t spend money for a well known brand if you don’t have to, but make sure whatever you buy is equipment you can trust instead and that means having reviews from trusted sources outside of Amazon customers.

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

#270

Post by _delirium »

wtvanhest wrote: post #231
adrianmonk wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 ac…

> large tolerances in sizes to keep costs down

Yeah, that's the main problem with this. If you're buying higher-end stuff with tighter tolerances, just providing a set of measurements can work. There's a whole industry of tailors in India and Hong Kong who sell made-to-measure dress shirts to Westerners over the internet.

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