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Show HN: I'm building an open-source Amazon

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Re: Show HN: I'm building an open-source Amazon

#271

Post by rishav_sharan »

2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #114
rocket_surgeron wrote: post #44

Those efforts look impressive but no service will be a version (open source or otherwise) of Amazon until it can place a single tube of toothpaste in my garage 18 hours after I ordered it, which it just did thirty minutes ago. Amazon’s “tech” stack, both consumer- and seller-facing is horrible and borderline irrelevant. Their fleet of trucks and aircraft is not.

18 hours is a pretty stupid selling point IMO. You either need something immediately or you can wait. Rarely do I need anything 18 hours from now. I think many sellers would love to not be locked into Amazon and at least use something like this as an additional alternative. I'm on the other side of the table where I avoid buying from Amazon as much as possible.

18 hours is a fantastic selling point for me. I am willing to wait a couple of days for something that I bought. Beyond that, I'd rather just go out and buy it.

Re: Show HN: I'm building an open-source Amazon

#272

Post by Eric_WVGG »

2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #114
rocket_surgeron wrote: post #44

Those efforts look impressive but no service will be a version (open source or otherwise) of Amazon until it can place a single tube of toothpaste in my garage 18 hours after I ordered it, which it just did thirty minutes ago. Amazon’s “tech” stack, both consumer- and seller-facing is horrible and borderline irrelevant. Their fleet of trucks and aircraft is not.

18 hours is a pretty stupid selling point IMO. You either need something immediately or you can wait. Rarely do I need anything 18 hours from now. I think many sellers would love to not be locked into Amazon and at least use something like this as an additional alternative. I'm on the other side of the table where I avoid buying from Amazon as much as possible.

Imo it’s less about the speed than the predictability.

I routinely pick the “next Monday and we’ll give you two bucks digital credit or whatever” option because I assume it’ll make the shipping a little more efficient or make some factory grunt’s life easier, and I’ll still pick Amazon over other vendors because when they say Monday, they mean Monday.

I’m always able to track the shipment, it’s always predictable, I never have to wonder. It’s a less tangible feature but far more valuable.

Re: Show HN: I'm building an open-source Amazon

#273

Post by cylon13 »

ryanisnan wrote: post #233
rocket_surgeron wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

18 hours is overnight. Last night "Hmm. Toothpaste almost gone. Let me check the linen closet. Nope. Excuse me while I whip this out. (gasp) Swipe, tap, tap, t-o-o-t-h (autocomplete), scroll, tap, tap, tap. Done." Used the last this morning, new toothpaste delivered at noon. I shop online exclusively because one of my first jobs was in retail and it is my solemn duty to do everything I can to annihilate the brick and…

You have an interesting (and I find pitiable) perspective here. I live in a small town, and brick and mortar stores are how many folks survive here. I, and many other townfolk go out of our way to expressly shop in town. This helps create an interesting, culturally vibrant downtown, filled with shops and restaurants. My saturday mornings usually involve me walking the town, poking my head into shops, saying hi to fol…

You obviously live in a much nicer place. Sounds like the GP lives in a rougher neighborhood in a larger city, which if you’ve never experienced, can definitely leave you wanting to avoid having to shop in public.

Re: Show HN: I'm building an open-source Amazon

#274

Post by the_cat_kittles »

candiodari wrote: post #250
the_cat_kittles wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

how is it not kind of stupid to prioritize getting something asap over being genuine?

The growth potential and the customer satisfaction. The sad reality is that a large majority of people don't actually use products they buy. They want the satisfaction of getting a new "quality" product and imagine it gives them status.

that is stupid, which is what im saying

Re: Show HN: I'm building an open-source Amazon

#275

Post by stackbutterflow »

eternityforest wrote: post #246
cfiggers wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another way to frame it (from the opposite direction) is a collective failure on "our" part (if there is such a thing as "us") to explore and promote genuinely interesting things just because they lack the sparkle of click bait on the outer surface. Maybe it isn't that we "fall for" click bait, it's that we very loudly ignore stuff that isn't.

An open source order management system is interesting to a certain number of people, but probably doesn't affect me personally. It sounds like another open web storefront builder if i had to guess based on the title. An open source Amazon is a big deal, it implies that it aims to do what Amazon does, not just a repo you can clone and build an online store, and I might be placing orders there someday.

A distributed open source Amazon. Storing goods in people's rooms. Creating a distributed worldwide warehouse, kinda like P2P. With a fleet of uber-like delivery persons. Each participant gets a share of the profits.

Re: Show HN: I'm building an open-source Amazon

#276

Post by mathgorges »

lisper wrote: post #215

What would be an Amazon-killer for me as a consumer -- and just about the only thing that I can imagine that would be -- is something like Amazon that connected me to the inventory of local merchants where I could buy things for same-day or next-day delivery via something like Doordash. There is a ton of inventory within a 30-60 minute drive of my house (in the Bay Area) but no centralized service to connect me to it…

I drive for Amazon flex and they’re beginning to trial orders similar to what you describe.

I don’t have a clue what the interface for ordering is like, but I know there’s a new offer type where I’m expected to pick up orders from one-or-several brick and mortar stores in a single shopping plaza before delivering

Re: Show HN: I'm building an open-source Amazon

#277

Post by chinchilla2020 »

swyx wrote: post #32
jpatt wrote: post #24

A few points I'm skeptical of: simply connect to the seller’s infra instead of locking them in. One of the value-adds of Amazon is there's a whole bunch of tech sellers don't need to know how to write, run, and maintain. You'd need to understand how big the niche "technically literate to run their own e-commerce business, but selling on Amazon for other reasons" is, then how your operation would answer those "other r…

i think the branding "open source Amazon" is just way too ambitious/big. invites a lot of confusion/criticism if Amazon is different things to different people.

Also very difficult to compete with Amazon. Amazon makes their operating profits from cloud computing and subsidizes their retail market with it. That is how they keep prices so low.

Re: Show HN: I'm building an open-source Amazon

#278

Post by amelius »

chinchilla2020 wrote: post #277
swyx wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i think the branding "open source Amazon" is just way too ambitious/big. invites a lot of confusion/criticism if Amazon is different things to different people.

Also very difficult to compete with Amazon. Amazon makes their operating profits from cloud computing and subsidizes their retail market with it. That is how they keep prices so low.

The result is a form of predatory pricing which should be illegal.

Re: Show HN: I'm building an open-source Amazon

#280

Post by lisper »

mathgorges wrote: post #276
lisper wrote: post #215

What would be an Amazon-killer for me as a consumer -- and just about the only thing that I can imagine that would be -- is something like Amazon that connected me to the inventory of local merchants where I could buy things for same-day or next-day delivery via something like Doordash. There is a ton of inventory within a 30-60 minute drive of my house (in the Bay Area) but no centralized service to connect me to it…

I drive for Amazon flex and they’re beginning to trial orders similar to what you describe. I don’t have a clue what the interface for ordering is like, but I know there’s a new offer type where I’m expected to pick up orders from one-or-several brick and mortar stores in a single shopping plaza before delivering

Yeah, this doesn't surprise me. Amazon certainly could do this. The problem is one of branding. Amazon is ridiculously convenient but they now have a well-deserved reputation that the quality of the products you get from them is a total crap shoot every time. If there was something like Amazon that I could rely on to deliver quality, I would happily pay extra for that. I think there's a window of opportunity for someone else to step in and become the "Amazon for reliable local quality" in the same way that e.g. NextDoor has become the "Facebook for local interactions". And I hope someone does because Amazon really needs some serious competition.
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