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Almost everything on Amazon is becoming an ad

washingtonpost.com

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Re: Almost everything on Amazon is becoming an ad

#101

Post by lm28469 »

kennend3 wrote: post #90
moolcool wrote: post #42

It runs deeper than just everything being an ad. It's also completely flooded with rebadged junk from dropshippers. A few weeks ago, I was looking for a new whetstone, and this is what I got when I searched Amazon https://i.imgur.com/1Utp2dF.png The results keep going like that. You see constant repetition of the exact same units with slightly different branding, often with the same stock photography, repeated for pa…

> Now Amazon is nothing more than AliExpress with faster shipping. Shame. This. Once i realized what was taking place on amazon I simply moved to AliExpress. I mean if i am going to get something from there anyhow i might as well save the middleman fees and take the hit on shipping. I canceled my prime membership a while ago as well. I don't see how amazon can continue to simply be a front end for AliExpress for long…

The only pro of amazon is that you can contact them months after the purchase and still get a free replacement/refund. With aliexpress I doubt they'd refund you even if you received a bag of dirt instead of your product

Re: Almost everything on Amazon is becoming an ad

#102

Post by mark_l_watson »

The article is not wrong.

I find myself “shopping” by looking at my previous orders and selecting things that I liked before.

Amazon Prime is now more of a $10/month source of streaming entertainment content.

It does feel good to buy direct from manufacturers but I do a price comparison with Amazon first.

Re: Almost everything on Amazon is becoming an ad

#103

Post by kennend3 »

zip1234 wrote: post #98
jrs235 wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But even their shipping (with Prime too!) is getting slower and slower. Prime's selling point used to be free 2 day shipping. Shipping is still "free" but many items take 4 days (or more now).

Do you live in a city?

There are times i still use amazon and i actually bought a few items on Tuesday.

Amazon's delivery date is friday? Want to guess where amazon's distribution warehouse is? A few blocks away from me.

The point you are attempting to make is unclear. If the distribution hub is within walking distance from me, why does it take days to ship?

Re: Almost everything on Amazon is becoming an ad

#104

Post by q-big »

aslilac wrote: post #2

Amazon is unusable at this point, and I don’t get how they have so many customers. Free and fast shipping is no longer exclusive to them, and there are others out there with far nicer websites and no shitty ad listings.

> Amazon is unusable at this point, and I don’t get how they have so many customers.

At least in Germany, using Amazon is often the easiest way to buy copies of foreign-language (often, but not always English) textbooks about scientific topics.

Re: Almost everything on Amazon is becoming an ad

#105

Post by russelg »

lm28469 wrote: post #101
kennend3 wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Now Amazon is nothing more than AliExpress with faster shipping. Shame. This. Once i realized what was taking place on amazon I simply moved to AliExpress. I mean if i am going to get something from there anyhow i might as well save the middleman fees and take the hit on shipping. I canceled my prime membership a while ago as well. I don't see how amazon can continue to simply be a front end for AliExpress for long…

The only pro of amazon is that you can contact them months after the purchase and still get a free replacement/refund. With aliexpress I doubt they'd refund you even if you received a bag of dirt instead of your product

AliExpress also has strong buyer protections, which you would have seen had you ever ordered from there. You have to confirm delivery for every order else the seller doesn't get the money.

Re: Almost everything on Amazon is becoming an ad

#106

Post by cunidev »

jabo wrote: post #53

I recently had to buy something mundane - a light bulb, with a specific lumen and color temperature spec. Weeding out all the junk listings, ads and clearly fake reviews, I ended up spending an hour trying to get to the one I wanted to buy. Had a very similar experience for another product as well. At this point, I hesitate to look up stuff on Amazon just considering the time it takes to find stuff. I much rather pre…

For most products, at least in Europe you can get the same cheap junk of Amazon listings from eBay at 20-40% lower prices, and usually (slightly) higher quality one from brick and mortar stores at the Amazon price.

I avoid Amazon in principle since many years (unless I _really_ need a product there), but that has never been hard, considering that most smaller stores always offered me more convenient prices, less hassle in searching, and the relief of not giving money to such a controversial giant.

Re: Almost everything on Amazon is becoming an ad

#107

Post by pibechorro »

jabo wrote: post #53

I recently had to buy something mundane - a light bulb, with a specific lumen and color temperature spec. Weeding out all the junk listings, ads and clearly fake reviews, I ended up spending an hour trying to get to the one I wanted to buy. Had a very similar experience for another product as well. At this point, I hesitate to look up stuff on Amazon just considering the time it takes to find stuff. I much rather pre…

amazon choice and most popular tend to do a lot of the sifting you want.

Re: Almost everything on Amazon is becoming an ad

#109

Post by ThunderSizzle »

jrs235 wrote: post #95
kennend3 wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Now Amazon is nothing more than AliExpress with faster shipping. Shame. This. Once i realized what was taking place on amazon I simply moved to AliExpress. I mean if i am going to get something from there anyhow i might as well save the middleman fees and take the hit on shipping. I canceled my prime membership a while ago as well. I don't see how amazon can continue to simply be a front end for AliExpress for long…

But even their shipping (with Prime too!) is getting slower and slower. Prime's selling point used to be free 2 day shipping. Shipping is still "free" but many items take 4 days (or more now).

Delivery has never been faster for me. Most things arrive in less than a day now.

But some things do take longer. I guess it depends on stock levels.

Re: Almost everything on Amazon is becoming an ad

#110

Post by YZF »

dimitrios1 wrote: post #57
moolcool wrote: post #42

It runs deeper than just everything being an ad. It's also completely flooded with rebadged junk from dropshippers. A few weeks ago, I was looking for a new whetstone, and this is what I got when I searched Amazon https://i.imgur.com/1Utp2dF.png The results keep going like that. You see constant repetition of the exact same units with slightly different branding, often with the same stock photography, repeated for pa…

That King whetstone is good, I have it and use it.

I was just going to say the same thing. IIRC it's Japanese.
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