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Almost everything on Amazon is becoming an ad

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Re: Almost everything on Amazon is becoming an ad

#201

Post by Scoundreller »

wirthjason wrote: post #158
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…

Niche items are pretty much a miss on Amazon. I buy a lot of things on Amazon but as a hobbyist cook and knife collector something like whetstones are much better purchased at a specialty retailer. I trust a shop like japaneseknifeimports.com a lot more than Amazon. These shops cater to the community and the mutual success of the community and the businesses are important.

And random components… you’ll have better luck on eBay. Need a P key for you random laptop keyboard, 1000 5mm LEDs or usb-a cable, male on both ends, straight and right-angle? Gonna have better luck on eBay.

And then the actually unique stuff. I’m buying odd lots of used postage stamps. I’m sure as a seller doing one-offs, even if it’s a common item, eBay is the way to go.

Amazon has improved a lot, but eBay still king on that.

Re: Almost everything on Amazon is becoming an ad

#202

Post by thefourthchime »

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).

That might depend on where you live. I nearly always get next-day or 2-day shipping. There are exceptions, but for central Austin, it's pretty good.

Re: Almost everything on Amazon is becoming an ad

#203

Post by martinald »

cratermoon wrote: post #182
iso1631 wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never managed to connect with America tales of the length of shipping. Almost (99%) everything I order from amazon arrives when it says, most of which is next day. I live in the country, but like most UK citizens fairly close to a major trunk road (10 miles or so). Of course I'm sure things are different if you live on Mull or Fair Isle, but for the vast majority of us it seems reliable The quality of what you g…

The difference between the US and the UK is size and the sheer remoteness of some places, even small cities. Unless you've been there, it's hard to grasp. I've driven around large parts of the western US and there's a LOT of empty space. I don't know how many shipping centers Amazon has in the UK, but I am about 99.999% sure that there's areas of the US larger than all of the British Isle that are served by a single…

According to this about 50 in the UK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Amazon_locations#Unite...

Re: Almost everything on Amazon is becoming an ad

#204

Post by YurgenJurgensen »

justapassenger wrote: post #23
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.

Main reason I still use them is 100% hassle free return policy. I don’t stress about buying something crappy, as I know I can return it, in very convenient ways.

Will their return policy rebuild your house when a faulty power adapter burns it down?

Re: Almost everything on Amazon is becoming an ad

#205

Post by thewebcount »

TacticalCoder wrote: post #79
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. 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. I only started using them in 2017 and I still do use them sparingly. But typically only for stuff I buy directly from the brand's store on Amazon. There are a few brands I still trust. They may all…

> I only started using them in 2017 and I still do use them sparingly. But typically only for stuff I buy directly from the brand's store on Amazon.

Does this work? My spouse recently purchased some 3M N-95 masks directly from 3M’s Amazon store. They’re supposed to arrive in a box that has a code on it which you can enter into 3M’s website to verify it’s real and not a counterfeit. Instead they arrived in a clear plastic bag with no printing on it. There’s no code so I can only assume they’re either fakes or were pull from a larger box (which means potentially handled inappropriately). Given my spouse’s immune condition, that’s not a chance we really want to take so we’re going to throw them out.

Re: Almost everything on Amazon is becoming an ad

#207

Post by Scoundreller »

Cloudef wrote: post #77
moonchrome wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AliExpress isn't even cheap for what you're actually getting, but it is cheaper than Amazon if you're dumpster diving. The reason I say it isn't cheap is because when I ignore the fake labels and look at actual goods delivered equivalents can be bought locally for similar price (sometimes cheaper, sometimes more expensive) without insane wait time and with warrenty.

For spare / repair parts aliexpress unfortunately is still the heaven. Sure you have to be really careful who you order from, but sadly the modern world hates selling spare parts and loves e-waste (especially for smartphones, it used to be different before ...).

Or eBay. I’m offloading a bunch of random bike parts, and yeah, somebody out there needs a Shimano XYZ-123 that was last built in 1994 (and doesn’t care to figure out the modern replacement).

Re: Almost everything on Amazon is becoming an ad

#208

Post by jason-phillips »

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…

> I was looking for a new whetstone

The King whetstone on the bottom right is legit if you want to freehand. However, I recommend something like an Edge Pro if you have quality chefs knives, etc.

Re: Almost everything on Amazon is becoming an ad

#209

Post by GekkePrutser »

pigbearpig wrote: post #169
GekkePrutser wrote: post #162

I agree with the article except for the criticism about Amazon promoting their own products. I don't mind that part. After all I go to Amazon to buy stuff from Amazon. In fact I wish I could just select a box and filter out all the third-party sellers. There is too much completely unvalidated scammy stuff on there, even in the "shipped by Amazon" category. However they don't have this option probably because then non…

I thought there was a seller filter. I know I’ve used it before to only show Seller: Amazon.com.

It doesn't come up for me on the left-hand side where all the filters are :( Just double-checked.

Re: Almost everything on Amazon is becoming an ad

#210

Post by gauddasa »

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…

I was looking for earphones and same products were repeated on 900 pages, with 20 to 25 entries listed per page. The odds of finding a useful product in this ocean of repetition is then about 0.1%. I must have clicked for 30 minutes to see the extent of invasion. It was so exhausting and dispiriting that since then (8 months ago), I have not visited Amazon anymore.
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