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The Amazon tax

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Re: The Amazon tax

#281

Post by germinalphrase »

MattSayar wrote: post #211
radicality wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is the Costco shipping good / good inventory / similar or same as in store prices? Should I consider it if living in a city like ny? I live in central nyc, been only a few times to a Costco, and had no idea they even do any shipping! I assumed that part of all those good prices is the smaller selection, large minimum quantities, and that you have to get yourself there with a car to get it in person.

I don't purchase from costco.com regularly, but the selection is generally the same as in-store and a bit more. The shipping is free, but slower than Amazon and faster than a couple weeks.

There is ~10-15% markup for Costco online delivery orders vs in-store prices.

Re: The Amazon tax

#282

Post by luke5441 »

For a while Amazon was good at discovering new books to read. Nowadays my ad-blocker blocks everything except for the book I am directly navigating to from the page. No discovery of new books is happening for me there anymore.

Another place to discover new books was Goodreads. Bought and left to rot by Amazon.

I don't buy many books anymore.

Re: The Amazon tax

#283

Post by arlattimore »

Similarly, this is also why Google stopped enforcing trademarks years ago. It allows more people to bid on terms, increases competition, increases CPCs & of course pads their bottom line.

Re: The Amazon tax

#284

Post by mynameisash »

ulfw wrote: post #173
ramijames wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mostly I'm buying Amazon groceries because here in Boston if you don't have a car and access to Costco, wow are your local shops over-priced. Wholefoods, Star Market, and Trader Joes are all at least 25% more expensive.

Who do you think Wholefoods belongs to?

> Oh yea. Getting downvoted for saying the truth. So modern Hackernews

I didn't downvote you - and I agree with the sentiment that Whole Foods is also Amazon - but the meta complaining isn't beneficial to the conversation.

Re: The Amazon tax

#285

Post by paconbork »

muvlon wrote: post #270
micromacrofoot wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ah but what they can manipulate around you is the price , which is a behavior some places are trying to get ahead of https://www.nj.gov/governor/news/2026/20260723a.shtml

Has that actually happened in retail stores? All I can find on the topic is about online purchases (or ordering/paying online and picking it up at the store). To do this in brick-and-mortar, you'd have to use remotely programmable price tags and detect who is looking at what, which seems doable, but then you still run into all kinds of tough questions with no good answers. If I happen to see the price tag change from…

"Please scan this item with our app to see the price"

Re: The Amazon tax

#286

Post by penguin_booze »

The income tax in UK has this quirk: once you fall near the top tax bracket, you retrospectively lose all tax-free allowances you could have availed, had you not fallen in the top tax bracket.

Likewise, once corporations blow past a revenue cap, they shouldn't be eligible for lower rate of corporate tax. If the US is any cautionary tale (it always is), it's a moral imperative not to let corporations get too big. Letting corporations grow big and still avail tax cuts, is like feeding your own cancer.

Re: The Amazon tax

#287

Post by evereverever »

muvlon wrote: post #270
micromacrofoot wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ah but what they can manipulate around you is the price , which is a behavior some places are trying to get ahead of https://www.nj.gov/governor/news/2026/20260723a.shtml

Has that actually happened in retail stores? All I can find on the topic is about online purchases (or ordering/paying online and picking it up at the store). To do this in brick-and-mortar, you'd have to use remotely programmable price tags and detect who is looking at what, which seems doable, but then you still run into all kinds of tough questions with no good answers. If I happen to see the price tag change from…

"Please scan this item with our app to see YOUR price" -ftfy

Re: The Amazon tax

#288

Post by jonahx »

andrewla wrote: post #257
GuB-42 wrote: post #171

It doesn't have to do with Amazon. It is just how ads work. Of course when you buy a product that is heavily advertised you know that you are paying for it, Amazon or not. That's why, when I see an ad campaign for a product I may want, it is a signal for me to look elsewhere. Some competitor may use what would be ad budget towards offering lower prices or better quality. As for Amazon, it is not cheap! It is convenie…

It's confusing to me that amazon is in the ads business at all though. They're a retail service, not an ad business and it seems that all the ad business does is burn goodwill. They do have goodwill to burn, but it cheapens the entire experience.

Per the article, in exchange for that goodwill they get a billion dollars per week. Do we need more explanation?

To be clear, it's gross, but they are doing it just enough that their convenience and average sufficient product quality keeps me using them. I'd guess they do a lot of research to keep that balance where it is.

Re: The Amazon tax

#289

Post by evereverever »

qurren wrote: post #227
delegate wrote: post #224

This has been true for years on Amazon and is true for most big services now. Over time the concept of search has mutated from 'locate the exact item I'm looking for' to 'show me a list of semantic search results'. Somehow nobody noticed. Oh and of course those are not random results - you can literally feel how the platform is trying to nudge you into buying what IT wants, not what you wanted. The search is just pur…

Related: I've seen several local restaurants offering extremely good food come up and die simply because they could never get attention. People only look at recommendations now, they don't look with their eyes anymore. So now restaurants have to focus on growth hacking rather than food quality.

I've seen a lot of "Thai Food Near Me" as the name of restaurants.

Re: The Amazon tax

#290

Post by skeeter2020 »

qurren wrote: post #227
delegate wrote: post #224

This has been true for years on Amazon and is true for most big services now. Over time the concept of search has mutated from 'locate the exact item I'm looking for' to 'show me a list of semantic search results'. Somehow nobody noticed. Oh and of course those are not random results - you can literally feel how the platform is trying to nudge you into buying what IT wants, not what you wanted. The search is just pur…

Related: I've seen several local restaurants offering extremely good food come up and die simply because they could never get attention. People only look at recommendations now, they don't look with their eyes anymore. So now restaurants have to focus on growth hacking rather than food quality.

This is why the long-term survivors tend to be pretty mid chains & franchises. They've got the marketing down and the food is an afterthought.
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