141–150 of 293 posts
So, just like every other store, before the sale, they jack up the prices to make the markdown look more extreme. What, have people never shopped in Sears/Macys/Mervyns or any other department store since the beginning of time? Seriously, the only response I can come up with to this news is "Well... duh."
This is illegal in many countries, so waving it off as "everyone does it" is not only morally weak, but factually inaccurate.
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There's no point in debating the moral issues when our world is anything but. It's like condemning engineers for enabling governments and corporations to spy on us and constantly erode our privacy. In this particular situation the interaction was between me and the seller. Reviews are written, edited, removed by a person that owes nothing to other potential customers.
Seems contradictory to buy a low quality item based on unfair reviews, complain about that fact, then go on saying that reviewers owe nothing to anyone. They obviously owe a modicum of honesty and objectivity to other potential buyers. Why would you leave a review if not to inform other buyers ?
I've become more and more disillusioned by Amazon over the years. Prices are now almost never the best; I only buy from them when I need something quickly (and can't get it locally). NewEgg (nearly) always has better tech prices. Walmart often has better prices on everyday items and I can have it immediately. I just bought a pair of tweezers at my local grocery store for two bucks that was $6 on Amazon for the same m…
To be fair, Amazon never claimed the lowest prices, that's Walmart's motto I believe. Amazon strikes for best customer experience, I think it tries to achieve the best balance of convenience, value and service.
Of recent purchases on Amazon (sold by others, but dispatched and warehoused by Amazon) 50% have been faulty and needed to be returned ... that's put friction into the process because they don't do any QC on what they're stocking.
I've also had an instance recently of something shipped by Amazon that was meant to be with me next day not turning up and needing to be re-ordered. They only admitted it was lost days later, so I didn't re-order sooner. OK, I got a free month of Prime for my troubles, but it's not the amazing friction free experience it used to be.
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I've fallen for Newegg's slightly lower prices a few times, last two new items i ordered, both were opened up. 2nd one missing crucial parts that someone poked all of them out through the bag inside of the device's box. 2nd item was through a reseller though. I don't use Amazon too often these days, but Newegg's lost me from these last few experiences. Their support basically said "meh" about both cases.
For a really long time (over a year) I was trying to get my oders to be shipped to an address in California, Daly City. I had 30% success rate. I have called Amazon several times but they gave me bullshit. I figured out that the delivery guy was stealing all of the shippment and I could prove it. Amazon did not care. After a while I just stopped ordering anything because it is impossible to get delivery there. All of…
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So Amazon gets a list of everything you're interested in offline as well, even if you don't buy from them. Sounds like win/win for them!
At least customers get paid for giving them that information (in the form of the discount that the price-matcher gives). I've done it, too, at Fry's when I needed some hard disks and a laptop on short notice. Saved about $100 in one trip (they were expensive hard disks), just by pulling up Amazon and pointing at the price for the service rep. Competition is good.
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So you just helped continue the fraud? Things aren't gonna improve by complaining on HN.
There's no point in debating the moral issues when our world is anything but. It's like condemning engineers for enabling governments and corporations to spy on us and constantly erode our privacy. In this particular situation the interaction was between me and the seller. Reviews are written, edited, removed by a person that owes nothing to other potential customers.
Yet you feel jaded by the other reviewers. You don't owe me anything, but I would encourage you to go back and leave a negative review if the product isn't worth the price. I'm in the market for a cooking knife and would appreciate good reviews. Thanks.
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The flip side to Amazon's easy returns is that I regularly receive used/returned merchandise from Amazon that was advertised as new.
If the product clearly appears to be used I'd say that's a problem with Amazon's quality control for returns (though I never experienced those problems). However what do you think happens to returned items? You don't expect them to be thrown out, do you? Maybe I'm way off, but I was always under the impression that those returned items are re-packaged (if necessary) and sold as new. And I think that's fine since I re…
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The flip side to Amazon's easy returns is that I regularly receive used/returned merchandise from Amazon that was advertised as new.
If the product clearly appears to be used I'd say that's a problem with Amazon's quality control for returns (though I never experienced those problems). However what do you think happens to returned items? You don't expect them to be thrown out, do you? Maybe I'm way off, but I was always under the impression that those returned items are re-packaged (if necessary) and sold as new. And I think that's fine since I re…
For example, go into any Best Buy and ask them where the open box deals are, or look on their website.
Or go to a Fry's Electronics store. They put returned items on the shelf with new ones, but there is a special label on the package noting this and generally offering a small discount.
Lenovo has a factory outlet separate from their main website where they sell customer returns. Unopened returns may be listed as new; opened returns are listed as used or refurbished.
Amazon lists returned products under "Amazon Warehouse Deals" in the New and Used section of a product listing, with the product condition noted in the description.
For most product categories, Amazon prohibits a returned item from being resold as "New":
https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=...
> New: Just like it sounds. A brand-new, unused, unopened item in its original packaging, with all original packaging materials included. Original protective wrapping, if any, is intact. Original manufacturer's warranty, if any, still applies, with warranty details included in the listing comments.
There are some different policies in certain product categories; the page above lists them.
Of course, third-party sellers on Amazon may well re-sell customer returns as "new". But if they don't comply with the rules on this page, they are violating their seller agreement.
That's pretty standard for what I call the "scam economy" that is the US for the past 20 years. Watch any commercial.
Only the last 20 years? Only the US?
There's a rather common set of "truth in advertising" laws (e.g. to show a "x % off", the base price can't be made up ("recommended price") but you must have sold this item for certain amount of time for that old price already, the sale can't last for more than x months (in that case, that becomes the base price), etc, etc. USA has chosen not to adopt such laws.