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Amazon Closing AmazonSmile

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Re: Amazon Closing AmazonSmile

#141

Post by stonogo »

zoklet-enjoyer wrote: post #97
sh1mmer wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We give to the Southern Poverty Law Center, who according to the app have received $315k up to Nov 2022. Sad to see this program go.

SPLC, like most non-profits, is a scam https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-reckoning-of-mo...

I can't decide which is funnier, the fact that you think a fifteen-year-old experience is relevant now, or the fact they had to update the story multiple times because the author kept getting facts wrong. Not exactly a slam dunk on backing up the "most non-profits are a scam" claim.

Re: Amazon Closing AmazonSmile

#142

Post by bumby »

culi wrote: post #125
lockhouse wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Also most tech workers are college educated which is a demographic that (increasingly) supports gun control/does not like the NRA It's less a college educated versus not and more an urban versus rural issue.

tomato tomato

Tomato potato

You might be confusing correlation as something more substantive

Re: Amazon Closing AmazonSmile

#143

Post by crazysim »

snuxoll wrote: post #4
nicklevin wrote: post #2

There were seemingly odd hoops for customers to jump through to have their purchases qualify for Smile. Didn't type in the 'smile' URL? Too bad, no donation for you. One of the oddest was requiring push notifications in order for mobile purchases to count ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21233815 ).

They wanted you to turn on push on mobile so they could pollute your Lock Screen with ads. I did it and promptly set iOS to deliver them silently because it got really annoying, but it was an easy way for the EFF to get some money from purchases I was making anyway.

On android they did the asshole thing and detected if the notifications were disabled and turned off smile. No ios hiding the true notification state there.

Re: Amazon Closing AmazonSmile

#144

Post by RcouF1uZ4gsC »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #73
iambateman wrote: post #14

The fun part of Amazon Smile was that it let customers decide how they wanted to change the world…but now they’ve decided they - Amazon - know better, thank you very much. This is surprisingly honest for corporatespeak and I think reflects the god-complex which tends to follow people who spend a lot of time taking in billions of dollars. The reality is there were a lot of charities - maybe even most of them - who wer…

> …but now they’ve decided they - Amazon - know better, thank you very much. Or, a less cynical take is that they really can have more impact by focusing on fewer charities. Another commenter posted Amazon Smile's Form 990 from 2018 [1], the most recent year on Pro Publica's website that has a full listing of all the charities that received funds. The total PDF is 2121 pages long, and the list of charities starts on…

> consolidate that to fewer charities where it can do some sizable good.

It also gives Amazon much more control over the charity. If you give $1000 to a charity, they are happy and do their thing. If you give a charity $1,000,000 your priorities are going to become their priorities.

Re: Amazon Closing AmazonSmile

#145

Post by nimbius »

iambateman wrote: post #14

The fun part of Amazon Smile was that it let customers decide how they wanted to change the world…but now they’ve decided they - Amazon - know better, thank you very much. This is surprisingly honest for corporatespeak and I think reflects the god-complex which tends to follow people who spend a lot of time taking in billions of dollars. The reality is there were a lot of charities - maybe even most of them - who wer…

"The fun part of Amazon Smile was that it let customers decide how they wanted to change the world"

The corporate justification part of amazon smile was in the same effort as any charity in purchase which is to make the consumer feel empowered, righteous and moral for the decision to consume a product. Charity tie ins like rainforest donations or carbon offsets are designed to incense consumers to evangelize. They're designed to eliminate buyers remorse returns and blunt the often ever present reality of sweat shop labor. That anyone got real money from this is just a happy side effect.

Re: Amazon Closing AmazonSmile

#146

Post by beders »

> However, after almost a decade, the program has not grown to create the impact that we had originally hoped. With so many eligible organizations—more than 1 million globally—our ability to have an impact was often spread too thin.

What BS is this? Can we have the real reason?

Re: Amazon Closing AmazonSmile

#147

Post by myvoiceismypass »

shusaku wrote: post #28
TMWNN wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One million eligible recipients around the world, according to Amazon, so $400 per recipient over the decade the program has existed.

Checking my account right now: I generated $2.86, and my charity received $399.79. Yay for being average I guess! I’m surprised they couldn’t squeeze more out of this program though. With credit cards, I think the points system definitely works to make you feel better about your purchase.

Where can you see this detail in one's amazon account?

Re: Amazon Closing AmazonSmile

#148

Post by Turing_Machine »

kgwxd wrote: post #68
patwolf wrote: post #25

I now reflexively start typing smile.amazon.com instead of amazon.com into the url bar. Hopefully the smile url will continue to work because it's going to take me a while to unlearn.

I think it would bad PR if they just redirect to www, people that think they're still generating money for charity wouldn't be too happy once they figure it out. I've personally chosen Amazon Smile specifically because of the donations when there were plenty of other options I would rather use if I'm not getting anything out of buying from Amazon. I'm sure I wouldn't notice if it just redirected.

I got an email notice that the program was ending. I expect everyone who's used Smile also got one.

Re: Amazon Closing AmazonSmile

#149

Post by murderfs »

sli wrote: post #133
ferminaut wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a lot of folks can get by without a Prime membership. My prime subscription ended almost a year ago now and I don't miss it. Amazon shipping has got progressively slower as time went on. Prime video is terrible UX with subpar content. At $15 a month it just isnt worth it. I've now opted for the "free" shipping that you get when you spend $25+. Items that I cannot wait for I will buy local, which usually now o…

Cancelling my Prime membership a few years ago made it immediately clear that all I was paying for was to not have my package sit in the warehouse for an extra 3-4 days before making it to my house in two days anyway. I also started getting shipments coming from warehouses on the other side of the country, something that never happened while I was paying for Prime. Immediately clear that the benefits for ordering wer…

> I also started getting shipments coming from warehouses on the other side of the country, something that never happened while I was paying for Prime.

That doesn't sound entirely artificial to me, though? It seems more likely that they're reserving stock in closer (and likely, more expensive) warehouses for people who are paying for two day shipping, either by having a Prime membership or by paying for the shipping.

Re: Amazon Closing AmazonSmile

#150

Post by dragonwriter »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #73
iambateman wrote: post #14

The fun part of Amazon Smile was that it let customers decide how they wanted to change the world…but now they’ve decided they - Amazon - know better, thank you very much. This is surprisingly honest for corporatespeak and I think reflects the god-complex which tends to follow people who spend a lot of time taking in billions of dollars. The reality is there were a lot of charities - maybe even most of them - who wer…

> …but now they’ve decided they - Amazon - know better, thank you very much. Or, a less cynical take is that they really can have more impact by focusing on fewer charities. Another commenter posted Amazon Smile's Form 990 from 2018 [1], the most recent year on Pro Publica's website that has a full listing of all the charities that received funds. The total PDF is 2121 pages long, and the list of charities starts on…

> So it seems imminently reasonable to me that, rather than give a couple hundred bucks a year to thousands and thousands and thousands of charities, to instead consolidate that to fewer charities where it can do some sizable good.

Specifically, where it can most efficiently buy image and influence for Amazon. For profit corporations charitable donations, like any other expenditures of corporate funds, are made to advance the commercial interests of the corporation.

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