Show HN: Get a list of your Amazon purchases and see what you can sell them for • Hacker News Board

Re: Show HN: Get a list of your Amazon purchases and see what you can sell them for

#21

Post by ChristianKletzl » Tue, Jul 22, 2014, 4:54 PM UTC

loumf wrote: post #15

ChristianKletzl wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there anything we could do to make you (and many more with the same sentiment) more comfortable? We are thinking of writing a blog post of what happens in the background would that help? Any other ideas?

There is absolutely nothing you could say or do that would make me give you my password. Also, I assume, you need to store it in the clear to use it. You claim to not have access to credit card information or being able to order something, but I already have to trust you to believe that claim. Also, Amazon could change their policies at any time -- after all you have credentials, Amazon could decide to trust you.

You could definitely verify that claim: 1) Try to extract your credit card from your account 2) Order something to a new address without having to verify your credit card.

You will find that both are not possible

Re: Show HN: Get a list of your Amazon purchases and see what you can sell them for

#22

Post by jaredsohn » Tue, Jul 22, 2014, 5:01 PM UTC

mileswu wrote: post #9

ChristianKletzl wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there anything we could do to make you (and many more with the same sentiment) more comfortable? We are thinking of writing a blog post of what happens in the background would that help? Any other ideas?

Just an off-the-top-of-my-head idea: Could you give people a bookmarklet or an extension that they can run when they are on their order history page that exports all the Amazon product IDs?

I was going to write something similar to this. One issue, though, is that it doesn't necessarily track new purchases.

To do that as well, it needs to be an extension and it should also monitor whenever you buy something. If there is a concern that purchases might happen when on another computer, you could allow the user to enter their password into the extension so that the extension can monitor things for you in the background. While users don't have a guarantee that the extension is using the password securely, at least it is possible for the source code to be inspected.

Re: Show HN: Get a list of your Amazon purchases and see what you can sell them for

#23

Post by pmelendez » Tue, Jul 22, 2014, 5:04 PM UTC

ChristianKletzl wrote: post #21

loumf wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is absolutely nothing you could say or do that would make me give you my password. Also, I assume, you need to store it in the clear to use it. You claim to not have access to credit card information or being able to order something, but I already have to trust you to believe that claim. Also, Amazon could change their policies at any time -- after all you have credentials, Amazon could decide to trust you.

You could definitely verify that claim: 1) Try to extract your credit card from your account 2) Order something to a new address without having to verify your credit card. You will find that both are not possible

Order something that I don't want to one of my address just for trolling's sake would be annoying too.

Re: Show HN: Get a list of your Amazon purchases and see what you can sell them for

#24

Post by donall » Tue, Jul 22, 2014, 5:06 PM UTC

I'm curious about the algorithm. Is there a ceiling for book prices? I seemed to get very similar results for multiple different types of books, including being offered $3.21 for one that sells for $100:http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0575066601?pc_redir=1405401886...

Re: Show HN: Get a list of your Amazon purchases and see what you can sell them for

#25

Post by JelteF » Tue, Jul 22, 2014, 5:07 PM UTC

ChristianKletzl wrote: post #5

dewey wrote: post #3

Looks nice, but it just feels a bit weird to enter your amazon password with linked credit cards and bank accounts on another site. I'm aware that there's probably no better way of accessing that purchase history data but it's just something people are preaching for years shouldn't be done.

Agreed. However, even with your credentials, we wouldn't be able to access your credit card number (Amazon hides it). Additionally, if we would want to order anything in your name, but our address, we would have to reconfirm the credit card number, which we don't have.

This should be right there at the sign in screen. This is info people don't know, but will give them a lot safer feeling using your site.

Re: Show HN: Get a list of your Amazon purchases and see what you can sell them for

#26

Post by slig » Tue, Jul 22, 2014, 5:08 PM UTC

izzydata wrote: post #16

Unfortunately I agree with everyone else and I was immediately wary when it asked me for my amazon credentials. There must be a better way to get this information. Also these prices make no sense for when I search items directly. How can a flawless Nexus 7 2013 be worth only $70? Where can I buy them all?

> How can a flawless Nexus 7 2013 be worth only $70? Where can I buy them all?

It's worth $70 to them. They are buying to resell, and they can pay a lower price for the convenience of getting the item from your house and paying you instantly.

One can always sell it on eBay/craigslist and get a bigger price, but you'll have to deal with buyers, scammers, shipping, etc. It boils down to how much your time is worth and/or how fast you need the money.

Re: Show HN: Get a list of your Amazon purchases and see what you can sell them for

#27

Post by saddestcatever » Tue, Jul 22, 2014, 5:09 PM UTC

I'm curious to see where the pricing structure is coming from.

For example: Apple MacBook Pro ME864LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop with Retina Display (NEWEST VERSION) $382.32

It's a compelling business idea, and I understand there's a need to generate a profit, yet the math seems a little off.

Re: Show HN: Get a list of your Amazon purchases and see what you can sell them for

#28

Post by StephanKletzl » Tue, Jul 22, 2014, 5:13 PM UTC

slig wrote: post #26

izzydata wrote: post #16

Unfortunately I agree with everyone else and I was immediately wary when it asked me for my amazon credentials. There must be a better way to get this information. Also these prices make no sense for when I search items directly. How can a flawless Nexus 7 2013 be worth only $70? Where can I buy them all?

> How can a flawless Nexus 7 2013 be worth only $70? Where can I buy them all? It's worth $70 to them. They are buying to resell, and they can pay a lower price for the convenience of getting the item from your house and paying you instantly. One can always sell it on eBay/craigslist and get a bigger price, but you'll have to deal with buyers, scammers, shipping, etc. It boils down to how much your time is worth and/…

Pricing is definitely one of our challenges. We are currently paying prices of around 80% of what we think is a fair amazon market value, while giving the user a hassle-free sales experience. (Our prices are not manually entered but automatically calculated [e.g. based on price on Amazon, prices on other recommerce sites, ...]) This (almost) always leads to prices that are higher than Gazelle's or NextWorth's while also offering the convenience of getting paid within 24 hours. (in SF)

Re: Show HN: Get a list of your Amazon purchases and see what you can sell them for

#29

Post by falcolas » Tue, Jul 22, 2014, 5:16 PM UTC

ChristianKletzl wrote: post #5

dewey wrote: post #3

Looks nice, but it just feels a bit weird to enter your amazon password with linked credit cards and bank accounts on another site. I'm aware that there's probably no better way of accessing that purchase history data but it's just something people are preaching for years shouldn't be done.

Agreed. However, even with your credentials, we wouldn't be able to access your credit card number (Amazon hides it). Additionally, if we would want to order anything in your name, but our address, we would have to reconfirm the credit card number, which we don't have.

You could, however, spin up or down EC2 instances associated with that account. You could easily destroy a business with this information, or bankrupt a person (well, Amazon is usually pretty good about forgiving accidental charges, but imagine explaining to them how someone got your credentials).

Re: Show HN: Get a list of your Amazon purchases and see what you can sell them for

#30

Post by ChristianKletzl » Tue, Jul 22, 2014, 5:22 PM UTC

saddestcatever wrote: post #27

I'm curious to see where the pricing structure is coming from. For example: Apple MacBook Pro ME864LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop with Retina Display (NEWEST VERSION) $382.32 It's a compelling business idea, and I understand there's a need to generate a profit, yet the math seems a little off.

I looked into this and the price is now $472. (HN traffic is stress-testing our pricing engine) For this item, we relied on Amazon's trade-in price, which we want to get away from very soon. (because the prices are too low, imho)