Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Amazon workers to strike at multiple US warehouses during busy holiday season

reuters.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

211–220 of 560 posts

Re: Amazon workers to strike at multiple US warehouses during busy holiday season

#211

Post by Izkata »

nine_k wrote: post #108
a12k wrote: post #102

I’ve found that the rise of Apply Pay as a payment mechanism on random sites has been helpful in getting me off of Amazon. Often it’s just as easy to order something direct if they have Apple Pay (or ShopPay, but I have other issues with them) and the same price as Amazon. Plus discoverability is awful on Amazon anyways. Still don’t get the Whole Foods return ability when not shopping from Amazon, but not punching in…

To me, the key feature of Amazon is the fast delivery with Prime. Do other merchants offer fast delivery often enough? Regarding credit cards, I started using privacy dot com for virtual, merchant-locked cards. It protects against (rare) card details leaks, but, of course, does not give you any points or cashback.

The speed is nice, but for me it's more about the reliability. For example, a few years ago when my router broke I decided to try something else (Newegg I think) and after several weeks it just never arrived and I got a refund. Found the exact same model on Amazon and it arrived two or three days later, without Prime and without issues.

I just don't ever have the problems with Amazon that people complain about online.

Re: Amazon workers to strike at multiple US warehouses during busy holiday season

#212

Post by themaninthedark »

nxm wrote: post #104
ramon156 wrote: post #5

Had to buy some simple toolkit today. It was 5 bucks on Amazon, but I decided to find a local store that sells it. Same price btw. I think we should be a bit more aware about the impact of ordering everything through Amazon. Not only regarding delivery, but also the message it sends to local stores.

Should I spend 15 minutes each way driving (carbon emissions) to the store and waste 1 hr of my time in this case, when it can be delivered to me tomorrow? I definitely want to support local, but the cost/benefits are not as clear in this case.

How much carbon emissions went into making that available to be delivered tomorrow?

You have a a large fleet of 18 wheelers, delivery vans and forklifts. Then the warehouses that go into making the supply chain work.

Re: Amazon workers to strike at multiple US warehouses during busy holiday season

#213

Post by roboror »

ramon156 wrote: post #5

Had to buy some simple toolkit today. It was 5 bucks on Amazon, but I decided to find a local store that sells it. Same price btw. I think we should be a bit more aware about the impact of ordering everything through Amazon. Not only regarding delivery, but also the message it sends to local stores.

I live in a big city and unfortunately the local price gouging has gotten out of control. It's now often 50% cheaper to buy basics like aluminum foil and cereal on Amazon compared to even the discount dollar store.

Re: Amazon workers to strike at multiple US warehouses during busy holiday season

#214

Post by themaninthedark »

gruez wrote: post #202
carlosjobim wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The product is delivered the same distance, whether it is from "Producer -> Amazon warehouses -> Customer" or if it is "Producer -> Retail warehouses -> Customer". An Amazon delivery car with a bunch of products to deliver is the equivalent of OP filling up his car with purchases when shopping in town.

>An Amazon delivery car with a bunch of products to deliver is the equivalent of OP filling up his car with purchases when shopping in town. Right, but if you want something in 2-3 days (which amazon provides), you need to make a dedicated trip. Even if timing wasn't a factor, at best doing a consolidated errand run allows you to visit a handful of stores, whereas an amazon delivery van delivers to dozens of houses i…

Amazon built up a dedicated logistic network in order to get the 2-3 day delivery time. How does the Carbon Emissions of that factor in?

Re: Amazon workers to strike at multiple US warehouses during busy holiday season

#215

Post by RankingMember »

n144q wrote: post #138
nine_k wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To me, the key feature of Amazon is the fast delivery with Prime. Do other merchants offer fast delivery often enough? Regarding credit cards, I started using privacy dot com for virtual, merchant-locked cards. It protects against (rare) card details leaks, but, of course, does not give you any points or cashback.

Do you actually care that much about fast delivery? My Prime membership ended 3 years ago. These days I just put items in the cart, and place order whenever it reaches $35. If I need an item in a hurry -- which rarely happens -- I go to a store to buy it. This barely affected me, and I ended up with much fewer impulse purchases. What's funny though is that the "standard" delivery often takes 5 calendar days. But AliE…

> well, if the items are manufactured in China, why not just order on AliExpress where you get the same/similar items and pay less.

Yep, I've come to see it as a general rule that, if the item on Amazon is sold under one of those all-caps gibberish brand names, the same exact item is almost always on AliExpress for 30-50% less.

Re: Amazon workers to strike at multiple US warehouses during busy holiday season

#216

Post by erellsworth »

SeanAnderson wrote: post #11

Just a reminder that if you search for "Thank my driver" on Amazon you'll get $5 donated to your most recent delivery driver at no cost to you. You can do this once per delivery, for every delivery, for the few weeks leading up to the holidays.

Not any more, apparently. Now all they get is a pat on the back.

"As of December 10, 2024, we have received more than 2 million "thank yous,” concluding the promotion offering $5 per "thank you" to eligible drivers. You can continue to thank your drivers and we will share your appreciation with them."

https://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=18271648011&pd_rd_w=v1...

Re: Amazon workers to strike at multiple US warehouses during busy holiday season

#217

Post by atomicnumber3 »

driverdan wrote: post #203
a12k wrote: post #102

I’ve found that the rise of Apply Pay as a payment mechanism on random sites has been helpful in getting me off of Amazon. Often it’s just as easy to order something direct if they have Apple Pay (or ShopPay, but I have other issues with them) and the same price as Amazon. Plus discoverability is awful on Amazon anyways. Still don’t get the Whole Foods return ability when not shopping from Amazon, but not punching in…

Why do you care about providing your credit card number to order something? You're not liable for fraud and most banks will replace the card quickly. In 25 years of having credit cards and using them extensively online I've had them compromised only a few times. It's really not something to worry about.

"not punching in my credit card number to random sites"

Not sure about OP, but for me it's about convenience. My pet peeve is credit card forms. Do you know what % of websites I've used that have at least minorly broken credit card forms? It's literally 99%.

Random common issues that are annoying but can be fixed:

- autocomplete doesn't work at all

- autocomplete only fills in half the fields

- autocomplete only fills in 1 field at a time

- autocomplete doesn't interact correctly with the rich widgets they provided for date picking or zip code

- autocomplete doesn't play well with js validation, which is only on callbacks for typing. Now I have to go backspace and re-insert the last character of every field so it doesn't think it's blank

- my town name has a ' in it. complete fucking crapshoot on whether sites DEMAND or HATE the '.

Common issues that are complete fucking messes that can't be fixed:

- javascript between fields fights over edits between them and I can't get the form simultaneously filled out correctly

- rendering issues on mobile leaving fields not visible

- autocomplete doesn't work and I've for some reason forgotten my CVV again and don't want to go get my wallet

I could go on and on. It's amazing how hard it is to get this right and how obviously nobody tests the flow where PEOPLE GIVE THEM MONEY which as I understand it is the primary purpose of these places.

Re: Amazon workers to strike at multiple US warehouses during busy holiday season

#218

Post by lobsterthief »

asah wrote: post #172
a12k wrote: post #102

I’ve found that the rise of Apply Pay as a payment mechanism on random sites has been helpful in getting me off of Amazon. Often it’s just as easy to order something direct if they have Apple Pay (or ShopPay, but I have other issues with them) and the same price as Amazon. Plus discoverability is awful on Amazon anyways. Still don’t get the Whole Foods return ability when not shopping from Amazon, but not punching in…

For me, Amazon cuts delivery times, improves reliability and makes returns 10x easier.

Making me drive 20 mins to Whole Foods to deliver some items, and wait in a line where there’s one kiosk, has completely turned me off of Amazon.

This is probably by design, but I don’t return a whole lot.

Re: Amazon workers to strike at multiple US warehouses during busy holiday season

#219

Post by the_sleaze_ »

RankingMember wrote: post #215
n144q wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you actually care that much about fast delivery? My Prime membership ended 3 years ago. These days I just put items in the cart, and place order whenever it reaches $35. If I need an item in a hurry -- which rarely happens -- I go to a store to buy it. This barely affected me, and I ended up with much fewer impulse purchases. What's funny though is that the "standard" delivery often takes 5 calendar days. But AliE…

> well, if the items are manufactured in China, why not just order on AliExpress where you get the same/similar items and pay less. Yep, I've come to see it as a general rule that, if the item on Amazon is sold under one of those all-caps gibberish brand names, the same exact item is almost always on AliExpress for 30-50% less.

Fantastic experiences doing this, highly recommend discovering on amazon and shifting to bargain sites to actually purchase

Re: Amazon workers to strike at multiple US warehouses during busy holiday season

#220

Post by smileysteve »

jvanderbot wrote: post #120
vasco wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had this exact sentiment for many years but... what are we supporting really? Is it because you want a distributed network of inventory across the country near you in case of emergency? Is it because you like talking to someone when doing purchases? Is it because you think someone is doing a societal good by parking money in inventory they brought near you? Is it because you just don't like someone doing it more…

I used to work at Amazon. What you want to support are: - local retailers offer better jobs, and often better benefits. The work you do stocking at Menards is much better than sorting boxes at Amazon - support local repair vs repurchasing. This cuts down on the upstream demand and does wonders for local small-business economies. And again, provides better jobs than sorting boxes. - Efficiency is great! But what is Am…

To disagree, local "mom and pops" often don't offer better jobs or benefits, or meaning.

Historically, in the US, these shops and restaurants often depended on underpaid (often children of the owner) labor, offered no benefits, and had no safety net in case of owner or business failure.

On average, today, starting wages at McDonalds, Walmart, or your "local" Amazon warehouse are 25-50% higher than local restaurants and retailers for rural America (which more typically pay minimum wage). And benefits, a local mom and pop is less likely to account for paid sick/vacation days, retirement savings, healthcare coverage, and workplace insurance (in some cases, a disability or workplace injury would make the business unprofitable + less oversight).

Post reply on HN