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Amazon raised Prime Day prices, misleading consumers, says vendor

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Re: Amazon raised Prime Day prices, misleading consumers, says vendor

#241

Post by traviscj »

freehunter wrote: post #229
rifung wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It cost £33, so wasn't particularly cheap Not that I doubt your assessment of the knife but.. As far as kitchen knives go this is cheap, although you can still get very good and sharp knives for this price like the Tojiro DP Gyuto or Victorinox Fibrox. Usually people don't judge a knife by it's out of box sharpness but the sharpness after sharpening, ease of sharpening, edge retention, balance, and overall craftsma…

>Usually people don't judge a knife by it's out of box sharpness Maybe knife connoisseurs don't, but normal people certainly do. I don't know the names of any knives, those names you mentioned might as well be brands of washing machines. But if I buy a knife and it's not sharp, what's the point? Why can the factory not sharpen it before selling it to me?

Disclaimer: I would rather have a sharp knife out of the box. But:

Using knives makes them not sharp, so the ability to sharpen is the definition of the knife not being junk. A dull knife is not a garbage knife that needs replacement, it is just a knife that needs sharpening.

I use a Lansky sharpener [1] and it is the cat's meow. Just takes a couple of minutes to put a great edge on.

[1]: http://lansky.com/index.php/products/dlx-5-stone-system/

Re: Amazon raised Prime Day prices, misleading consumers, says vendor

#242

Post by jedberg »

mikeash wrote: post #233
jedberg wrote: post #219

Maybe I'm in the minority here but I don't have a problem with this. If they raise the price based on demand, and I still deem it a good price, then who was harmed here? Sure I paid more than I needed to but I still paid less than I felt it was worth to me.

They didn't raise the price based on demand. They raised the price so that they could "discount" it and make it look like a good deal when it wasn't. If a product is normally $10, and then it's sold as "discounted 50% for Prime Day, now only $10," that's fraudulent. If Amazon decides to charge more and people are willing to pay it, there's nothing wrong with that. The problem is when they lie to make people think the…

But that's not what they did. Their algorithms automatically raised those prices based on demand. The demand just happened to be driven by being part of prime day.

Re: Amazon raised Prime Day prices, misleading consumers, says vendor

#243

Post by _cvsn »

EADGBE wrote: post #228
partiallypro wrote: post #212

My issue with Amazon lately isn't just the prices no longer being the lowest, it's that a big chunk of their products are counterfeits. I honestly have no idea how they haven't tamped down on that. If I shop at Wal-Mart, Target, Footlocker, etc, etc I know the products I buy aren't going to be fakes; no so with Amazon. I have started buying less stuff on there after a number of products have come back as fakes. I use…

What kinds of things are you buying where counterfeits are a problem? Genuinely intrigued.

Everything.

Just like the root poster, I am disgusted by clusters of knockoffs and increasingly more weary of seeing them. Just about anything common you run across on Amazon is probably not original (is there such a thing as an uncommon product these days?) The worst part is that I can't get myself to trust any reviews - good or bad - which was my go-to for feeling assured about a purchase. A knockoff competitor may review or pay reviewers to ding someone else's version of the product, and boost their own, and they've created a scorched earth of uncertainty from this seller ecosystem.

For example, if you look up can openers, you'll see a bunch of ones that look exactly alike but are labeled as different brands. They contain slightly altered stock photos, but almost certainly all are stemming from the same original product. Mixed reviews give you cautions for some products, but not for others that are identical. Does it stay sharp, or doesn't it? Does it fail after 10 uses, or doesn't it? Does it work with lipped cans or doesn't it?

If you look carefully, you can probably guess in which order a product imitation was born in, based on the progressively more distorted JPEGs of the cover photo.

Look for a wire brush and you'll see same photo of the same product, "manufactured" by different companies. Senkary, Sucool, Tekton, eBoot, ABN, and a few dozen seemingly randomized names. I think I don't care about wire brush manufacturing consistency as long as it doesn't arrive wrapped in 1/4 lb of plastic and foam, and dripping with machine oil (I chuckled when I got it).

On the other hand, I do care whether a sprinkler head I get is actually pressure regulated and calibrated to 30 PSI, that the variable arc nozzle is built to spec and won't decompose in sunlight and clog rest of the irrigation system, and I do care whether a phone charger might burn my house down. Unless I order those three products directly from the known manufacturer, I won't trust that it's genuine.

Re: Amazon raised Prime Day prices, misleading consumers, says vendor

#244

Post by mikeash »

jedberg wrote: post #242
mikeash wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They didn't raise the price based on demand. They raised the price so that they could "discount" it and make it look like a good deal when it wasn't. If a product is normally $10, and then it's sold as "discounted 50% for Prime Day, now only $10," that's fraudulent. If Amazon decides to charge more and people are willing to pay it, there's nothing wrong with that. The problem is when they lie to make people think the…

But that's not what they did. Their algorithms automatically raised those prices based on demand. The demand just happened to be driven by being part of prime day.

Meaning that the algorithms were raising the non-discounted prices automatically because the discounts were driving demand?

If they're going to offer discounts that compare to the original price, that original price needs to actually be an original price, not something that's being changed while the discount is still in effect. If Amazon didn't do this, they're either utterly incompetent or they're letting it happen because they know it will trick people.

Re: Amazon raised Prime Day prices, misleading consumers, says vendor

#245

Post by corobo »

fusiongyro wrote: post #198
alttab wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Simply by looking at a product will build a user profile. It's not about making this sale, but maybe about the next 100 sales.

Sure, but money isn't quantum physics. If he doesn't spend any money on Amazon or any other online retailer, how are they monetizing his time on the site?

They see he likes products x y and z. Another 20 customers like products x and y, so nudge them towards buying product z

Re: Amazon raised Prime Day prices, misleading consumers, says vendor

#246

Post by brreakdown »

SwellJoe wrote: post #46

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…

lol dude - you're paying for convenience - and that's alls there is to it - sit your fat ass down on a couch and blabber whatever you want at Alexa - then... THE SHIT SHOWS UP - this is why u pay more no??

Re: Amazon raised Prime Day prices, misleading consumers, says vendor

#247

Post by brreakdown »

Super_Jambo wrote: post #169
provost wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

Just buy a thin bladed one from ikea along with a ceramic roller sharpener. Don't use it on frozen stuff. If money is no object get a global along with the global specific ceramic roller sharpener. Yes there are better things out there but for the cost Ikea is very good.

Again.. Amazon is like eBay on crack .. you can and will come across quality - you will - and when you do - you'll be that much more apt to go back for more - no??

Re: Amazon raised Prime Day prices, misleading consumers, says vendor

#248

Post by MadSax »

alexilliamson wrote: post #218
MadSax wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The rest of the media is the opposite, and they get linked all the time.

Yes. That is why a post from Fox is interesting. I was not making a value judgement, but if you're trying to coerce one, here it is. In addition to having a conservative slant, Fox News is evil.

I'll see your bait and raise you a "whatever."

Re: Amazon raised Prime Day prices, misleading consumers, says vendor

#249

Post by notheguyouthink »

rifung wrote: post #217
notheguyouthink wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's like condemning engineers for enabling governments and corporations to spy on us and constantly erode our privacy. I don't agree with your actions, but I definitely agree with your statement. It's like judging people for paying less taxes via loopholes, yet it's perfectly legal. We focus on judging the action, rather than fixing the problem. In this case, judging you for using a broken system, akin to tax loop…

> In this case, judging you for using a broken system, akin to tax loopholes, may not be "good" - but it's certainly not the root of the problem Wouldn't the greed of man be the true root of the problem? It just so happens that we can't actually fix it in a practical manner so the next best thing we can do is to be make it so it's difficult to take advantage of others.

> It just so happens that we can't actually fix it in a practical manner so the next best thing we can do is to be make it so it's difficult to take advantage of others.

I mean, I think we can. In the case of tax loopholes, they should be plugged. The corruption in politics that created, and also support the loopholes, should be prosecuted. The list goes on and on.

Sure, you are correct, the "greed of man" is to blame - but my point is systems shouldn't be set up where greedy people can freely exploit, and good people exist solely to be taken advantage of.

Systems, laws and limitations should exist to mitigate the damage done by greedy individuals as best possible. The water in the boat may be a pressing concern, but it'll just keep coming back if our main focus is to just bucket the water out of the boat. It needs to be a combined focus, or we only delay eventually being overtaken completely.

Theft is a crime, and laws exist to punish the bad actors. Yet, we still have locks on doors to mitigate who can steal from us.

Re: Amazon raised Prime Day prices, misleading consumers, says vendor

#250

Post by 4ad »

freehunter wrote: post #224
4ad wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A dull knife is fraud? Seriously? Knives are meant to me sharpened. The cheapest knife can be sharpened to razor blade sharpness. Sometimes new knives come sharpened somewhat, but in my experience all mass-produced knives need sharpening when new, even $250 knives. I genuinely can't comprehend the complaint. What next, buy a new car and complain it didn't come with the tank full?

>What next, buy a new car and complain it didn't come with the tank full? Yes. You should complain if you buy a new car and it doesn't come with a full tank of gas, or needs new tires, or needs an oil change right from the dealership. Those are things you expect from a new car, and they're the reasons you buy a new car. If I bought a used knife, I'd expect to sharpen it. If I buy a brand new knife, I expect it to be…

> Those are things you expect from a new car, and they're the reasons you buy a new car.

Those are thing you expect from a new car, and they most certainly are not the reason I would buy a new car.

> If I buy a brand new knife, I expect it to be sharp right from the factory.

You might expect that, but the practical reality is that knives don't really come truly pre-sharpened, and there are many reasons for that. People don't realise that this is the case, because most people, in general, have really, really dull knives, so even a mediocre edge will seem comparatively sharp. But it isn't, it's just mediocre and once you have used a really sharp knife the difference becomes very apparent.

There isn't one way to sharpen a knife. Some people prefer an asymmetric edge, some people hate asymmetric edges. Some people prefer shallow angles, some people prefer steep angles. Some people prefer knives sharped for slashing, some people prefer knives sharpened for slicing. There is no right way to sharpen a knife, it is something extremely user-specific and personal and there cannot be a way to pre-sharpen them that would satisfy all people.

Because it is such a personal issue, I fully expect that I need to sharpen a new knife the way I want it, just as I fully expect I need to installs the apps I want and configure a new phone before I can use it.

> I could have saved money and just bought a steel rod and made my own knife out of it.

This is just hyperbole.

> There is zero reason a brand new product needs immediate maintenance before it can be used.

And yet many products are like that. For example DSLR cameras come without SD/CF cards. The user has to buy them and put them in the camera before he can use it.

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