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Amazon raised Prime Day prices, misleading consumers, says vendor

foxbusiness.com

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

#261

Post by corobo »

fusiongyro wrote: post #260
corobo wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

No, what they see is that he looked at x, y and z and didn't buy anything. Why would it nudge the next guy towards z? "Other people who did not convert also did not convert after seeing THIS!"?

Ok so my example was obviously too simplified

Users a b and c all at some point search for information on products x y and z. Many users, many products.

User d comes along and has previously looked at product z and is now searching for product y. It's now worth putting product x in the "you may also be interested in" segment. It might land a sale, it might not. That data can then be added to the pool to decide if they should show product x to people who search similar products

Why bother at all if they didn't purchase? You don't know why they didn't purchase. Maybe they were shopping around, maybe they were price matching, maybe they just don't have the cash right now.

It's machine learning, not if statements.

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

#262

Post by fusiongyro »

corobo wrote: post #261
fusiongyro wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, what they see is that he looked at x, y and z and didn't buy anything. Why would it nudge the next guy towards z? "Other people who did not convert also did not convert after seeing THIS!"?

Ok so my example was obviously too simplified Users a b and c all at some point search for information on products x y and z. Many users, many products. User d comes along and has previously looked at product z and is now searching for product y. It's now worth putting product x in the "you may also be interested in" segment. It might land a sale, it might not. That data can then be added to the pool to decide if the…

Adding a bunch of non-converting user behavior to your machine learning model won't help you or anyone else make a single sale. Best Buy got the sale. They got all the meaningful analytics along with it.

All you got from this person is that they looked at two products. Maybe those two products are related, but maybe they aren't. Adding this to your model is just adding noise to the "people who liked this also liked" references, and Amazon surely already has better qualified data for that (i.e. actual conversions).

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

#263

Post by acuozzo »

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…

> a big chunk of their products are counterfeits

The solution is to purchase products shipped and sold by Amazon. Avoid third party sellers unless you either know the seller well or if the seller is the manufacturer of the product.

And remember: "SHIPPED by Amazon" isn't enough since Amazon assists third party sellers by storing and shipping products on their behalf under Amazon's fulfillment program. The product has to be "SOLD by Amazon" as well in order for the above advice to apply.

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

#264

Post by acuozzo »

_cvsn wrote: post #243
EADGBE wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> Everything.

The solution is to purchase products shipped and sold by Amazon. Avoid third party sellers unless you either know the seller well or if the seller is the manufacturer of the product.

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

#265

Post by acuozzo »

SeanDav wrote: post #240
EADGBE wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Charging devices.

Are those charging devices both shipped and sold by Amazon?

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

#266

Post by acuozzo »

ben174 wrote: post #254
snarfy wrote: post #152

"Order within the next 5 hours and receive free next day shipping". Hmm. OK. click "Please review your order. $8.99 for next day shipping or free two day shipping." Uh, OK. 'Check two day shipping. Submit' "Your order has been placed. Delivery date - 5 days from now"

This happens so often to me. I'll be expecting a package one day and 8pm rolls around and I check the order status and it says 'expected delivery: tomorrow' - when I was sure the delivery was today at the time I placed the order. It makes me feel like I'm going crazy, but I'm sure there's some sort of bug during the checkout process which switches me back to two-day shipping after I've selected one-day.

> I'll be expecting a package one day and 8pm rolls around and I check the order status and it says 'expected delivery: tomorrow'

Is the carrier LaserShip? They're well known for lying in order to meet daily delivery numbers.

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

#267

Post by acuozzo »

philjohn wrote: post #143
didibus wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Eh, it's dropping the ball to be honest. 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.…

> it's not the amazing friction free experience it used to be

It is if you avoid third party sellers like the plague. I only order from a small handful of third party sellers I trust; otherwise it better be shipped and sold by Amazon or I'm looking elsewhere.

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

#268

Post by throwaway91111 »

EADGBE wrote: post #232
throwaway91111 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's pretty shocking even if you are used to it. I can't believe people pay for cable given how terrible of an experience it is.

Weird. It's always on when I click the button. I pay for cable to enjoy baseball games, primarily, as there is no other way to watch "in-market" otherwise. For certain demographics, it's just the most sense. I mean, TV is TV. If I spend a little bit more to never have to deal with buffering, or a laggy UI, it's worth it to me. I think a lot of non-cord-cutters would agree. Re: cord cutting; I've tried, I really have.

I totally get the always on thing; especially for baseball. My point was more that ads are the driving force for me, and i am sure others, to abandon the platform; it feels a little like someone invading your home to yell at you if you're not used to it.

But this applies to YouTube too; cable cutting is hardly a panacea to avoid intrusive ads.

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

#269

Post by DrScump »

johnm1019 wrote: post #81
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…

If you really want to save money on household type items, go shopping in the 'market' area at your local IKEA store. Compare that with Amazon prices for pretty much everything and you'll be blown away by how cheap IKEA is.

Cost and selection aside,the no-way-out store layout (forcing you to traverse the entire floorplan) drove me away.

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

#270

Post by RobertKerans »

4ad wrote: post #250
freehunter wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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. Peop…

That read as a satire of a hacker news response. It's a relatively expensive knife, it's not unreasonable to expect it to arrive with a sharp edge.
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