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The Prime Reasons to Avoid Amazon

blog.thenewoil.org

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Re: The Prime Reasons to Avoid Amazon

#31

Post by cogman10 »

johncole wrote: post #26

Would you consider Target or Walmart more ethical? Or better at policing counterfeits?

Strangely enough, yes to both (at least for in store purchases). And I find neither company particularly ethical.

They have a tighter control on their supply chain and don't have a truly open "market" where anyone can sell crap (or stolen crap).

A lot of this comes down to limited stocking and shelf space. Amazon effectively has unlimited storage space. Hence their ability to show off 6000 drop shipping products which are actually the same product.

Walmart and Target, on the other hand, have to be somewhat judicious because shelf space is limited. They can't have a row of the same products under different labels. And if what they choose to sell has quality problems they get hit harder for it. They take the loss for the unsold counterfeit goods. Amazon, by their nature, sees minimal hits when products are determined to be counterfeit. That usually just means they blacklist a seller. They are hardly impacted.

Also, funnily enough, it's why I don't worry about counterfeits at Wholefoods even though it's parent company is Amazon.

Re: The Prime Reasons to Avoid Amazon

#32

Post by recursive »

SoftTalker wrote: post #4
Animats wrote: post #2

A real reason to avoid Amazon is fake merchandise. I'd been buying a vitamin supplement from them for years. Then they sent me a notice that it was being recalled as a fake.[1] (Archive [2]) They paid a refund for the last purchase. But that's all. Amazon won't respond to questions about what was in it or who the real seller is. I no longer buy anything from Amazon that could be faked. [1] https://www.amazon.com/ask/…

Good rule of thumb is that if it goes on or in your body do not buy it from Amazon.

Or if it's electronic. Fire risk.

Re: The Prime Reasons to Avoid Amazon

#33

Post by ezst »

ajross wrote: post #7

I guess, but Amazon gets me stuff tomorrow or the next day, reliably, week in and week out. Yeah, I could find this stuff elsewhere on the internet. But not for Tuesday delivery. And not without opening another account. Also, right now, often only by paying a tariff-adjacent fee to cover the import costs of the vendors that didn't have the foresight to pre-stock imports like Amazon did. People who want to write stuff…

And that's kind of an issue. Amazon effectively has a monopoly in this space, and competing at a similar level just is not possible anymore. And Amazon is so big that, even when you have a better product and service, it can buy you off¹.

¹: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Souq_(company)

Re: The Prime Reasons to Avoid Amazon

#34

Post by [deleted] »

bilsbie wrote: post #11
Animats wrote: post #2

A real reason to avoid Amazon is fake merchandise. I'd been buying a vitamin supplement from them for years. Then they sent me a notice that it was being recalled as a fake.[1] (Archive [2]) They paid a refund for the last purchase. But that's all. Amazon won't respond to questions about what was in it or who the real seller is. I no longer buy anything from Amazon that could be faked. [1] https://www.amazon.com/ask/…

I’m having trouble finding alternatives. Do I really have to go to four or five different websites to buy my supplements.

[deleted]

Re: The Prime Reasons to Avoid Amazon

#35

Post by recursive »

djoldman wrote: post #30

Regardless of what one thinks about Amazon, one's actions have approximately zero effect on it. Even if one controlled, 10, 100, 1,000, 10,000, or 100,000 people and commanded them to not use Amazon, it would have little effect. If someone opts to stay away from Amazon, they should at least do it with clear eyes: they are doing it to feel something and will not actually affect the company.

I do it not for the feelings but just to avoid hypocrisy.

Re: The Prime Reasons to Avoid Amazon

#36

Post by PenguinCoder »

Animats wrote: post #2

A real reason to avoid Amazon is fake merchandise. I'd been buying a vitamin supplement from them for years. Then they sent me a notice that it was being recalled as a fake.[1] (Archive [2]) They paid a refund for the last purchase. But that's all. Amazon won't respond to questions about what was in it or who the real seller is. I no longer buy anything from Amazon that could be faked. [1] https://www.amazon.com/ask/…

My rule is anything that goes on or in my body, I don't buy form Amazon for that reason.

Re: The Prime Reasons to Avoid Amazon

#37

Post by ajross »

PaulHoule wrote: post #25
no_wizard wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the reality. I have moved anything I don’t need quickly off Amazon as much as reasonably possible, and I do avoid some things from Amazon as well, but for too many things they’re the cheapest and fastest option, or the 2nd cheapest and fastest option. Also if I think there is a reasonably high chance I’ll return an item, I also go through Amazon, because they haven’t once in 20 years I’ve been using them givi…

My take is that Walmart.com comes pretty close. When I was driving through Pennsylvania two weeks back I saw a huge Walmart.com warehouse right next to an Amazon warehouse. The last mile delivery service of the two seems close to identical (though Walmart+ disingenuously offers "free" delivery from my local store that expect you to tip the driver. [1]) Amazon often costs 5 cents less and you might find that all the i…

FWIW, my suspicion is that people motivated by "Amazon is full-stop evil and an enemy of Civil Rights, Human Rights, Workers, Small Businesses, and Democracy"[1] would be even less motivated to shop at the temple of Sam Walton.

But even so, I just checked and of the last 12 items in my Amazon purchase history, Walmart.com loses on every one of them before shipping is included. They're not really in the game absent externalities like location or specific product.

[1] Not hyperbole: those are the sections in the linked article!

Re: The Prime Reasons to Avoid Amazon

#38

Post by encomiast »

SoftTalker wrote: post #4
Animats wrote: post #2

A real reason to avoid Amazon is fake merchandise. I'd been buying a vitamin supplement from them for years. Then they sent me a notice that it was being recalled as a fake.[1] (Archive [2]) They paid a refund for the last purchase. But that's all. Amazon won't respond to questions about what was in it or who the real seller is. I no longer buy anything from Amazon that could be faked. [1] https://www.amazon.com/ask/…

Good rule of thumb is that if it goes on or in your body do not buy it from Amazon.

I wonder if this applies to Amazon Pharmacy — seems like maybe this might have a bit more governance.

Re: The Prime Reasons to Avoid Amazon

#39

Post by jvanderbot »

recursive wrote: post #35
djoldman wrote: post #30

Regardless of what one thinks about Amazon, one's actions have approximately zero effect on it. Even if one controlled, 10, 100, 1,000, 10,000, or 100,000 people and commanded them to not use Amazon, it would have little effect. If someone opts to stay away from Amazon, they should at least do it with clear eyes: they are doing it to feel something and will not actually affect the company.

I do it not for the feelings but just to avoid hypocrisy.

I hate to be this guy, really, but did you consider that hypocrisy and anti-hypocrisy is basically what OP meant by "feelings" since they are based on (mostly self) perceptions? (Have you ever pointed out hypocrisy to someone? They are quick to tell you why you're wrong - it's absolutely about self justification not external judgement)
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