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Cameras and secret trackers reveal where Amazon returns end up

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Re: Cameras and secret trackers reveal where Amazon returns end up

#331

Post by bergstromm466 »

I made this comment in reply to another post:

The important part of this article is the critique of the powerful monopolistic corporate player, Amazon:

"[Amazon] did write the playbook on free returns, says Jason Goldberg, chief commerce strategy officer at Publicis Groupe, a global marketing and advertising agency.

The tactic of enticing customers to buy more than they need and return what they don't want "has had tragic repercussions for the environment and business," he says."

It seems to me like the HN community sometimes nitpicks over tiny details and fails to take part in the larger systemic critiques. Are there others who are also frustrated by the lack of larger, systemic critiques?

Re: Cameras and secret trackers reveal where Amazon returns end up

#332

Post by Leherenn »

ByteJockey wrote: post #293
mcv wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It is called "The Netherlands"; not "Netherland". That's an archaic Anglicism in my opinion. Nobody in Netherland calls the country "de Nederlanden", and probably hasn't in two centuries. I think it's about time that English finally followed suit.

> I think it's about time that English finally followed suit. Why? Do you think that languages should all follow the same rules about everything?

When it's about a proper noun with a clear authoritative source, I would say yes.

Re: Cameras and secret trackers reveal where Amazon returns end up

#334

Post by ficklepickle »

refurb wrote: post #296
inopinatus wrote: post #265

Let's take a moment to look at how disingenuous this article is: * Out of twelve returned trackers, one of them went to landfill. The article focuses on that item and does not itemise the fate of the others. * Adding a tracking device to a returned new product is tantamount to damage. If such a device is detected during returns processing, anyone with half a brain should immediately presume a malicious actor and have…

This crap is why journalism is in such disrepute. And this is from the Canadian Broadcasting Company - Canada's gov't funded TV/radio/print news service, not some fly by night organization focused on spitting out content to maximize ad impressions. Doesn't give you much hope for quality reporting if they can't get it right.

Marketplace is sensationalized garbage. Watch one of their videos on YouTube to see what I mean. It's all spin, trying to make people outraged.

CBC is definitely a mixed bag. Marketplace is amongst their worst.

Re: Cameras and secret trackers reveal where Amazon returns end up

#335

Post by Scoundreller »

Fnoord wrote: post #327
Scoundreller wrote: post #311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The reason there is no huge Amazon.nl is the same reason there's no huge eBay.nl; there's already a large local competitor: Bol.com (and Marktplaats.nl). eBay has owned marktplaats since 2004. I think they’re conceptually the same. I’m also unsure if eBay’s modus operandi has ever been to acquire and transition local platforms to their eBay platform, which is probably for the better.

Marktplaats is not an auction place, it is a market place (kind of like Craigslist). They never changed that, and eBay Netherlands has always remained a niche.

Not much of eBay is an auction house anymore...

My pet theory is that eBay acquires/operates classified marketplaces and lets them dominate enough to prevent a competitor from appearing and taking marketshare from the more profitable eBay platform.

Re: Cameras and secret trackers reveal where Amazon returns end up

#336

Post by Fnoord »

Scoundreller wrote: post #335
Fnoord wrote: post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Marktplaats is not an auction place, it is a market place (kind of like Craigslist). They never changed that, and eBay Netherlands has always remained a niche.

Not much of eBay is an auction house anymore... My pet theory is that eBay acquires/operates classified marketplaces and lets them dominate enough to prevent a competitor from appearing and taking marketshare from the more profitable eBay platform.

I haven't checked recently but back in the days (00s) eBay offered more protection than Marktplaats.

Re: Cameras and secret trackers reveal where Amazon returns end up

#337

Post by TheKarateKid »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #182
bigwavedave wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess I really know nothing about economics... Sincere question: how does paying less for functionally/fashionably equivalent products hurt the economy of the country that's consuming them?

The same detrimental effects can happen with lots of aid given to Africa. Basically, the majority of Africa is clothed with first world hand-me-downs. The result is that there is virtually no market for home-grown clothing makers in Africa. Think about it, the US has "anti-dumping" laws to protect US manufacturers, but we "dump" into other countries all the time in the form of "aid".

Are you really complaining about too much aid being given to a continent mostly stricken with extreme poverty?

I think the African people have more to worry about than supporting local clothing makers. The fact that they can be clothed cheaply allows them to concentrate on other problems they are facing.

See: Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

Re: Cameras and secret trackers reveal where Amazon returns end up

#338

Post by xyzzyz »

bergstromm466 wrote: post #330
xyzzyz wrote: post #308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're supporting his point: apparel is one of the segments where such return rate is plausible, but it is completely off the mark for general merchandise.

Fair enough. But it sounds like you're arguing that it's ok to waste because it's not in all the segments mentioned? I'm missing the larger critique. Are you ok with this waste? I guess sometimes it seems to me like the HN community nitpicks over tiny details and fails to take part in the larger systemic critiques.

If you read my comment again, you’ll see that there is absolutely nothing there about whether “waste is ok”.

Re: Cameras and secret trackers reveal where Amazon returns end up

#339

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

TheKarateKid wrote: post #337
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The same detrimental effects can happen with lots of aid given to Africa. Basically, the majority of Africa is clothed with first world hand-me-downs. The result is that there is virtually no market for home-grown clothing makers in Africa. Think about it, the US has "anti-dumping" laws to protect US manufacturers, but we "dump" into other countries all the time in the form of "aid".

Are you really complaining about too much aid being given to a continent mostly stricken with extreme poverty? I think the African people have more to worry about than supporting local clothing makers. The fact that they can be clothed cheaply allows them to concentrate on other problems they are facing. See: Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

> Are you really complaining about too much aid being given to a continent mostly stricken with extreme poverty?

Yes, absolutely, and there is plenty of evidence that a lot of this aid keeps Africa in extreme poverty.

This is not an extreme, or at this point even a particularly unusual, viewpoint. Some other sources that argue, convincingly in my opinion, why much of the aid given to Africa over the past 50 years has been counterproductive:

https://youtu.be/Jv4cAVzC8xM - good video about a Ghanaian entrepreneur and how NGO aid hurts the economic development of his country

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/10/13/why-t...

https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/-gYxhXHjOckC?hl=en

https://www.forbes.com/sites/rainerzitelmann/2019/08/05/afri...

Re: Cameras and secret trackers reveal where Amazon returns end up

#340

Post by inopinatus »

xyzzyz wrote: post #338
bergstromm466 wrote: post #330

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fair enough. But it sounds like you're arguing that it's ok to waste because it's not in all the segments mentioned? I'm missing the larger critique. Are you ok with this waste? I guess sometimes it seems to me like the HN community nitpicks over tiny details and fails to take part in the larger systemic critiques.

If you read my comment again, you’ll see that there is absolutely nothing there about whether “waste is ok”.

Since I started this by inadvertently writing the most upvoted comment, I'd like to put on the record that I'm against returns waste (and it boggles my mind to imagine anyone, or at least anyone with a soul, being for it), but I'm also against sensationalised tabloid journalism because I don't believe it's a constructive contribution to the discussion of how we get to a more sustainable supply-return chain.

On the contrary it tends to cause exactly those firms who'd be most intrinsically part of the solution (and whose employees most certainly would love to say "we're part of the solution", because they are not the sociopaths some would paint them as) to get their backs against the wall, since anyone even participating in the discussion makes themselves primarily a target for invective.

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