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Amazon Closing AmazonSmile

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Re: Amazon Closing AmazonSmile

#431

Post by luckylion »

WesternWind wrote: post #401

I've twice done tech work for charities (the second being my current contract) and this is going to affect some charities, particularly the ones that rely on donors, over others that rely on grant money.

Though the sums were tiny, weren't they? I mean, it was $400m in 9 years, spread over a million charities in the end. To get a significant amount of money through that program, you'd need to be a big name that a lot of people would choose to donate to ... at which point you're a big name that probably gets a lot more money through regular donations.

Re: Amazon Closing AmazonSmile

#432

Post by philwelch »

tpmoney wrote: post #314
dbg31415 wrote: post #275

It's weird that corporations have philanthropic arms, isn't it?

Why? Corporations are made up of people, and people have causes they want to be charitable towards. If you’re going to be bringing in millions of dollars anyway, why not pay some of that out to causes you believe in. It’s only weird if you assume all corporations should be amoral money exchange systems where by money is exchanged for labor and capital which in turn is exchanged for more money

> It’s only weird if you assume all corporations should be amoral money exchange systems where by money is exchanged for labor and capital which in turn is exchanged for more money

What you’re missing is the final step in the chain, which is the part where profits are distributed to shareholders. If I’m one of those shareholders, I might very well take a large chunk of those dividends and donate the money to charity. But instead of paying me more of those dividends to donate to my preferred cause, the company’s management has decided that they should be the ones donating my money to their preferred cause.

Aside from that, it’s just a failure of specialization. Philanthropy is hard, making money is hard, and building a single organization that does a good job at either of them is even harder. I’d rather have corporations that focused on doing a really good job at whatever they did and non-profits that do whatever they do as efficiently as possible, rather than a corporation trying to do both.

Re: Amazon Closing AmazonSmile

#434

Post by philwelch »

smcin wrote: post #410
insane_dreamer wrote: post #371

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And seriously, why should that matter; it's their customers who are selecting the charities, not Amazon.

Because no PR opportunity for Amazon. But I agree, it's a feeble dishonest excuse. Better to simply say "Because we're cutting costs", instead of weeping how it failed to set the world on fire with glowing PR for their munificence. Personally I try hard to avoid sending my business to Amazon whenever there's an alternative, and this was one of the good things about them.

Even worse, an anti-PR opportunity: “look at how much money Amazon donates to bad guys!”

Re: Amazon Closing AmazonSmile

#435

Post by insane_dreamer »

aeternum wrote: post #376
insane_dreamer wrote: post #373

Meanwhile, Amazon _net profits_ in Q3 2022 were just shy of $3B.

But they lost it all by betting on Rivian https://twitter.com/EconomyApp/status/1578475690772508672/ph...

No, not really. Equity loss is unrealized loss -- it's just on paper because the stock price is down. If Rivian's share price goes back up, that loss becomes a gain.

Whereas the $3B net profit is real money they can put into their coffers (or share with shareholders).

Edit: now if Rivian goes bankrupt and delists, then yes, at that point Amazon does lose however many $Bs they invested which they will put as a write-off.

Re: Amazon Closing AmazonSmile

#436

Post by insane_dreamer »

smcin wrote: post #410
insane_dreamer wrote: post #371

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And seriously, why should that matter; it's their customers who are selecting the charities, not Amazon.

Because no PR opportunity for Amazon. But I agree, it's a feeble dishonest excuse. Better to simply say "Because we're cutting costs", instead of weeping how it failed to set the world on fire with glowing PR for their munificence. Personally I try hard to avoid sending my business to Amazon whenever there's an alternative, and this was one of the good things about them.

> Personally I try hard to avoid sending my business to Amazon whenever there's an alternative, and this was one of the good things about them.

same

Re: Amazon Closing AmazonSmile

#437

Post by singlow »

josteink wrote: post #374
singlow wrote: post #370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They obviously don't call it hate themselves. It is the opinion of certain trans groups that the positions taken by the organisation are based on hate. Of course hate in modern lingo just means disagreement, or failure to support the specific legislative agenda of a particular group. LGB Alliance states that it believes many cases of transition are actually a form of therapy to remove gay-ness. That a gay person is l…

> Of course hate in modern lingo just means disagreement, or failure to support the specific legislative agenda of a particular group. Maybe that’s just me, but I think we should have higher expectations to the language used in discussions on HN. If we agree this is about a policy-disagreement, then let’s use those words. Don’t use the word “hate” when no actual hate is involved. It doesn’t help bring across any poin…

My tone apparently didn't come across well. I was in fact criticizing the use of the word hate in this context.

Re: Amazon Closing AmazonSmile

#438

Post by Insanity »

batman-farts wrote: post #411

Well, this stinks. For a point of reference, I had it activated for about 2 years and directed the donations to Federation of American Scientists - not a huge name in the nonprofit space, but well-established and well-respected. According to the impact page, my orders during that time (including some big ticket stuff, about half the parts for a high-spec gaming PC) generated a grand total of $35.22, and FAS has recei…

On Walmart specifically, their grocery order search is entirely broken. You can search for an item and in the preview/drop-down see the correct item. You press enter and in the product list page it is gone.

Re: Amazon Closing AmazonSmile

#439

Post by fakedang »

arbitrage wrote: post #354
fakedang wrote: post #347

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it came under the field of vision of some dumbass MBA who decided that saving a few millions would be worth more and a sizeable contribution to their end of year bonus figure. Source: I'm a dumbass MBA admittee.

> Source: I'm a dumbass MBA admittee. Is the money that good?

I don't know. Just received the offer last month.

Re: Amazon Closing AmazonSmile

#440

Post by fakedang »

vineyardmike wrote: post #385
fakedang wrote: post #347

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it came under the field of vision of some dumbass MBA who decided that saving a few millions would be worth more and a sizeable contribution to their end of year bonus figure. Source: I'm a dumbass MBA admittee.

> Source: I'm a dumbass MBA admittee. Ya sure this is what you learn in school? > a sizeable contribution to their end of year bonus figure Highly doubt they’re getting bonuses at Amazon.

I don't know, just received the offer last month.

Bonus or not, some line item adjustments do put you in line for promotions.

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