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Amazon Ruined Online Shopping

theatlantic.com

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Re: Amazon Ruined Online Shopping

#61

Post by chias »

city41 wrote: post #26

Amazon makes it basically impossible to compare prices by unit of measure (ie $0.94 per gallon or what not). I’ve wanted to make a browser extension to attempt to fix that. I’ve always suspected this is intentional. But if I could compare prices this way and be confident I’m getting the best deal, I’d buy things on Amazon a lot more.

I find this especially infuriating -- they even do it within a single product!

https://i.imgur.com/aeaeuT2.png

That's $0.98 / oz, but if you switch from fruit punch to blue raz it becomes $15.18 / lb, and if you switch from the 60-serving pack to the 30-serving pack it's $24.58 / lb, but if you want to subscribe and save that's $0.93 / oz.

WHY

Re: Amazon Ruined Online Shopping

#62

Post by pbhjpbhj »

hirundo wrote: post #10

> But there’s a reason that we used to have shoe stores, hardware stores, grocery stores, bookstores, and all the rest: Those specialized retail spaces allow products, and the people with knowledge about them, to engage in specialized ways of finding, choosing, and purchasing them. There's a reason why so much commerce has moved online in general and to Amazon in particular: We often value price and convenience and o…

But people that flip companies, and large companies focused solely on profit, etc., realised they could do away with subject-knowledgable sales people and simply have good sellers who tell you the highest margin goods are the best.

It works too, you can put an established business down by robbing their sales for a couple of years pretending your product is better. By then there's no [affordable] quality option available. Plus, the morally corrupt owners make oodles more money; inspiring others to do likewise. Greed feeds its self.

Re: Amazon Ruined Online Shopping

#63

Post by mturmon »

hirundo wrote: post #44
porknubbins wrote: post #40

I've had a pretty terrible experience trying to buy non stick skillets over the years on Amazon with most of even the top rated items coming with huge issues like warping on the first use, not being very non stick, flaking etc. I almost wonder if its counterfeit or if manufacturers just cutting corners on what used to be a good product? Either way reviews become almost useless when you don't know which version you wi…

I bought this non-stick pan on Amazon and it was one of my best purchases of last year. The trick with non-sticks is to buy cheap enough cookware to affordably replace regularly as they wear out. My previous non-stick pan cost four times as much, wore out, and is now just hanging from a rack, looking fabulous. With the new one, I plan to toss it in another year and buy another. https://www.amazon.com/Tramontina-80114…

Second shout out to that particular item, which I bought July 17, 2017, and have used about once a day in the 18 months since, on a gas stove. One of the best nonstick skillets I have owned. Even heat distribution, and no issues with peeling coating. Strong construction, but as lightweight as it could be given that. (I’m superstitious, and generally hand wash.)

Re: Amazon Ruined Online Shopping

#64

Post by gnicholas »

> On top of that, Amazon is more than willing to fix its errors.

In my experience, this is less true than it used to be. For example, my mom ordered a DVD in early December to be given as a Christmas gift. It was a Prime item, and she is a Prime subscriber. For some reason, it wasn't showing that it would be delivered until just before Christmas. Even though this was odd — and arguably a breach of the Prime agreement — she figured it was no big deal because it would be in time for Christmas. Then, just before it was supposed to be delivered, Amazon updated the delivery to after Christmas. This was actually OK by her, since the recipient (my daughter) would still be at her house for a few days after Christmas. Again, just before it was to be delivered, they updated the shipping again, and now said it would arrive Jan 15 to Jan 30. When she chatted the Amazon reps, they just said sorry for the inconvenience, and offered nothing for this shipping miss. Eventually they agreed to put a credit on her account for the inconvenience, but the credit never actually materialized.

We canceled the order and bought the DVD (plus digital copy!) from Walmart. This is just one of many negative customer service experiences we've had with Amazon in the last few months. The other big problem is that they now want each return put in its own box — even if it was shipped to us with multiple other items that are also being returned. We have been Prime customers for years, but perhaps not for much longer.

Re: Amazon Ruined Online Shopping

#65

Post by gnicholas »

koboll wrote: post #18
80mph wrote: post #12

I recently went down the rabbit hole of trying to buy Yorkshire Gold tea on Amazon (I am in the US). I encountered so many bad reviews of users complaining about the quality, and the flavor being weakened, or not the authentic YG flavor, that I gave up. It was impossible to tell to which seller each bad review was attributable. I went on Ebay, found decent UK sellers in less than 5 minutes, and ordered my tea. Downsi…

There are certain swaths of items that you literally can't buy anymore because they are completely overrun with counterfeiters. Perfume/cologne and board games are two big ones. Amazon is, at this point, undoubtedly one of the largest enablers of open counterfeiting in the world. It needs to be met with a massive investigation and crippling fines. That probably won't happen until we have a federal government that is…

> That probably won't happen until we have a federal government that is no longer slavish prostituted to business interests, unfortunately.

If you're referring to the Trump administration, he hates Jeff Bezos and Amazon (and the failing Washington Post, which JB owns)

Re: Amazon Ruined Online Shopping

#66

Post by jvagner »

80mph wrote: post #12

I recently went down the rabbit hole of trying to buy Yorkshire Gold tea on Amazon (I am in the US). I encountered so many bad reviews of users complaining about the quality, and the flavor being weakened, or not the authentic YG flavor, that I gave up. It was impossible to tell to which seller each bad review was attributable. I went on Ebay, found decent UK sellers in less than 5 minutes, and ordered my tea. Downsi…

FWIW, I am involved with an outfit that sells licensed sports apparel on Amazon.

We drop-ship directly from the manufacturer. Companies you are very familiar with.

We have to work through counterfeit claims all week long... reviews, complaints, returns, etc.

Re: Amazon Ruined Online Shopping

#67

Post by lozenge »

throwawaymath wrote: post #54
JJMcJ wrote: post #52

I order from specialty merchants or manufacturers when I can. Books I trust from Amazon. The rest, not so much.

In my experience, many of the books I've purchased from Amazon are actually illegally exported reprints from India. Those books tend to not make that fact obvious or even known.

There's nothing illegal about importing books. "The first sale doctrine, codified at 17 U.S.C. § 109, provides that an individual who knowingly purchases a copy of a copyrighted work from the copyright holder receives the right to sell, display or otherwise dispose of that particular copy, notwithstanding the interests of the copyright owner."

Labels like "not for sale in the US" are aimed at distributers and stores, but are not legally enforceable.

Re: Amazon Ruined Online Shopping

#70

Post by NullPrefix »

Johnny555 wrote: post #53

Amazon made online shopping feel safe and comfortable, at least mechanically, where once the risk of being scammed by bad actors felt huge Maybe this was true once, but now Amazon has brought back that fear and confusion of getting scammed. You used to be able to count on reviews for some idea of the quality of the product, but now you need to do research at someplace like www.fakespot.com to see if the reviews are f…

Previously you were risking getting your card stolen by a shady seller.

Now you're risking of getting your payment stolen. Bad product/no product delivered could be seen as equivalent to stole payment.

It's an improvement, isn't it?

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