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Amazon Ruined Online Shopping

theatlantic.com

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Re: Amazon Ruined Online Shopping

#71

Post by techslave »

what they didn’t say is that amazon also created online shopping as we know it today. perhaps created is too strong but certainly they have set the bar. (focused specialty stores like mcmaster aside)

the online shopping experience was theirs to ruin. which they have. i think it’s almost intentional that buying from the marketplace is a crapshoot, usually to be avoided. it’s a win win for amazon.

it’s not surprising that the experience is poor these days. when you are a virtual monopoly that’s what happens. it is surprising that there’s no real competitor taking advantage.

Re: Amazon Ruined Online Shopping

#72

Post by bonestamp2 »

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…

Also no sales tax at B&H for a lot of people. Of course, in some states, you're still supposed to pay the state sales tax directly when you do your income tax. I used to do this with amazon before they collected sales tax in my state. They allow you to download your purchase history (csv format) and see which items you didn't pay tax on so it's easy to calculate that line item on state taxes.

Re: Amazon Ruined Online Shopping

#73

Post by arbuge »

I did notice that the rate at which I have to return unsatisfactory products from Amazon seems to have shot upwards in the last year or so. Obviously a hassle.

I've now gone back to getting what I can locally in most cases.

Re: Amazon Ruined Online Shopping

#74

Post by NegativeK »

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…

Amazon's counterfeit problem seems like something they're not taking seriously enough. For a laser printer or a lamp, sure -- I'll buy from Amazon and deal with the return if I ever get screwed. But for climbing gear, of which I've bought quite a bit of, I simply won't touch Amazon. I haven't heard of counterfeit (versus obvious trash, which exists but is different) climbing goods on Amazon, but I simply can't risk it.

Re: Amazon Ruined Online Shopping

#75

Post by Nelkins »

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…

The startup I work for, Masse[0], is attempting to solve this issue. More or less a platform for product reviews with a social network component to see exactly who is recommending a product.

I've written a little about it here [1][2].

[0] https://masse.app/

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18441347

[2] https://www.reddit.com/r/fsharp/comments/9wpw84/introducing_...

Re: Amazon Ruined Online Shopping

#76

Post by ralusek »

neuronic wrote: post #33
koboll wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> until we have a federal government that is no longer slavish prostituted to business interests If you lend an ear to some contemporary ideas about how technology changes our societies, there might be a chance we will see this happening in our life times. Current government models, democratic and authoritarian alike, seem to grow ever less capable of coping with technology and how it reshapes society. Yuval Noah Har…

> democratic and authoritarian alike

Those aren't opposites, they are entirely different concepts. Any law that mandates behavior is authoritarian, which is not inherently good or bad. Are democracies incapable of producing such laws? Criminalizing murder is authoritarian, for example, but unobjectionably desirable. Freedom of speech is actively anti-authoritarian, as an alternative, as it is a restriction placed on the state.

Re: Amazon Ruined Online Shopping

#77

Post by throwawaymath »

lozenge wrote: post #67
throwawaymath wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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,…

Oh, I didn't know that. Thanks for the citation!

Re: Amazon Ruined Online Shopping

#78

Post by [deleted] »

rgoodwintx wrote: post #37
mhb wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh? There are 1,400 reviews on that page.

There are 1400 reviews but the "initial selection" of ~8 Top Reviews has almost 50% negative commentary. I'm trying to learn more and more to look at the bars on the left; in this case, 92% are 4 and 5 star, and factor in that most people with no issues don't write reviews at all. So my very random modifier would make that something like 95% positive and take a chance on it. This assumes you don't get the dice rolled…

[deleted]

Re: Amazon Ruined Online Shopping

#79

Post by gaius »

malnourish wrote: post #51
notable_user wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even “ships from and sold by amazon.com” products are comingled with potentially conterfeit products, unless a brand pays extra money for them not to be. No way for the end user to know if they’re getting comingled product.

Is there any way to determine if they've paid for no commingling?

Is that even a thing? I’ve never heard that being possible before. I would be willing to pay a premium for guaranteed non-commingled products. But Amazon commingles to make their own internal logistics easier.

Re: Amazon Ruined Online Shopping

#80

Post by LeoPanthera »

From the article:

> There’s no ambiguity about what you’re getting when you buy a particular book, CD, or DVD.

About a year ago I ordered a soundtrack CD from Amazon. It turned out to be a “fake”, it was a CD-R that had a printed label. If you didn’t know it was a CD-R, it looked reasonably convincing, the case was quite good quality. And it did contain the correct music - it was just a pirate copy.

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