Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#81

Post by Shebanator » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:48 PM UTC

CaliforniaKarl wrote: post #19

loser777 wrote: post #6

I’ve observed this with big and small business alike: + bought a baking steel direct from the seller (shipping time ~5 days vs. 1 month+, so I canceled the amazon order) + monitor out of stock for over a week on amazon (in stock at bnh, shipping time ~4 days) + monitor arm I didn’t even bother looking at on amazon (shipping time direct from seller ~2 days)

I never heard of "baking steel". Looking online, it seems to be like a pizza stone? If yes, that's cool!

it is a pizza stone, but metal. I have one and it is super heavy, which makes it inconvenient to use, but it does improve the crust quality of oven-baked pizzas.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#82

Post by bradlys » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:48 PM UTC

ebg13 wrote: post #51

x0x0 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My favorite is how home depot lists stuff in stock on the search results page, but then when you click the individual item it's out of stock. It's a store. Why the fuck would a store ever show me an item -- at least by default -- that it isn't willing to sell me? Like who exactly wants that "feature"? It makes attempting to buy something from home depot's site an infuriating experience.

One of the items I tried ordering that was cancelled showed 34 in stock at that store while I was on the phone with them (immediately after the delivery person left) trying to find out why they cancelled my items and they were saying the items were probably out of stock in that store. And if you have three stores within a couple of miles of you that all claim to have a bunch of stock of an item but you order from one…

This is one of the reasons I don't buy things from Home Depot if I can help it. I've gone to multiple stores thinking something was in stock to only find they were all out of stock. On top of that, the staff there are almost helpless when it comes to finding things that aren't on the shelf itself. If it's up top, be prepared to waste an hour trying to get someone to fetch the item. (If it's there!)

Their poor system can work in your favor though. Went to go pick up my order after it being cancelled at multiple places. Turns out, at this one, they only had 2 of the 4 items at pickup. I tell them it says there are more in stock, they confirm. We go hunting for the remaining 2. Takes 30 minutes for them to fetch the remaining two from the top with my help (without my help, they would have never found it!). We go back to the register, they punch in that they're giving me 2 more. I go home with all 4 of my items. I was never charged for the full order. Only the initial 2.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#83

Post by justforyou » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:48 PM UTC

x0x0 wrote: post #46

ebg13 wrote: post #23

I tried ordering some things from Home Depot the other day, and they silently cancelled half of my order while still charging me the same amount for delivery from the store and while saying that some things can only be delivered from a warehouse and that some things can only be delivered from a specific store and that delivery from each store has a $45 minimum purchase before they'll even consider delivery despite th…

My favorite is how home depot lists stuff in stock on the search results page, but then when you click the individual item it's out of stock. It's a store. Why the fuck would a store ever show me an item -- at least by default -- that it isn't willing to sell me? Like who exactly wants that "feature"? It makes attempting to buy something from home depot's site an infuriating experience.

Even better, you can reserve items to pickup at Home Depot online which are not actually in stock. Website quantities are not tied to point of sale, and are instead manually enteted by staff when they have the opportunity/bandwidth.

(Or at least that was the explanation given by Home Depot's customer support.)

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#84

Post by bluetidepro » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:48 PM UTC

dangrossman wrote: post #76

bluetidepro wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree 100% with this. It's appalling how many other sites (esp. the direct manufacturer ones, like you mentioned) use dark patterns with their shipping/handling prices. It really does make you understand why everyone wants to use the big sites like Amazon, at least they are pretty straight fwd when it comes to the price, shipping, fees, etc. Nothing worse than getting down an e-commerce funnel only to find you wast…

It's not a dark pattern that shipping actually costs everyone that isn't Amazon a lot. Go get a shipping quote from UPS or FedEx for sending a desk across the country. It's not going to be any cheaper than these stores are charging. They're not hiding extra profit in their shipping fees. People are so used to Amazon Prime that they have no idea what things cost to ship any more. I run a small online store and every 1…

It IS a dark pattern when they don't show you that cost until the final step after you have invested time getting there. You misunderstand, I'm not arguing that it costs money to ship things, I understand that to be true, I'm saying it's a shitty dark pattern when you aren't clear about that cost up front in the funnel. People can be honest, there is nothing stopping them from doing that.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#85

Post by alleyshack » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:49 PM UTC

Diederich wrote: post #41

Help requested. My wife, who is in her 50s, is immunocompromised, and she also has a history of fast escalating and difficult to treat respiratory problems. We are and have been (for the past 32 days) treating this bug very carefully. If she catches it, she has a very good chance of not surviving it. Our son and I are at less risk, but we can easily bring this bug home. We've been having more and more trouble getting…

You don't specify why Instacart "became less usable", though if your experience is like mine I'd guess it's a combination of delivery windows being a full week out and the results being somewhat unreliable between replacements/out of stock. What's been working for my household is to make the Instacart order knowing it won't be delivered for at least a week, and use that time to fill out the order as needed. We're not to this point yet but I've also thought about doing a rolling window (i.e., make one order with a delivery window of next Saturday, then start another one in two days with a delivery for next Monday, etc) so there's always something coming in.

Another suggestion, which I have not tested yet personally, would be to look up small grocers in your area. If you're willing to drive to pick up your shopping, a small grocer may be willing to prepick your order and have it ready for you in the parking lot without an intermediary.

A third option would be to check for local milkman deliveries, since many of them deliver more than just milk. A quick search for the Bay Area brings up "Bay Area Milkman" and "Milkman SF". Again, haven't tried them so can't vouch for them, but I'm keeping similar options in my own back pocket if/when we need them.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#86

Post by Arcsech » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:49 PM UTC

chrisweekly wrote: post #31

loser777 wrote: post #6

I’ve observed this with big and small business alike: + bought a baking steel direct from the seller (shipping time ~5 days vs. 1 month+, so I canceled the amazon order) + monitor out of stock for over a week on amazon (in stock at bnh, shipping time ~4 days) + monitor arm I didn’t even bother looking at on amazon (shipping time direct from seller ~2 days)

bnh?

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/ presumably. I've ordered some things from there, and generally had a good experience, with a few notes:

- For large purchases at least, they are very scrupulous about sending tax documents to your home state to make sure the sales tax gets paid. This is probably a social good overall, but unusual for internet retailers and may take some folks by surprise.

- They follow a Jewish holiday schedule, including the Sabbath, and do not take orders on the Sabbath (in New York's time zone, at least). Again, not a negative, but unusual for modern businesses, especially online ones.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#87

Post by bluetidepro » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:49 PM UTC

KaoruAoiShiho wrote: post #66

bluetidepro wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree 100% with this. It's appalling how many other sites (esp. the direct manufacturer ones, like you mentioned) use dark patterns with their shipping/handling prices. It really does make you understand why everyone wants to use the big sites like Amazon, at least they are pretty straight fwd when it comes to the price, shipping, fees, etc. Nothing worse than getting down an e-commerce funnel only to find you wast…

Or.... small companies don't have economy of scale logistics operations?

As commented to someone else's reply, you don't understand what I mean by a dark pattern. There is a difference in having a shipping cost, vs hiding the shipping cost in the funnel. They hide it in the funnel, that IS a dark pattern. There is nothing wrong with charging for shipping, but don't be shady about how you present that cost.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#88

Post by zapstar » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:50 PM UTC

Diederich wrote: post #41

Help requested. My wife, who is in her 50s, is immunocompromised, and she also has a history of fast escalating and difficult to treat respiratory problems. We are and have been (for the past 32 days) treating this bug very carefully. If she catches it, she has a very good chance of not surviving it. Our son and I are at less risk, but we can easily bring this bug home. We've been having more and more trouble getting…

I have been very impressed with ordering online at Target. Many items that my local grocery store did not have were able to be shipped to me in 2 days. I hope maybe this can help with your situation, at least as far as non-perishable food is concerned.

(They do have warnings on every product now about potentially being out of stock, but so far, they've been able to fulfill every order I've made.)

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#89

Post by justforyou » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:50 PM UTC

dvtrn wrote: post #78

x0x0 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My favorite is how home depot lists stuff in stock on the search results page, but then when you click the individual item it's out of stock. It's a store. Why the fuck would a store ever show me an item -- at least by default -- that it isn't willing to sell me? Like who exactly wants that "feature"? It makes attempting to buy something from home depot's site an infuriating experience.

This has long been an issue I've had when trying to use online shopping/curbside pickup for grocery stores, and this comes even before the COVID-19 pandemic arrived and pushed more of us fortunate to live in cities where online grocery buying is a thing to....well start buying groceries online. Found myself just as baffled/apoplectic as you are: why would this be on your online storefront if you don't have the invent…

>> why would this be on your online storefront if you don't have the inventory for me to actually buy?

Twofold:

1) They're betting that you'll still buy something once you're surrounded by merchandise. 2) This allows them to play games with shrink, imventory, and insurance.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#90

Post by Diederich » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:50 PM UTC

swsieber wrote: post #52

Diederich wrote: post #41

Help requested. My wife, who is in her 50s, is immunocompromised, and she also has a history of fast escalating and difficult to treat respiratory problems. We are and have been (for the past 32 days) treating this bug very carefully. If she catches it, she has a very good chance of not surviving it. Our son and I are at less risk, but we can easily bring this bug home. We've been having more and more trouble getting…

> we have a fair quantity of emergency supplies. If you won't use them now, when will you? Are we talking days, weeks or months?

There are few universal truths, but one of them is this: Things can always get worse. (Even if that might be unlikely at any given time.) At this moment, we have enough normal food to not need to dip into the emergency stuff, though it's getting more challenging. Plus, we rather prefer normal food.

Basically, we don't consider our current situation an emergency yet.