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The Amazon tax

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81–90 of 731 posts

Re: The Amazon tax

#81

Post by audidude »

retired wrote: post #73
abixb wrote: post #29

I've slowly shifted all my consumer purchases from Amazon to local shops and other online platforms, including Etsy. I'm now seriously contemplating deleting my Amazon account of 15 years in one whole swoop. The quality degradation is painfully apparent, and the value add of Amazon in my life has been steadily declining for a while. I've also had terrible experiences with AWS, but that's a different story. Amazon's o…

Amazon is just so convenient for me. They deliver within a day in a package locker next to home. Meanwhile with other platforms it takes up to a week, the delivery timeframe is 08:00 to 21:00, I then have to wait for the delivery person to call me because they can never find my front door. And if I happen to be on the toilet when they ring the package is delivered to a parcel point ten kilometers away. So I have to r…

This was something I would have never understood living in the US until I moved to France 4 months ago. And yeah, as much as I dislike the company, those lockers are clutch.

Re: The Amazon tax

#82

Post by rocketpastsix »

abixb wrote: post #29

I've slowly shifted all my consumer purchases from Amazon to local shops and other online platforms, including Etsy. I'm now seriously contemplating deleting my Amazon account of 15 years in one whole swoop. The quality degradation is painfully apparent, and the value add of Amazon in my life has been steadily declining for a while. I've also had terrible experiences with AWS, but that's a different story. Amazon's o…

I deleted my Amazon account earlier this year. I have yet to feel like I am stuck and unable to get something. It has made me turn directly to the seller, so it then I know every single dollar is going to them, versus most of it going to the seller and Amazon getting a cut. It has also made me look closely at places in my city where I can pick things up. I've found a few new shops I didnt know existed because the default was Amazon. The only bummer was I lost about 5 years of Audible books, most I listened to once but a few were repeat listens. I will just pick them up on Libro when I get the desire to listen to it again.

Re: The Amazon tax

#83

Post by demibabs »

siliconc0w wrote: post #61

I'm hoping AI will disintermediate most retail and we'll finally get an aggregator that isn't going to add a tax on both sides of the market. "Buy me the best Air Fryer" -> finds the best given my preferences and constraints and directly purchases it from the cheapest distributor

Unfortunately, Cuisinart is that year’s official air fryer sponsor of ChatGPT so you’re getting that one!

Re: The Amazon tax

#84

Post by [deleted] »

bartek_gdn wrote: post #62

"If you’re searching for an air fryer, Amazon already knows quite a bit. They know the best-reviewed, least-returned, best-priced model. The only purpose of the ads is to get you to pick an air fryer that isn’t that one (or for the best air fryer, to keep you on track to buy the one you wanted in the first place)" I don't get this part. Aren't those things unrelated? The aim of ads is to convince to buy regardless of…

[deleted]

Re: The Amazon tax

#85

Post by iamsaitam »

paytonjjones wrote: post #10

> They know the best-reviewed, least-returned, best-priced model. The only purpose of the ads is to get you to pick an air fryer that isn’t that one Thoughtless take. Say you've just invented a better looking, better functioning, cheaper air fryer. How do you expect to reach your first customers if not through ads? Sell it to your friends? That's even more invasive and annoying. People's urge to rid the world of ads…

You're completely ignoring the fact that the majority of people do not expect a search result ranking to be influenced by bidding. Yes it happens, but unless the item is labeled as an ad, most people will infer value that does not exist. And this is wrong. The only reason they appear in the search is so that they do not look like ads. There's plenty of places to advertise and the best for the consumer is for transparency to exist in the first place.

Re: The Amazon tax

#86

Post by visarga »

paytonjjones wrote: post #10

> They know the best-reviewed, least-returned, best-priced model. The only purpose of the ads is to get you to pick an air fryer that isn’t that one Thoughtless take. Say you've just invented a better looking, better functioning, cheaper air fryer. How do you expect to reach your first customers if not through ads? Sell it to your friends? That's even more invasive and annoying. People's urge to rid the world of ads…

Say you invent a crap product, and shove ads under my nose to bug me while I want to buy a decent product. Why should I accept that?

Just get your products reviewed by trusted reviewers, if you can budge them maybe you deserve a bit of attention from us. Someone who has a stake in being trusted for their fair reviews.

Ads are a scourge.

Re: The Amazon tax

#89

Post by apercu »

t1234s wrote: post #39

Prime is a waste of money. I find most stuff arrives in 2-3 days and its easy to spend the minimum to get free shipping.

I've learned that I don't need anything in 2-3 days typically anyway.

Re: The Amazon tax

#90

Post by drcongo »

apercu wrote: post #72
abixb wrote: post #29

I've slowly shifted all my consumer purchases from Amazon to local shops and other online platforms, including Etsy. I'm now seriously contemplating deleting my Amazon account of 15 years in one whole swoop. The quality degradation is painfully apparent, and the value add of Amazon in my life has been steadily declining for a while. I've also had terrible experiences with AWS, but that's a different story. Amazon's o…

I cancelled prime this year. It no longer had any value. It's more expensive but shittier in every way.

And with adverts!
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