Amazon, Walmart, Etsy... my kingdom for a marketplace that doesn't become just a dumping ground for shady fly-by-night dropshippers.
Amazon seller reveals glimpse of shadow bribery market
91–100 of 101 posts
Re: Amazon seller reveals glimpse of shadow bribery market
#92Amazon, Walmart, Etsy... my kingdom for a marketplace that doesn't become just a dumping ground for shady fly-by-night dropshippers.
This has pushed me to high levels of brand loyalty with direct ordering from the brands I like and trust, plus a lot of buying used… also mostly products from a handful of trusted brands (this is largely clothes, nearly all of which I buy used except socks, underwear, and most sweaters)
I closed my Amazon account, a few years ago, for similar reasons (both platforms seem to become the dumping grounds for brokens, defectives, and otherwise abandonables).
Most items I'll now purchase in-person, at a store – I want to feel the clothing's thickness, smell the hardware's newness, and/or pay more for warranted IRL customer support. Mandatory in-person purchases are memory (RAM or SSD), only because they have a supplier chain-of-custody, without mixed seller bins (which Amazon is attempting to resolve, albeit decades too late IMHO).
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Random shoutout to Duluth Trading Company (not-affiliated, no stock owned – just a great brand): I drive 2.5 hours round-trip, once a year, to visit one of their clothing stores. If you haven't worn their firehose contractor pants, you're missing out on the incredibility of 3% spandex pants – thick, breathable, don't tear... and when you feel them in person you will absolutely not care about their pricetag. They have traditional US wwXhh mens-sizing, but also three separate "fits" (tightnesses).
If you're a fattietradesman (like me), trying things on is essential. Really glad to see certainly higher-end storefronts "coming back," as these customers demand quality.
Just wish they sold computers – although I did visit my first MicroCenter, recently: WOW! (Reminiscent of early-2000s Fry's Electronics, but smaller/better).
Re: Amazon seller reveals glimpse of shadow bribery market
#93Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't allow 3rd party sellers?
I think that is key. I used to browse Best Buy's website for various electronics and it was typically pretty good. I knew that somewhere, a Best Buy product buyer was evaluating the products with at least a minimum set of expectations. Then they opened their marketplace to 3rd party sellers and it's the same low cost, low quality crap on every other site.
And somehow no local retailer had a corded phone (had to order off Amazon, unfortunately... friend's account) – not even the local telco! Exception: expensive fax machines (?!), with attached corded handset – in 2026.
Re: Amazon seller reveals glimpse of shadow bribery market
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
This has pushed me to high levels of brand loyalty with direct ordering from the brands I like and trust, plus a lot of buying used… also mostly products from a handful of trusted brands (this is largely clothes, nearly all of which I buy used except socks, underwear, and most sweaters)
To bad that the actual buying experience (once you have selected what to buy) is still so much better with Amazon. * One cart for everything you need to order * Fairly predictable shipping and tracking, especially for FBA stuff vs. the random shipping companies vs random shippers you have never heard about or weird shipping options selected by the seller (i.e. ID checks required where that makes no sense at all, prev…
Of course, I'm still using Apple Pay, so that may not work for everyone.
Re: Amazon seller reveals glimpse of shadow bribery market
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
Thermoworks (which makes excellent thermometers) no longer sells on Amazon b/c there were too many counterfeits/people selling broken items etc. You can now only order from their website which I am more than happy to do as their customer service is excellent. https://www.thermoworks.com
https://www.amazon.com/stores/ThermoWorks actually... they gave up a while ago and have an amazon store.. it's been a few years IIRC
Re: Amazon seller reveals glimpse of shadow bribery market
#96Still use Amazon for certain items because of fast delivery but the site is a complete mess. At some point Amazon leadership failed to understand that there’s a lot more to a good customer experience than “selection size.” If I search for X I’d vastly prefer a few simple options that aren’t counterfeit or junk vs here’s 150 variants of your thing, most of which are junk but hey look at the size of our selection!
AI chat interface works where search does not. Not perfect, but much better, and allows more specific, accurate filtering.
Re: Amazon seller reveals glimpse of shadow bribery market
#97I tend to find ebay less shady than Amazon these days, which is a bit disapointing really.
Ebay would be a lot more fun to use if a) You could search for keywords without also matching keywords that have your keyword as a sub-string b) "Sort by lowest price including shipping" actually did what it says As it is you often have to wade through tons of undesired crap to get to what you want. I also don't like that eBay sellers can see that you viewed their product and send you price offers. Oh and let's not f…
Re: Amazon seller reveals glimpse of shadow bribery market
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
https://www.amazon.com/stores/ThermoWorks actually... they gave up a while ago and have an amazon store.. it's been a few years IIRC
That is a 404 for me, in the US.
Re: Amazon seller reveals glimpse of shadow bribery market
#99Earlier quoted context omitted.
This has pushed me to high levels of brand loyalty with direct ordering from the brands I like and trust, plus a lot of buying used… also mostly products from a handful of trusted brands (this is largely clothes, nearly all of which I buy used except socks, underwear, and most sweaters)
To bad that the actual buying experience (once you have selected what to buy) is still so much better with Amazon. * One cart for everything you need to order * Fairly predictable shipping and tracking, especially for FBA stuff vs. the random shipping companies vs random shippers you have never heard about or weird shipping options selected by the seller (i.e. ID checks required where that makes no sense at all, prev…
The return experience is great, because it has to be. You buy so much crap because of drop-shippers and their search is atrocious due to paid placement.
If you know what you want (a Thermoscan was one of my last purchases), it can be cheaper to go elsewhere, you don’t deal with their search “engine”, and you don’t help Bezos buy the next election. My context is European, but I really don’t agree that Amazon is that great anymore.
There’s plenty of stuff I find cheaper in other places, plus I’ll know it’s authentic and not a drop-shipped counterfeit. Amazon was tremendous once, but that’s gone.
Re: Amazon seller reveals glimpse of shadow bribery market
#100Amazon, Walmart, Etsy... my kingdom for a marketplace that doesn't become just a dumping ground for shady fly-by-night dropshippers.
Don't allow 3rd party sellers?