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This unfortunately matches my experiences shopping for conditioner, toilet paper toothbrushes, toothpaste etc. on Amazon. Someone on HN at some point made a we

This unfortunately matches my experiences shopping for conditioner, toilet paper toothbrushes, toothpaste etc. on Amazon. Someone on HN at some point made a web site that used to list the cheapest items in some common categories by unit price. It was called papersomethingorother, but I un-bookmarked it because it went down awhile back. And it gets even worse when you find the typical retailer game where you list unit price for the same product in two different units (price per ounce for one size, and per gallon for another) so now have fun doing unit conversions too. It's all just a complete mess.

Symbiote 9y ago
Why would you buy this stuff from Amazon? I can go to any of about four supermarkets between home and work, or two personal care stores, to buy toothbrushes, toothpaste, conditioner etc. The shops have chosen between three and ten or so lines from several manufacturers, depending which one I chose, and all the products are legitimate and meet the required quality and safety regulations. Searching online seems much harder than looking on a shelf and picking one. (You may have fewer shops close by, but presumably there's at least one shop selling these goods.)
- acuozzo 9y ago
  > Why would you buy this stuff from Amazon? You can purchase products in larger sizes for lower $/[unit] and in many circumstances set them to be automatically purchased and shipped on a periodic basis for even greater savings all from the comfort of your couch. You can additionally get 5% back on top of all of this if you use an Amazon Prime credit card and pay it off monthly. The savings add up over time and it also results in a cart that is considerably less full during the weekly grocery shopping trip. Paper towels eat up a great amount of the volume in a standard US grocery store shopping cart. The easiest way to avoid the pain many users experience is to exclusively purchase products shipped and sold by Amazon and to make use of third party sellers only when necessary.
  - cdubzzz 9y ago
    My specific example (from the article) seems to counter some of what you suggest, though. E.g. - - Of the 37 sizes, only three are available for subscription. - Even the 5% subscription discount is not the best deal. - The lower $/unit on larger quantities does not consistently hold true. I was unaware of the additional 5% back on the Amazon Prime card, but I'm not sure that should really factor in here. My AmEx, for example, gives 6% cash back at grocery stores and I'm sure other cards have comparable offers. Also, Amazon Prime, like my AmEx card, has a yearly fee that will eat away at some of those additional savings. If we accept that the amount of choice Amazon.com provides is a good thing (and I think it is), does the subscription model not defeat that advantage? I think it does, at least to some degree. Since the 15% discount subscription price is the best deal (on Amazon.com), why even have the other 36 "sizes"? What you suggest as the "easiest way to avoid pain" is precisely what I fear - that Amazon.com may eventually become "shopping".

Symbiote 9y ago

Why would you buy this stuff from Amazon? I can go to any of about four supermarkets between home and work, or two personal care stores, to buy toothbrushes, toothpaste, conditioner etc. The shops have chosen between three and ten or so lines from several manufacturers, depending which one I chose, and all the products are legitimate and meet the required quality and safety regulations. Searching online seems much harder than looking on a shelf and picking one. (You may have fewer shops close by, but presumably there's at least one shop selling these goods.)

acuozzo 9y ago
> Why would you buy this stuff from Amazon? You can purchase products in larger sizes for lower $/[unit] and in many circumstances set them to be automatically purchased and shipped on a periodic basis for even greater savings all from the comfort of your couch. You can additionally get 5% back on top of all of this if you use an Amazon Prime credit card and pay it off monthly. The savings add up over time and it also results in a cart that is considerably less full during the weekly grocery shopping trip. Paper towels eat up a great amount of the volume in a standard US grocery store shopping cart. The easiest way to avoid the pain many users experience is to exclusively purchase products shipped and sold by Amazon and to make use of third party sellers only when necessary.
- cdubzzz 9y ago
  My specific example (from the article) seems to counter some of what you suggest, though. E.g. - - Of the 37 sizes, only three are available for subscription. - Even the 5% subscription discount is not the best deal. - The lower $/unit on larger quantities does not consistently hold true. I was unaware of the additional 5% back on the Amazon Prime card, but I'm not sure that should really factor in here. My AmEx, for example, gives 6% cash back at grocery stores and I'm sure other cards have comparable offers. Also, Amazon Prime, like my AmEx card, has a yearly fee that will eat away at some of those additional savings. If we accept that the amount of choice Amazon.com provides is a good thing (and I think it is), does the subscription model not defeat that advantage? I think it does, at least to some degree. Since the 15% discount subscription price is the best deal (on Amazon.com), why even have the other 36 "sizes"? What you suggest as the "easiest way to avoid pain" is precisely what I fear - that Amazon.com may eventually become "shopping".