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Over and over again I've realized just before or after buying an item from Amazon that I paid way too much. I have finally broken the ingrained habit of leaping

Over and over again I've realized just before or after buying an item from Amazon that I paid way too much. I have finally broken the ingrained habit of leaping before looking. That can't be good for Amazon if too many people do that. On another note, I am beyond tired of the craptacular deals that are >80% fly-by-night products with astroturf reviews. The gold box deals used to be a favorite bookmarked stop.

kylehotchkiss 9y ago
Gold box (and so much of prime day) seemed like warehouse spring cleaning days.
- cobookman 9y ago
  It actually reminded me of woot.com before they were bought by Amazon.
  - Faith_ 9y ago
    I just got paid $6784 working off my laptop this month. And if you think that's cool, my divorced friend has twin toddlers and made over $9k her first month. It feels so good making so much money when other people have to work for so much less. This is what I do, ===http://www.millionaireprofit.cf/ http://www.millionaireprofit.cf/
SwellJoe 9y ago
This is another big one. Amazon is filled with garbage products. It can be very hard to tell what's quality, anymore, and the reviews aren't trustworthy the way they used to be. I used to read reviews on Amazon religiously even if I was buying somewhere else. That habit has kinda faded, though it's still one of the better sources of real world product knowledge.
- Fej 9y ago
  The bad reviews are useful. The positive ones are almost universally worthless (excluding Benson's).
  - barking 9y ago
    Except that bad reviews are sometimes put there by competitors
  - Sleeep 9y ago
    Bad reviews are AstroTurfed just like positive ones.
- neverminder 9y ago
  > and the reviews aren't trustworthy the way they used to be You can say that again. I recently bought a kitchen knife with Amazon Prime that had ~100 reviews, an average of 5 stars. It cost £33, so wasn't particularly cheap. Just after I bought it the seller sent me one of those nagging emails asking for a review which I ignored. A week after they sent me another email, a copy of the first one. By the time I've already used the knife and found out it wasn't very sharp (my >5 year old knife of a different brand was still sharper), so I thought "be careful what you ask for, 'cause you may get it" and gave them an honest 3 star review. Not even 2 hours later I get an email from their rep apologizing for a "faulty item" and offering either send me another one or issue a refund and I can keep the knife in both cases. I realized what was the catch, but opted for a refund and removed my review when they asked me on the next email (obviously). So now this knife is still sold on Amazon, with 100 reviews and counting, only one 4 star review and the rest of them 5 stars.
  - nothrabannosir 9y ago
    Why didn't you leave the review?
    - barking 9y ago
      Probably the best thing would be to edit or replace it and then in addition to the criticisms, mention how they were very proactive about replacing/refunding for the item
  - ikurei 9y ago
    So you just helped continue the fraud? Things aren't gonna improve by complaining on HN.
    - neverminder 9y ago
      There's no point in debating the moral issues when our world is anything but. It's like condemning engineers for enabling governments and corporations to spy on us and constantly erode our privacy. In this particular situation the interaction was between me and the seller. Reviews are written, edited, removed by a person that owes nothing to other potential customers.
- jacobolus 9y ago
  I’ve mostly stopped buying new books directly from Amazon because they sometimes seem to send crappy quality printed-on-demand copies, and I have no easy way of predicting if I’ll get one of those beforehand. (Sadly much of the book industry is moving this direction even if you buy directly. For example, the past few years of Springer math books are all terrible printing quality.) I’m mad that they now hide book reviews that aren’t from “verified purchasers” unless you spend several clicks hunting for them. It’s really unfortunate that there’s no independent page for book reviews with a big enough community to be remotely comprehensive.
threatofrain 9y ago
But where do you look? Everywhere else is ad-hoc market places that you'd have to know about, such as Newegg for tech. But what's the Newegg of other stuff?
- bluGill 9y ago
  I've had good luck just googling (now duck duck go) the part I needed. There are thousands of tiny specialty suppliers and most provide value beyond the gadget I need. nailgunsdirect.com had the odd sized nails I needed for a project that were not stocked locally, they also have buyers guides which helped me decide a interesting new nailgun wasn't right for me. toolpartsdirect.com had the switch I needed for my drill, and a wiring diagram so I knew how to hook it up. Racketballworld.com had shoes in my size, and a lot of advice to step up my game. Those are just a few of places I've ordered from - there are many others that that I each which instead of selling everything and making me choose based on reviews only stocks quality products so I cannot go wrong.
  - freehunter 9y ago
    The reason I shop on Amazon is so I don't have to give shady vendors any of my personal information. I'm willing to pay a few bucks extra for the security that Amazon afford, as long as I'm getting genuine merchandise. Which I can't be guaranteed at Nail Gun Depot either.
    - bluGill 9y ago
      You seem to be suggesting amazon is more likely to give you genuine merchandise. This doesn't fit with what I've been seeing lately where people complain about counterfeit merchandise all the time. I find when going to small sites there are lots of signs that they are not shady: they generate own reviews and advice that is more than marketing. A little poking around will tell a lot. And of course I buy with a credit card so I'm protected against loss in the worst case.
      - freehunter 9y ago

kylehotchkiss 9y ago

Gold box (and so much of prime day) seemed like warehouse spring cleaning days.

cobookman 9y ago
It actually reminded me of woot.com before they were bought by Amazon.
- Faith_ 9y ago
  I just got paid $6784 working off my laptop this month. And if you think that's cool, my divorced friend has twin toddlers and made over $9k her first month. It feels so good making so much money when other people have to work for so much less. This is what I do, ===http://www.millionaireprofit.cf/ http://www.millionaireprofit.cf/

SwellJoe 9y ago

This is another big one. Amazon is filled with garbage products. It can be very hard to tell what's quality, anymore, and the reviews aren't trustworthy the way they used to be. I used to read reviews on Amazon religiously even if I was buying somewhere else. That habit has kinda faded, though it's still one of the better sources of real world product knowledge.

Fej 9y ago
The bad reviews are useful. The positive ones are almost universally worthless (excluding Benson's).
- barking 9y ago
  Except that bad reviews are sometimes put there by competitors
- Sleeep 9y ago
  Bad reviews are AstroTurfed just like positive ones.
neverminder 9y ago
> and the reviews aren't trustworthy the way they used to be You can say that again. I recently bought a kitchen knife with Amazon Prime that had ~100 reviews, an average of 5 stars. It cost £33, so wasn't particularly cheap. Just after I bought it the seller sent me one of those nagging emails asking for a review which I ignored. A week after they sent me another email, a copy of the first one. By the time I've already used the knife and found out it wasn't very sharp (my >5 year old knife of a different brand was still sharper), so I thought "be careful what you ask for, 'cause you may get it" and gave them an honest 3 star review. Not even 2 hours later I get an email from their rep apologizing for a "faulty item" and offering either send me another one or issue a refund and I can keep the knife in both cases. I realized what was the catch, but opted for a refund and removed my review when they asked me on the next email (obviously). So now this knife is still sold on Amazon, with 100 reviews and counting, only one 4 star review and the rest of them 5 stars.
- nothrabannosir 9y ago
  Why didn't you leave the review?
  - barking 9y ago
    Probably the best thing would be to edit or replace it and then in addition to the criticisms, mention how they were very proactive about replacing/refunding for the item
- ikurei 9y ago
  So you just helped continue the fraud? Things aren't gonna improve by complaining on HN.
  - neverminder 9y ago
    There's no point in debating the moral issues when our world is anything but. It's like condemning engineers for enabling governments and corporations to spy on us and constantly erode our privacy. In this particular situation the interaction was between me and the seller. Reviews are written, edited, removed by a person that owes nothing to other potential customers.
jacobolus 9y ago
I’ve mostly stopped buying new books directly from Amazon because they sometimes seem to send crappy quality printed-on-demand copies, and I have no easy way of predicting if I’ll get one of those beforehand. (Sadly much of the book industry is moving this direction even if you buy directly. For example, the past few years of Springer math books are all terrible printing quality.) I’m mad that they now hide book reviews that aren’t from “verified purchasers” unless you spend several clicks hunting for them. It’s really unfortunate that there’s no independent page for book reviews with a big enough community to be remotely comprehensive.

threatofrain 9y ago

But where do you look? Everywhere else is ad-hoc market places that you'd have to know about, such as Newegg for tech. But what's the Newegg of other stuff?

bluGill 9y ago
I've had good luck just googling (now duck duck go) the part I needed. There are thousands of tiny specialty suppliers and most provide value beyond the gadget I need. nailgunsdirect.com had the odd sized nails I needed for a project that were not stocked locally, they also have buyers guides which helped me decide a interesting new nailgun wasn't right for me. toolpartsdirect.com had the switch I needed for my drill, and a wiring diagram so I knew how to hook it up. Racketballworld.com had shoes in my size, and a lot of advice to step up my game. Those are just a few of places I've ordered from - there are many others that that I each which instead of selling everything and making me choose based on reviews only stocks quality products so I cannot go wrong.
- freehunter 9y ago
  The reason I shop on Amazon is so I don't have to give shady vendors any of my personal information. I'm willing to pay a few bucks extra for the security that Amazon afford, as long as I'm getting genuine merchandise. Which I can't be guaranteed at Nail Gun Depot either.
  - bluGill 9y ago
    You seem to be suggesting amazon is more likely to give you genuine merchandise. This doesn't fit with what I've been seeing lately where people complain about counterfeit merchandise all the time. I find when going to small sites there are lots of signs that they are not shady: they generate own reviews and advice that is more than marketing. A little poking around will tell a lot. And of course I buy with a credit card so I'm protected against loss in the worst case.
    - freehunter 9y ago