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Anecdotally, I've started using Amazon FBA for things that I used to use eBay for. Say I want a 2.2" ILI9341-driven TFT screen. That's not exactly something th
by leggomylibro 9y ago
Anecdotally, I've started using Amazon FBA for things that I used to use eBay for.
Say I want a 2.2" ILI9341-driven TFT screen. That's not exactly something that you need everyday, so I could go to AliExpress/Taobao and get N for $3 ea in ~3 weeks, or eBay to get one for $4-5 in a lottery of anywhere from 3 days to 2 months. But now, I can get one from Amazon for $10 tomorrow.
It has prime shipping, which means you gotta figure they use the whole 'Fulfilled By Amazon' thing; I think that's like $3 a pop for small items. Heck, I was thinking of trying to make some money off of that kind of arbitrage, but it wouldn't be stable income since it's so dependent on a single 3rd-party company. Also, you'd literally be profiting off of China's sweatshop factories and lack of compunction around IP, which I feel sort of 'eh' about. At least using the things, you can argue there might be an end to justify the mildly shady means.
And it's just as likely to work as one from those other sources. If I wanted ethically-sourced reliable hardware I'd pay like $40 to get one with fast shipping from Adafruit. I really appreciate all that they do, but I also can't afford to ignore price for every purchasing decision that I make - and I am definitely not alone there, so there's probably still a lot of benefit to being "the everything store."
- ryandrake 9y agoInteresting--I've found myself switching the other way recently. I used to do a lot of purchasing on Amazon, but have moved more and more over to eBay. Prices tend to be better there, even on new items. No sales tax. Most sellers now offer free shipping, and you don't have to fill your cart to $50 or whatever it is to get it, and that free shipping isn't the "carried on the back of a mule" speed like Amazon's.
- sokoloff 9y agoMe too. I still buy a fair bit from Amazon, but a lot of my purchasing has moved to Ebay and Aliexpress. It used to be the case that Amazon was very rarely significantly undersold. Starting ~3 years ago, I started to find that Amazon was somewhat frequently undersold by enough that I was willing to wait for Ebay or Ali (or camelcamelcamel to email me an Amazon price drop). I think Amazon's current positioning is more profitable for them and makes me happy as an investor in AMZN, but as a consumer, it makes me Google shop more often than before.
- leggomylibro 9y agoI can definitely see that; if you didn't have prime shipping, and more importantly imo, didn't live in a huge city where tons of items are deliverable to a plethora of nearby 'lockers' with 24-48-hour delivery. That probably has a lot to do with it, along with my experience that ebay is still pretty 'back of the mule' with shipping electronics internationally. Sometimes it's fast, but usually I forget I ordered something before it arrives. But I do also order larger quantities of things from China, when I can plan ahead. I go to Amazon when I can't plan ahead, and more frequently these days, to get a working reference implementation up and running before I start running around making a BOM for a prototype. It's amazing how much time and money that can save you.
- vidarh 9y agoIn London a bunch of stuff with Prime is now available for same day delivery. Order before 10 or noon, or something, and get it in the evening. It has a massive impact on buying decisions, and I probably overpay quite a lot for a lot of things.