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This is creating an edge in the market where independent merchants and services can operate and their independence is their virtue. For an example, Google has

This is creating an edge in the market where independent merchants and services can operate and their independence is their virtue. For an example, Google has Chromecast/YouTube, Amazon has Amazon Fire/Prime Video, and they're less and less interoperable year upon year. This war creates an edge that Roku can squeeze into, which has support for every major vendor except Apple. I find myself using Target and Walmart's websites more than ever before, not due to some moralistic protest, but simply because they're now more competitive and have products Amazon don't stock (like Google Home Mini for one example). I find it interesting from a business perspective that Amazon chooses to push out competition, whereas most major retailers stock both own brand and branded products side by side, and profit no matter what the consumer selects. I wonder when Alibaba US and EU will open. If Alibaba will sell anything and Amazon is protectionist, I can see that being Alibaba's edge.

908087 9y ago
You're also probably a lot more likely to receive products that aren't counterfeit when ordering from Target/etc. I've pretty much completely stopped using Amazon for that reason. It's just not worth the risk.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- chibg10 9y ago
  I see this come up fairly often, and it baffles me each time. I've probably spent an average of $50+/week on Amazon for the past several years and have never once received a counterfeit item. What items are people buying that are so frequently counterfeit?
  - ocdtrekkie 9y ago
    I honestly couldn't speak to whether or not many of the items I've bought on Amazon are counterfeit. The example I saw in the article recently was a headphone anchor, and they had copied the packaging. I couldn't tell you, if I bought a headphone anchor, if the packaging looked like crud because it was counterfeit, or because the vendor who made it used cheapy packaging. Could you have bought counterfeit products that work "well enough", and you didn't know it? I do generally just buy whatever's the cheapest price, and rarely look to see if the brand and seller name are the same (or if there's a seller with the same name as the brand). I'm kinda interested in paying more attention going forward though, so we'll see.
  - jsjohnst 9y ago
    > What items are people buying that are so frequently counterfeit? This is exactly my question too. > I've probably spent an average of $50+/week on Amazon for the past several years and have never once received a counterfeit item. I’ve been averaging >$2k/month for about ten years (combined personal and business purchases) and have never had a counterfeit product, even in categories that others claim have rampant counterfeits.
    - macNchz 9y ago
      It’s a bit scattered, but I’ve seen lots of small consumer electronics (headphones, chargers etc) that are clearly counterfeits. For example this charger is almost certainly fake: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071FZ9XP2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_rEcNAbG0C2SEM https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071FZ9XP2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_rEcN...
ethiclub 9y ago
It feels almost time to start referring to partnerships rather than companies. How long before (presuming legislation continues to lag) we have Apple-Fedex-Disney Amazon-Ford-Spotify Google-DHL-Sonos
- mkempe 9y ago
  At the moment Sonos works with Amazon's Alexa, not the other voice cylinders.
  - mkempe 9y ago
    The above comment has been down-voted (!?) despite being factual, according to Sonos themselves! - Sonos and Alexa integration is available as a beta version. - "Google Home Smart Assistant doesn’t work with your Sonos system natively" ("The Google Assistant will be supported on Sonos One in 2018") [1] - Sonos has not yet released their implementation of AirPlay 2 which is what Apple's HomePod ecosystem will be relying on. Apparently Apple themselves are not quite ready with AirPlay 2. [1] https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4251/~/google-home-and-sonos https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4251/~/go...
    - Pfhreak 9y ago
      You misunderstood the intent of the parent post. It's not to illustrate which companies are partnering, but to demonstrate the type of partnering we might be likely to see. You are missing the broader commentary, and only commenting on the immaterial, specific example they provided.
      - doorbumper 9y ago
        That's a well and fine point. However, by being unclear there is no indication that those companies are not partnering. That could be construed as propagating false rumors. It's not just the intent that is important, but how people are likely to perceive it.
Eridrus 9y ago
If this becomes a wider thing I could see Roku having more of an edge, as it is though it's basically Amazon who has beef with everyone. I'm pretty happy with my Chromecast despite not having Amazon Prime Video.
- helthanatos 9y ago
  If you bought a shield tv, you could have Amazon prime video. They're pretty nice. I'm kind of disappointed in the new model, though. It's nice having a fully functional Android device that can gamestream, use apps that aren't made for tv with the gamepad, and stream video.
ProAm 9y ago
Amazon should be split up soon. Im a believer this is why Alphabet was formed.
- helthanatos 9y ago
  I don't know what the internal structure of Amazon looks like, but having more management for different sectors is certainly good.
janesvilleseo 9y ago
When all the stores price match I have no reason to shop online unless I can’t find it in store. Amazon app is used almost exclusively to price match on my phone. Saved $1000’s
- dpark 9y ago
  I’ll pay more to not drive to a brick and mortar at this point. I don’t want to get in my car and go to Best Buy or Target or whatever and hope they’re stocking what I want, when I know I can get it in two days from Amazon or another online retailer. I’ve been bitten by that too many times. I sometimes miss browsing in person, but I don’t miss wasting my time.
  - megaman22 9y ago
    My favorite thing lately is how Lowes and Home Depot will let you look up items on their website, see how many are in stock, and, most importantly, what aisle and bay that item is in. It's usually correct, too. I'm not going to buy those kinds of items sight unseen (go check out lumber at these places... I've gone through half a lift of pine boards to get a half dozen that are straight enough to use... And even more regular hardware, I want to put my tape on it first). But it's a struggle to find just where slightly oddball stuff might be located, if you don't know, and chances are you won't encounter somebody on staff that knows whst you're asking for and where it is in these gargantuan places.
    - dpark 9y ago
      I have taken advantage of the aisle/bay info with Home Depot. It is quite nice for things I couldn’t otherwise find. It’s not always correct but it’s helpful. Home centers actually stock things that are hard to buy online efficiently, too. e.g. You cannot buy a large metal rolling tool chest on Amazon at a reasonable price. Husky wins that battle definitively.
  - new_acct_ 9y ago
    Is this submarine advertising? Every major retailer has a listing of in stock items, per store, and will do same day pickup.
empath75 9y ago
I sometimes think that amazon should spin off the retail business as a separate entity from aws and consumer electronics companies.
- toomuchtodo 9y ago
  None of the other businesses survive without AWS profits propping they up.
thaumasiotes 9y ago
> I wonder when Alibaba US and EU will open. Already open. https://www.aliexpress.com/ https://www.aliexpress.com/

908087 9y ago

You're also probably a lot more likely to receive products that aren't counterfeit when ordering from Target/etc. I've pretty much completely stopped using Amazon for that reason. It's just not worth the risk.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
chibg10 9y ago
I see this come up fairly often, and it baffles me each time. I've probably spent an average of $50+/week on Amazon for the past several years and have never once received a counterfeit item. What items are people buying that are so frequently counterfeit?
- ocdtrekkie 9y ago
  I honestly couldn't speak to whether or not many of the items I've bought on Amazon are counterfeit. The example I saw in the article recently was a headphone anchor, and they had copied the packaging. I couldn't tell you, if I bought a headphone anchor, if the packaging looked like crud because it was counterfeit, or because the vendor who made it used cheapy packaging. Could you have bought counterfeit products that work "well enough", and you didn't know it? I do generally just buy whatever's the cheapest price, and rarely look to see if the brand and seller name are the same (or if there's a seller with the same name as the brand). I'm kinda interested in paying more attention going forward though, so we'll see.
- jsjohnst 9y ago
  > What items are people buying that are so frequently counterfeit? This is exactly my question too. > I've probably spent an average of $50+/week on Amazon for the past several years and have never once received a counterfeit item. I’ve been averaging >$2k/month for about ten years (combined personal and business purchases) and have never had a counterfeit product, even in categories that others claim have rampant counterfeits.
  - macNchz 9y ago
    It’s a bit scattered, but I’ve seen lots of small consumer electronics (headphones, chargers etc) that are clearly counterfeits. For example this charger is almost certainly fake: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071FZ9XP2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_rEcNAbG0C2SEM https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071FZ9XP2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_rEcN...

ethiclub 9y ago

It feels almost time to start referring to partnerships rather than companies. How long before (presuming legislation continues to lag) we have Apple-Fedex-Disney Amazon-Ford-Spotify Google-DHL-Sonos

mkempe 9y ago
At the moment Sonos works with Amazon's Alexa, not the other voice cylinders.
- mkempe 9y ago
  The above comment has been down-voted (!?) despite being factual, according to Sonos themselves! - Sonos and Alexa integration is available as a beta version. - "Google Home Smart Assistant doesn’t work with your Sonos system natively" ("The Google Assistant will be supported on Sonos One in 2018") [1] - Sonos has not yet released their implementation of AirPlay 2 which is what Apple's HomePod ecosystem will be relying on. Apparently Apple themselves are not quite ready with AirPlay 2. [1] https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4251/~/google-home-and-sonos https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4251/~/go...
  - Pfhreak 9y ago
    You misunderstood the intent of the parent post. It's not to illustrate which companies are partnering, but to demonstrate the type of partnering we might be likely to see. You are missing the broader commentary, and only commenting on the immaterial, specific example they provided.
    - doorbumper 9y ago
      That's a well and fine point. However, by being unclear there is no indication that those companies are not partnering. That could be construed as propagating false rumors. It's not just the intent that is important, but how people are likely to perceive it.

Eridrus 9y ago

If this becomes a wider thing I could see Roku having more of an edge, as it is though it's basically Amazon who has beef with everyone. I'm pretty happy with my Chromecast despite not having Amazon Prime Video.

helthanatos 9y ago
If you bought a shield tv, you could have Amazon prime video. They're pretty nice. I'm kind of disappointed in the new model, though. It's nice having a fully functional Android device that can gamestream, use apps that aren't made for tv with the gamepad, and stream video.

ProAm 9y ago

Amazon should be split up soon. Im a believer this is why Alphabet was formed.

helthanatos 9y ago
I don't know what the internal structure of Amazon looks like, but having more management for different sectors is certainly good.

janesvilleseo 9y ago

When all the stores price match I have no reason to shop online unless I can’t find it in store. Amazon app is used almost exclusively to price match on my phone. Saved $1000’s

dpark 9y ago
I’ll pay more to not drive to a brick and mortar at this point. I don’t want to get in my car and go to Best Buy or Target or whatever and hope they’re stocking what I want, when I know I can get it in two days from Amazon or another online retailer. I’ve been bitten by that too many times. I sometimes miss browsing in person, but I don’t miss wasting my time.
- megaman22 9y ago
  My favorite thing lately is how Lowes and Home Depot will let you look up items on their website, see how many are in stock, and, most importantly, what aisle and bay that item is in. It's usually correct, too. I'm not going to buy those kinds of items sight unseen (go check out lumber at these places... I've gone through half a lift of pine boards to get a half dozen that are straight enough to use... And even more regular hardware, I want to put my tape on it first). But it's a struggle to find just where slightly oddball stuff might be located, if you don't know, and chances are you won't encounter somebody on staff that knows whst you're asking for and where it is in these gargantuan places.
  - dpark 9y ago
    I have taken advantage of the aisle/bay info with Home Depot. It is quite nice for things I couldn’t otherwise find. It’s not always correct but it’s helpful. Home centers actually stock things that are hard to buy online efficiently, too. e.g. You cannot buy a large metal rolling tool chest on Amazon at a reasonable price. Husky wins that battle definitively.
- new_acct_ 9y ago
  Is this submarine advertising? Every major retailer has a listing of in stock items, per store, and will do same day pickup.

empath75 9y ago

I sometimes think that amazon should spin off the retail business as a separate entity from aws and consumer electronics companies.

toomuchtodo 9y ago
None of the other businesses survive without AWS profits propping they up.

thaumasiotes 9y ago

> I wonder when Alibaba US and EU will open. Already open. https://www.aliexpress.com/ https://www.aliexpress.com/