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Really the question is are they doing enough to stop it? The National Park Service, at least, put up guide wires and a warning sign on dangerous trails.

XalvinX 8y ago
Umm...not true. There is no rail on the edge of Half Dome..you can literally hang your feet off the edge, as I have done....and it was pretty cool.
- lisper 8y ago
  At least on Half Dome it is hard to miss the fact that you are approaching the edge, and that this entails risk. Amazon is deliberately obscuring the risks by making it appear that products are vetted and/or endorsed, either by them or by customers, when in fact they are not. Even the review system, which you praised in your OP, is easily gamed.
  - XalvinX 8y ago
    A "FOAF" of mine tried to game the review system with a fairly intricate level of seperation and was busted for it... From just this experience (and from reading some stuff related to it on forums for independent authors trying to gain a foothold and get their name out there) I feel that Amazon is trying, and the "word on the street" is that they are increasing their efforts all the time. It will never be perfect though, and that's my point. You have to face facts...there is no way Amazon (or EBay or anyone else) can possibly look at every item being sold on their massive platform. Buyer beware.
    - lisper 8y ago
      > there is no way Amazon (or EBay or anyone else) can possibly look at every item being sold on their massive platform Amazon and Ebay are not comparable. What you say is true for Ebay, but not for Amazon. Amazon could vet its offerings just like every other retailer throughout history has done (that is, in fact, a big reason why retailers exist in the first place). The reason they don't is not because they can't but because it's too expensive. Their strategy is very deliberately to remove this piece of value that retailers normally add and hope nobody notices. It's working. :-(
GCA10 8y ago
Actually, when I was hiking in Zion a while back, the rangers said that putting up guide wires can lead to more bad outcomes, because people stop paying attention and assume that they're in a setting as safe as the sidewalks in a sleepy suburb. So the original analogies that got this thread going may be on target after all. It's a turbulent world out there, and we've all got to watch ourselves. I will say that Amazon's clothing offerings, especially in the "fulfilled by Amazon" sector, are turning out to be too dodgy for my tastes. Belts in particular are mis-sized in ways that even the reviews can't keep up with. Sometimes they're too long; sometimes they're too short; seldom do they fit. Amazon does have an emerging quality problem, especially in low-ticket electronics. If they're watching pure P&L metrics, the return rate and associated costs may look tolerable in a period of rapid sales growth. Not sure how much Amazon is tracking the fall-off in business from customers who had a bad experience. If we sputter a lot but keep buying, then the metrics won't really show a problem that needs correcting, will they?

XalvinX 8y ago

Umm...not true. There is no rail on the edge of Half Dome..you can literally hang your feet off the edge, as I have done....and it was pretty cool.

lisper 8y ago
At least on Half Dome it is hard to miss the fact that you are approaching the edge, and that this entails risk. Amazon is deliberately obscuring the risks by making it appear that products are vetted and/or endorsed, either by them or by customers, when in fact they are not. Even the review system, which you praised in your OP, is easily gamed.
- XalvinX 8y ago
  A "FOAF" of mine tried to game the review system with a fairly intricate level of seperation and was busted for it... From just this experience (and from reading some stuff related to it on forums for independent authors trying to gain a foothold and get their name out there) I feel that Amazon is trying, and the "word on the street" is that they are increasing their efforts all the time. It will never be perfect though, and that's my point. You have to face facts...there is no way Amazon (or EBay or anyone else) can possibly look at every item being sold on their massive platform. Buyer beware.
  - lisper 8y ago
    > there is no way Amazon (or EBay or anyone else) can possibly look at every item being sold on their massive platform Amazon and Ebay are not comparable. What you say is true for Ebay, but not for Amazon. Amazon could vet its offerings just like every other retailer throughout history has done (that is, in fact, a big reason why retailers exist in the first place). The reason they don't is not because they can't but because it's too expensive. Their strategy is very deliberately to remove this piece of value that retailers normally add and hope nobody notices. It's working. :-(

GCA10 8y ago

Actually, when I was hiking in Zion a while back, the rangers said that putting up guide wires can lead to more bad outcomes, because people stop paying attention and assume that they're in a setting as safe as the sidewalks in a sleepy suburb. So the original analogies that got this thread going may be on target after all. It's a turbulent world out there, and we've all got to watch ourselves. I will say that Amazon's clothing offerings, especially in the "fulfilled by Amazon" sector, are turning out to be too dodgy for my tastes. Belts in particular are mis-sized in ways that even the reviews can't keep up with. Sometimes they're too long; sometimes they're too short; seldom do they fit. Amazon does have an emerging quality problem, especially in low-ticket electronics. If they're watching pure P&L metrics, the return rate and associated costs may look tolerable in a period of rapid sales growth. Not sure how much Amazon is tracking the fall-off in business from customers who had a bad experience. If we sputter a lot but keep buying, then the metrics won't really show a problem that needs correcting, will they?