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> Either the consumer is savvy and spent the requisite time considering their purchase, or they haven't. Retailers will always attempt to capitalize on this. A

by 394549 8y ago

> Either the consumer is savvy and spent the requisite time considering their purchase, or they haven't. Retailers will always attempt to capitalize on this. And the news media will always try to educate the unsavvy consumers; especially if it's an easy story to tell, like this one. A lot of people, formed their impression of Amazon when it pretty much always offered a good deal (and didn't collect sales tax in the US). Many of them are still coasting on that impression, and shopping exclusively at Amazon in many categories under that outdated assumption. I'm not a natural comparison shopping, so it took me a long time to figure out I can no longer I'm getting a good deal at Amazon anymore. I'm glad the BBC is reminding people to question their outdated decision-making assumptions.

xingped 8y ago
It's not necessarily that "getting a good deal" is the reason that people shop at Amazon. Personally I think their customer service is pretty top-notch compared to most anywhere else and I know I'll be in good hands 99% of the time if I have any problems with a product. That's worth any minuscule price-disadvantage compared to competitors to me.
- frockington 8y ago
  If you get a fake product they will deny any wrong doing even with photographic evidence of said fake product
  - stordoff 8y ago
    FWIW I've never had this experience, and either way it's a non-issue in the UK, because you can return items for any reason.
    - frockington 8y ago
      You can return in the US as well but it's annoying that they won't accept responsibility for failures
- 394549 8y ago
  > It's not necessarily that "getting a good deal" is the reason that people shop at Amazon. Personally I think their customer service is pretty top-notch compared to most anywhere else and I know I'll be in good hands 99% of the time if I have any problems with a product. Personally, I've had pretty good product return experiences with Amazon's brick and mortar competitors recently. They know they're competing with Amazon, and they're trying to adjust accordingly. My main point was that Amazon and the rest of the retail landscape has changed, and if you formed your view that heavily favors Amazon 10+ years ago, it's probably outdated and should be recalibrated. I shopped almost exclusively on Amazon for a long time. I've been pulling back from it and have been finding that my old, harsh judgements of its competitors are no longer true. They've gone a long way towards catching up, and Amazon has been resting on its laurels or even regressing in the areas I care about. > That's worth any minuscule price-disadvantage compared to competitors to me. It's wrong to assume the price-disadvantage is minuscule, especially when you're dealing with marketplace sellers.

by 394549 8y ago

xingped 8y ago

It's not necessarily that "getting a good deal" is the reason that people shop at Amazon. Personally I think their customer service is pretty top-notch compared to most anywhere else and I know I'll be in good hands 99% of the time if I have any problems with a product. That's worth any minuscule price-disadvantage compared to competitors to me.

frockington 8y ago
If you get a fake product they will deny any wrong doing even with photographic evidence of said fake product
- stordoff 8y ago
  FWIW I've never had this experience, and either way it's a non-issue in the UK, because you can return items for any reason.
  - frockington 8y ago
    You can return in the US as well but it's annoying that they won't accept responsibility for failures
394549 8y ago
> It's not necessarily that "getting a good deal" is the reason that people shop at Amazon. Personally I think their customer service is pretty top-notch compared to most anywhere else and I know I'll be in good hands 99% of the time if I have any problems with a product. Personally, I've had pretty good product return experiences with Amazon's brick and mortar competitors recently. They know they're competing with Amazon, and they're trying to adjust accordingly. My main point was that Amazon and the rest of the retail landscape has changed, and if you formed your view that heavily favors Amazon 10+ years ago, it's probably outdated and should be recalibrated. I shopped almost exclusively on Amazon for a long time. I've been pulling back from it and have been finding that my old, harsh judgements of its competitors are no longer true. They've gone a long way towards catching up, and Amazon has been resting on its laurels or even regressing in the areas I care about. > That's worth any minuscule price-disadvantage compared to competitors to me. It's wrong to assume the price-disadvantage is minuscule, especially when you're dealing with marketplace sellers.