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How do they survive Amazon? By relying on lazy people. The "barber eliminator" is mentioned in the article. I thought it was interesting, and within my budge

How do they survive Amazon? By relying on lazy people. The "barber eliminator" is mentioned in the article. I thought it was interesting, and within my budget and started to consider purchasing it. But then I thought: What if Amazon has it cheaper? Pro tip: It's 2/3 the price on Amazon. Same exact product. You can even search "barber eliminator" on Amazon and find it under its real name. So how do they survive? By providing a curated list of products to people too lazy to search for a better price.

Retric 8y ago
Except caveat emptor Amazon might have the product or a reasonable fake.
- lisper 8y ago
  And, not infrequently, an unreasonable one.
criddell 8y ago
> So how do they survive? By providing a curated list of products to people too lazy to search for a better price. I think a more charitable explanation would be Hammacher Schlemmer customers aren't very price sensitive. They aren't going to waste $50 of their time looking for a $20 discount on a hair cutting machine.
morrow 8y ago
I say it survives by providing the same benefit that Amazon does: a reduction in cognitive overhead. With Amazon, the reduction comes from the streamlined buying process - you provide your name, address, billing info, shipping info up front, thereby eliminating the overhead of that task from future purchases. It's also a one-stop shop, you don't have to think if they will have an item you want, as 9 times out of 10 they carry a version of what you are looking for. With Hammacher Schlemmer, the reduction comes from not having to do really any research about products before purchasing. They offer a limited selection of tested products, so you do not have to consider alternative products, sellers, shipping methods, reviews, and are not susceptible to accidentally ordering a counterfeit product. The catalog format is also approachable, you can pick it up and read it and "window shop" without knowing exactly what you want or need. So I would say not really laziness, just a shift in cognitive overhead from the product purchasing process to the product research process.

Retric 8y ago

Except caveat emptor Amazon might have the product or a reasonable fake.

lisper 8y ago
And, not infrequently, an unreasonable one.

criddell 8y ago

> So how do they survive? By providing a curated list of products to people too lazy to search for a better price. I think a more charitable explanation would be Hammacher Schlemmer customers aren't very price sensitive. They aren't going to waste $50 of their time looking for a $20 discount on a hair cutting machine.

morrow 8y ago

I say it survives by providing the same benefit that Amazon does: a reduction in cognitive overhead. With Amazon, the reduction comes from the streamlined buying process - you provide your name, address, billing info, shipping info up front, thereby eliminating the overhead of that task from future purchases. It's also a one-stop shop, you don't have to think if they will have an item you want, as 9 times out of 10 they carry a version of what you are looking for. With Hammacher Schlemmer, the reduction comes from not having to do really any research about products before purchasing. They offer a limited selection of tested products, so you do not have to consider alternative products, sellers, shipping methods, reviews, and are not susceptible to accidentally ordering a counterfeit product. The catalog format is also approachable, you can pick it up and read it and "window shop" without knowing exactly what you want or need. So I would say not really laziness, just a shift in cognitive overhead from the product purchasing process to the product research process.