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Unless you know exctly brand/make/model you wan't to buy on Amazon, the search is useless. Hundreds of similar results from dozens of vendors of varying quality
by maaaats 8y ago
Unless you know exctly brand/make/model you wan't to buy on Amazon, the search is useless. Hundreds of similar results from dozens of vendors of varying quality.
I liked it better when they sold things themselves, now they're just an eBay clone selling cheap knockoffs trying to hide the fact.
- Loughla 8y ago>now they're just an eBay clone selling cheap knockoffs trying to hide the fact. I've moved almost all of my online purchases BACK to ebay actually because of this. At least ebay's trust system is easy to understand and harder to game than what amazon has in terms of reviews. I'm interested to see if this is a trend, or if my circle of friends is an outlier.
- maxxxxx 8y agoSame here. I either go to eBay or B&H. In eBay I can see at least quickly the seller rating. Amazon has just turned into a big mess.
- jasonkostempski 8y agoWhat's B&H?
- jtuente 8y agobhphotovideo.com
- BugsJustFindMe 8y agoAn electronics store in NYC that delivers nationally and has a strong reputation for reliability and competitive pricing.
- maxxxxx 8y agoElectronics and photography mainly. https://www.bhphotovideo.com https://www.bhphotovideo.com.
- matwood 8y agoB&H or Adorama are really the only two places on the internet worth buying camera gear on. Any other place I have used I have gotten fake gear or gear that is not what was advertised (like the cheaper version of a lens for example).
- HelenOster 8y agoThank you so much for the shout-out, And for ongoing business. Helen Oster Adorama Camera helen@adorama.com
- quxbar 8y agoJust so you know, B&H was years ahead of Amazon on warehouse worker abuse: http://www.boycottbnh.com/#a11y-abuse http://www.boycottbnh.com/#a11y-abuse Any tips for buying on eBay?
- LeoPanthera 8y agoFilter by "New" and "Buy It Now" and eBay effectively becomes an Amazon clone. A better one, I think. Also, the "daily deals" page is hand-filtered by eBay staff to guarantee no shady sellers.
- twothamendment 8y agoB&H has been around forever. I bought a good pair of binoculars from them when I was a kid. My mom had to drive me to the store to get a money order so I could mail my order form to them. She thought I was crazy. Yes, I still have and use the binoculars.
- laurent123456 8y agoI've switched to other independent online shops as I can usually find what I want. I just search for "buy 'something' uk" on duckduckgo and can always find a few good non-Amazon sellers. I avoid Amazon as much as possible now since it's no longer possible to rely on their reviews and there are way too many results to be able to find one that's not fake or of extremely poor quality. I'm starting to appreciate going to brick-and-mortar shops again and having the choice between only a dozen of good quality products, instead of thousands cheap barely usable ones.
- ljcn 8y agoTry "r:uk" instead of "uk" to set the region.
- sct202 8y agoI've started to cross check my purchases with Ebay. Recently, I bought a case for my Kindle. A 3rd party company was selling the case on Amazon FBA for $5 more than they were selling it for on Ebay (free shipping, same company name, same product pictures).
- beauzero 8y ago...as someone that worked in and out of the used/remaindered book industry over the last 15 years as a developer. For a larger scale seller that is automated, has ship forwarding (bulk carrier to nearest BMC), it is significantly cheaper to sell on ebay now. You will pay $1 less on ebay for the same used book from us.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y agoIndeed. It has been common practice for PC parts to use Newegg's search and buy from Amazon, but lately Amazon's price hasn't actually been lower so you can eliminate one step.
- maxxxxx 8y agoUnfortunately Newegg also seems to have gone downhill. Allowing third party sellers is a good way to boost revenues quickly but it also quickly makes the buying experience worse. I now prefer stores where they have the same item only once and not from dozens of sellers. Or I go to eBay.
- mikestew 8y agoWhen NewEgg started the 3rd-party sellers, I quit buying from them. I don't buy from Sears for the same reason. If I wanted a flea market, I'd go find an shut-down drive-in theater. And that's the trick: I'd buy from NewEgg based on their reputation, not the reputation of some company I've never heard of. Back in the day, if I bought from Amazon I assumed (probably incorrectly) that it was somewhat curated. With 3rd-parties, NewEgg is no longer a trusted vendor, they're just a big ol' barrel of random shit that I have to try and fish through to find what I want. Amazon is just a big ol' barrel of random shit where I hope to not get tricked. Is that really the reputation you want, Amazon? That I wander down your virtual aisles constantly looking over my shoulder? I "prefer" a vendor because they have demonstrated that they "carry good stuff". These days, hell, even they don't know what they carry.
- jeremy7600 8y agoYou know you can filter out non-NewEgg results?
- mikestew 8y agoNo, I did not; thanks for the tip. Did NewEgg go out of their way to make that obvious before I said, "WTF is this shit?" and closed the tab? No.
- NeedMoreTea 8y agoEven then it's borderline useless as when you search for the exact pair of trousers you want you'll now get other ranges, and dozens upon dozens of fake-brand cheap knockoffs. When you do find the item, you'll find in amongst the "customers also looked at/bought" 4 or 5 other pages containing the exact same item. At different prices and stock levels. None of which showed up in the search you just did for that item. It's completely broken and absurd.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- twblalock 8y agoI'm pretty sure I got factory seconds buying some jeans on Amazon recently. I got a pair where the waist size on the inside tag was different than the one on the outside tag, and another pair of relaxed fit jeans with a regular fit tag on them. I think they were authentic, they were just factory seconds that somebody bought to sell on Amazon.
- bhandziuk 8y agoYou simply cannot buy clothes online. It's far too unreliable in every way. Even if they deliver what the advertise it's hard enough determining what size to buy when in person, the amount of work it takes to buy something int he right "size" online is astronomical. Easiest examples are shoes and pants. I can wear size 8.5 to size 11 shoes or 29 to 33 pants. These all fit the same.
- notatoad 8y agoI've found the exception to this is first-party webshops. For example, buying Patagonia gear from Patagonia.com is by far the easiest way. Their sizing is consistent across their line, and the website has a much better selection of colors and stock than any reseller does.
- bhandziuk 8y agoYeah, that seems reasonable if you're unable to walk into a store. Even if the sizing is internally consistent it still seems difficult for a first time purchase though.
- Judson 8y agoI've noticed lately that Amazon's search also returns products if the query matches customer Q&A questions. So if you are wanting to purchase, say, a 10ga extension cord, and UL listing is important to you, searching for '10 Gauge Extension Cord UL' will return many non-UL listed cords with customers asking 'Is this UL Listed?'. It makes for a very frustrating shopping experience.
- Fej 8y agoI don't know about you, but I rarely buy any electrical equipment off of Amazon, because even if it's UL-listed the one received might be counterfeit.
- whoopdedo 8y agoIt's like they want marketers to post fake reviews. We've all seen the so-called users who write "I was very disappointed in the Ronco Widget Tensioner. I returned it and bought a Spacely Sprockets(tm) Grommet Guard instead. That worked perfectly!"
- Carstairs 8y agoI've never really understood the search results in amazon or how anyone could even browse it without knowing the exact item they are looking for. Often the results it returns only has a tenuious link to what I searched for and it just feels like a list of what they have most of in stock that they want to flog off quickly.
- Bartweiss 8y agoThe most frustrating experience I've had is attempting to buy anything that has add-ons or ancillary parts sold separately? Want a phone? Here's 300 phone cases, which have the word 'phone' and are much cheaper! Want a left-angle USB to straight microUSB cord? Here's straight USB to left-turn micro, because those words are the same. And here are some right-angle options because most of the words are the same! I understand that Amazon isn't indexing 100% of their items by hand, but the combination of no support for sophisticated search features and the failure to index even very popular product classes makes certain products essentially hopeless to buy.
- noonespecial 8y agoYes and ebays search actually at least trys to help you find what you're after. Amazons just seems like an intentional labyrinth to keep you wandering. These days it seems like even the most specific queries just dump a ton of unrelated randomness and nothing of any use.
- StreamBright 8y agoSo we need a service that provides better results for items that you can purchase on the internet?
- bduerst 8y agoAmazon has basically become an overpriced version of the discount bin.
- duxup 8y agoOnly recently I've had tons of issues with search on Amazon. It seems bizarrely unfriendly now. I'll search for a thing, I know what it is called, and the results are an absolute mess. I'll search something skewed but close to the other terms.... find thing. It's very odd. Let alone the mass amounts of totally categorized wrong stuff. No socks with one word in common aren't the same as some PC parts...
- primitivesuave 8y agoTry searching "airpods" (a registered trademark of Apple) and you won't find a legitimate Apple product until the third page. Even if you search "Apple airpods", the first page is filled with knockoffs of the product I'm clearly intending to purchase. In frustration I simply walked to an Apple store and learned they price-match Best Buy and Walmart (not Amazon) with up to a 10% discount - I found the Amazon price on walmart.com from my phone and successfully gave myself free same-hour delivery.
- jeremy7600 8y agoFirst page, 1st non-sponsored result: Apple MMEF2AM/A AirPods Wireless Bluetooth Headset for iPhones with iOS 10 or Later White by Apple can't get any more legit than that. "Apple airpods": 1st non-sponsored result: Apple MMEF2AM/A AirPods Wireless Bluetooth Headset for iPhones with iOS 10 or Later White by Apple wait wut?
- llao 8y agoHuh, I can confirm GP. Nothing by Apple, no Airpods. https://i.imgur.com/LymtHOnr.jpg https://i.imgur.com/LymtHOnr.jpg (sorry about the quality, I thought Imgur was lossless...)
- ryanwaggoner 8y agoIt’s probably because you’re in Portugal. I’m in the US and also see Apple AirPods as 1st result.
- hkmurakami 8y agoI find it increasingly difficult to find the version of book I’m looking for
- Anderkent 8y agoBut this is exactly why sponsored results are good for the searcher. Products that people are willing to spend money advertising will usually be better for you, especially in a context where repeated custom is likely.
- 394549 8y ago> But this is exactly why sponsored results are good for the searcher. Products that people are willing to spend money advertising will usually be better for you, especially in a context where repeated custom is likely. No, that's false. Ads are only a way of exchanging money for the eyeballs of potential customers, and both scrupulous and unscrupulous merchants use them. They make no reliable statement about what's really "better for you." And especially when the ads are targeted (an therefore relatively cheap), you can't trust anything. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/01/the-strange-brands-in-your-instagram-feed/550136/ https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/01/the-s... > It all started with an Instagram ad for a coat, the West Louis (TM) Business-Man Windproof Long Coat to be specific. It looked like a decent camel coat, not fancy but fine. And I’d been looking for one just that color, so when the ad touting the coat popped up and the price was in the double-digits, I figured: hey, a deal! > .... > Several weeks later, the coat showed up in a black plastic bag emblazoned with the markings of China Post, that nation’s postal service. I tore it open and pulled out the coat. The material has the softness of a Las Vegas carpet and the rich sheen of a velour jumpsuit. The fabric is so synthetic, it could probably be refined into bunker fuel for a ship. It was, technically, the item I ordered, only shabbier than I expected in every aspect.
- Anderkent 8y agoOf course all companies use ads, including unscrupulous ones. But ads work better for companies with a real product, and therefore you expect the % of good products among advertised products to be higher than among non-advertised ones.
- 394549 8y ago> But ads work better for companies with a real product, and therefore you expect the % of good products among advertised products to be higher than among non-advertised ones. [citation needed]
- ajmurmann 8y agoOmg! This! I strongly disliked the market place model from the moment they introduced it and have come to only dislike it more.