5 ms·
> IDK if amazon's meaningfully worse than traditional big department stores or the brick-and-mortar sector generally. They are meaningfully worse. "Traditiona
by ardy42 8y ago
> IDK if amazon's meaningfully worse than traditional big department stores or the brick-and-mortar sector generally.
They are meaningfully worse. "Traditional big department stores and the brick-and-mortar sector generally" have much more control over their supply chains than Amazon does. Physical shelf space is too valuable to let every random fly-by-night fake-review-fueled company use it. There's also the legal liability that comes with having a real address in a jurisdiction where it's likely you'll be held accountable.
For the above reasons, you're much less likely to find fake and counterfeit products at a brick and mortar store than on Amazon.
> What's the bridgehead (à la pg) to a full-scale invasion of amazon territory?
Well-deserved reputational damage that motivates consumers to look for and consider alternatives.
- fhood 8y agoNot to mention the last time I needed a specific dongle, it had 5 stars and thousands of review.....but the reviews were clearly for a different product.
- zdragnar 8y ago> They are meaningfully worse. "Traditional big department stores and the brick-and-mortar sector generally" have much more control over their supply chains than Amazon does. Physical shelf space is too valuable to let every random fly-by-night fake-review-fueled company use it. There's also the legal liability that comes with having a real address in a jurisdiction where it's likely you'll be held accountable. This is less true than ever, as more big box stores expand their online offerings with third-party sellers.
- rpdillon 8y agoI haven't found this to be true at all. Brick-and-mortar stores _always_ have less selection, and I have no idea wandering around the store if a product is actually any good. When I do bother to try and buy something at a brick-and-mortar store and I research what they are actually carrying, it's often got horrible reviews, not just on Amazon, but on other product review sites. While I agree that Amazon products aren't always the best, my experience with brick and mortar is _far_ worse. Except Costco. Costco is amazing, IMHO.
- jrockway 8y agoI am inclined to agree. Go to CVS or Best Buy or something to buy a USB cable, and you'll probably get an expensive piece of garbage just like on Amazon.
- 51lver 8y agoAt least it won't burn out your usb ports...
- on_and_off 8y agoUSB-c cable is a good use case where you just want to pay the cost and get it from the google store or at least get a benson leung approved cable. Trying your luck with a cheap usb-c cable is not worth the hassle IMO.
- kevin_thibedeau 8y agoThat isn't the fault of the cable. Every USB port from 1.0 and up is required to limit current provided on VBUS. If your port blows it failed at doing that regardless of any misconfiguration within the cable.
- dragontamer 8y agohttps://www.theverge.com/2016/2/3/10905432/usb-c-cable-fries-google-engineers-computer https://www.theverge.com/2016/2/3/10905432/usb-c-cable-fries... The previous comment is refering to a relatively famous event a few years ago. Back then, some USB-C cable sold on amazon had the data-pins switched with the power-pins. You CANT just trust random crap on Amazon. And its getting harder and harder these days now that fake-reviews are a thing. I've been personally going to real-life locations to buy things. Walmart and Target sells stuff only a few bucks more than Amazon, but I can at least trust that it works. --------- I don't necessary say it is Amazon's "fault" that fake products are getting fake reviews. But Amazon has known about this problem for years, and hasn't successfully done anything to stop the problem. I'm sure the Amazon executives are working on the problem... but until they fix it... I'm taking my business elsewhere.