I think the inherent problem is that no site should be as big as Amazon is current. It just has insane mindshare. There is a shop 3 miles from the Buzzfeed offi

I think the inherent problem is that no site should be as big as Amazon is current. It just has insane mindshare. There is a shop 3 miles from the Buzzfeed offices that has one listed on their website for 37 cents more than Amazon charges, it seems absurd to me not to go to actual stores when buying in domains where the employees would have knowledge. Two things are happening: 1.) There are probably millions of searches that don't work. These would work normally if you asked someone who worked at a brick and mortar store that had domain experience. 2.) Amazon has half of all online purchases but many of those are from customer loyalty that was earned in areas that do not constitute the absolute majority of purchases most people (at least on HN) make. Also I went through two years of personal and business Amazon purchases and literally couldn't remember a time when I had an issue. Especially after the last HN discussion made about this I realized just how much I still buy in brick and mortar.