4 ms·

The third party seller stuff has really killed my faith in Amazon. If I wanted to have to read reviews for the entity selling the good and have some expectation

The third party seller stuff has really killed my faith in Amazon. If I wanted to have to read reviews for the entity selling the good and have some expectation of getting a counterfeit/broken good, I would go to eBay. I used to go to Amazon because I could trust them, but that trust is lonnng gone. These days I'm shopping more and more locally, because I can actually see the thing I'm buying. Side note: I'm sad to see NewEgg headed in this same eBay-clone direction.

behringer 8y ago
Actually I find ebay to be much better than Amazon for buying. I can read the seller reviews and I know they're generally legitimate. Particularly the negative reviews, which is all I need to see if I want to know what the seller does wrong, if anything. I can look up a seller to make sure he's sourced an item properly, for example, newegg sells SD cards on ebay so I know newegg is sourcing SD cards properly and I'm good to go. Or I look up a seller and they claim to be a licensed Nikon supplier I know I'm probably ok or I could even call up Nikon to verify they're a licensed supplier. If I want something fake/cloned I know I can just buy cheap from the chinese supplier and I don't have to pay a markup to a middle man. But if I want it right away, I can order from someone in the same state as me and pay a couple extra bucks, and I know it's the clone cuz the picture is the exact same. You get a lot of information on ebay that you don't get on Amazon.
- zanny 8y ago
  The best part about Ebay is that if you do get a fraud item and can prove it Ebay simply refunds you and you can keep whatever you got since it wasn't what was advertised. Amazon to the best of my knowledge does make you return items for refunds even when they are frauds.
  - wolfi1 8y ago
    in some jurisdictions it is required to destroy these frauds
Kevguy 8y ago
Newegg does at least have a 'Newegg only' checkbox so you can avoid the outside sellers. I will still buy electronics from Newegg for that reason. No longer trust Amazon for those.
- crowbahr 8y ago
  Newegg is fine as long as you never have to return anything you've purchased. Which means it's not fine for Electronics. Their returns policy seems to be assuming that everyone attempting a return is malicious and trying to cheat them.
  - rchaud 8y ago
    Yeah, I've always wondered why Newegg hasn't changed those unfriendly policies in nearly 15 years. I recall buying exactly 3-4 items from them: a digital camera in 2007, a couple of refurbished monitors in 2016, and a tablet in 2018. The lack of free shipping seems insane given how much the products already cost, and the "Return minus 15% restocking fee" really doesn't make me want to come back.
    - Kevguy 8y ago
      Guess I never paid enough attention to the return policy. That does make me less likely to shop there. Who do you recommend for electronics?
      - rchaud 8y ago
        I'm in Canada, so gadget prices are high and Amazon's price competitiveness and selection advantage is close to zero compared to Best Buy. But when I lived in the States, Amazon's no-questions asked return policy won me over.
yellowapple 8y ago
From the other side of the equation: my grandpa runs the Amazon storefront for a charity for which he volunteers (said charity sells donated books in support of the local library system). He sells the big-ticket stuff on Amazon (usually at a fraction of the lowest price, which still brings in plenty of money given the acquisition cost is effectively zero), and anything not valuable enough to break even on shipping (or otherwise doesn't get sold on Amazon) gets sold in a physical storefront next to one of the libraries (big-ticket books being sold individually, and the other books being sold in bulk by the customer filling a plastic shopping bag full of books at a flat rate). One of the weird things about Amazon is that it doesn't give you an easy way to provide photos for the item you yourself are selling (e.g. your used copy of a book), and if your item is similar enough to an existing item (e.g. same UPC or ISBN or whatever), Amazon will railroad you toward using the existing listing (but will still put you in the "new and used" list). In other words: the same Amazon quirks that seem to benefit counterfeiters also seem to benefit my grandpa's charity, so I guess I should be grateful and appreciative when I get a knockoff at my doorstep.

behringer 8y ago

Actually I find ebay to be much better than Amazon for buying. I can read the seller reviews and I know they're generally legitimate. Particularly the negative reviews, which is all I need to see if I want to know what the seller does wrong, if anything. I can look up a seller to make sure he's sourced an item properly, for example, newegg sells SD cards on ebay so I know newegg is sourcing SD cards properly and I'm good to go. Or I look up a seller and they claim to be a licensed Nikon supplier I know I'm probably ok or I could even call up Nikon to verify they're a licensed supplier. If I want something fake/cloned I know I can just buy cheap from the chinese supplier and I don't have to pay a markup to a middle man. But if I want it right away, I can order from someone in the same state as me and pay a couple extra bucks, and I know it's the clone cuz the picture is the exact same. You get a lot of information on ebay that you don't get on Amazon.

zanny 8y ago
The best part about Ebay is that if you do get a fraud item and can prove it Ebay simply refunds you and you can keep whatever you got since it wasn't what was advertised. Amazon to the best of my knowledge does make you return items for refunds even when they are frauds.
- wolfi1 8y ago
  in some jurisdictions it is required to destroy these frauds

Kevguy 8y ago

Newegg does at least have a 'Newegg only' checkbox so you can avoid the outside sellers. I will still buy electronics from Newegg for that reason. No longer trust Amazon for those.

crowbahr 8y ago
Newegg is fine as long as you never have to return anything you've purchased. Which means it's not fine for Electronics. Their returns policy seems to be assuming that everyone attempting a return is malicious and trying to cheat them.
- rchaud 8y ago
  Yeah, I've always wondered why Newegg hasn't changed those unfriendly policies in nearly 15 years. I recall buying exactly 3-4 items from them: a digital camera in 2007, a couple of refurbished monitors in 2016, and a tablet in 2018. The lack of free shipping seems insane given how much the products already cost, and the "Return minus 15% restocking fee" really doesn't make me want to come back.
  - Kevguy 8y ago
    Guess I never paid enough attention to the return policy. That does make me less likely to shop there. Who do you recommend for electronics?
    - rchaud 8y ago
      I'm in Canada, so gadget prices are high and Amazon's price competitiveness and selection advantage is close to zero compared to Best Buy. But when I lived in the States, Amazon's no-questions asked return policy won me over.

yellowapple 8y ago

From the other side of the equation: my grandpa runs the Amazon storefront for a charity for which he volunteers (said charity sells donated books in support of the local library system). He sells the big-ticket stuff on Amazon (usually at a fraction of the lowest price, which still brings in plenty of money given the acquisition cost is effectively zero), and anything not valuable enough to break even on shipping (or otherwise doesn't get sold on Amazon) gets sold in a physical storefront next to one of the libraries (big-ticket books being sold individually, and the other books being sold in bulk by the customer filling a plastic shopping bag full of books at a flat rate). One of the weird things about Amazon is that it doesn't give you an easy way to provide photos for the item you yourself are selling (e.g. your used copy of a book), and if your item is similar enough to an existing item (e.g. same UPC or ISBN or whatever), Amazon will railroad you toward using the existing listing (but will still put you in the "new and used" list). In other words: the same Amazon quirks that seem to benefit counterfeiters also seem to benefit my grandpa's charity, so I guess I should be grateful and appreciative when I get a knockoff at my doorstep.