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I honestly think it's high time Amazon did this. I've been a big fan of purchasing products from them in the past but over the past couple of years, the entire
by _coveredInBees 8y ago
I honestly think it's high time Amazon did this. I've been a big fan of purchasing products from them in the past but over the past couple of years, the entire experience has left me feeling very unsatisfied as it is blatantly obvious how their market is being gamed by unscrupulous sellers, low quality products and an epidemic of fake/paid reviews.
Trying to buy quality items in certain popular categories (eg: screw driver set, chargers, flashlights, etc.) is all but impossible as you have to wade through pages and pages of low quality Chinese made knockoffs with weird brand names and of course, 1000+ 5-star reviews.
It's gotten to the point that my wife and I have been purchasing more and more items through Walmart, Target and Home Depot. They've all upped their game to compete against Amazon, and I'm happy to wait an extra day or two to receive an item in lieu of having a product that is likely better quality and the option for a frictionless return at a local store if needed.
As an ML engineer, it's clear to me that Amazon really hasn't cared about their reviews being gamed, or that their marketplace is now just a flea market being drowned in a sea of crap. Hopefully that changes going forward.
- philpem 8y agoSounds a bit like what's happened to ebay. But hey, when you get paid the per-item fees no matter what happens, why would you optimise for quality?
- bastawhiz 8y ago> why would you optimise for quality? Because people will start buying their goods elsewhere.
- ascii_only 8y agoWhere? If Amazon almost monopoly.
- thereisnospork 8y agohow are they a monopoly? everything amazon offers can be sourced elsewhere. They used to be my go to because they had good prices and convenience. I can no longer trust them to have competitive prices to my local brick and mortars and actually supply the product I am purchasing.
- volkl48 8y agoNo? Most vendors have gotten their online experience in reasonable order at this point. (In some ways, better than Amazon, because many aren't on the "marketplace" model and I don't have to sift a sea of crap). That is: Free or very low cost shipping and a reasonable UI. And for those with a brick + mortar presence, free in-store pickup with a pretty quick turnaround time on it.
- saiya-jin 8y agoThis statement can't be further from the truth. For example most things don't even deliver to Switzerland. Freakin' Switzerland. You want cheap gadgets for next to nothing, you go on ebay. You want quality, you shop in usual eshops.
- cheeze 8y agoBecause customer trust is one of the most important things for many companies?
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- dawnerd 8y agoI just bought a dash cam and it’s really bad there. Tons of cheap knockoffs with fake reviews.
- ikeboy 8y agoThis has nothing to do with them cutting off vendors, who will now sell on marketplace instead. They're just dictating different terms to suppliers.