4 ms·

Maybe to the shareholders but definitely not to the consumers or the businesses on the platform.

by warent 8y ago

microcolonel 8y ago
> definitely not to the consumers Amazon always ships packages ahead of time, at my leisure, and often cheaper than retail. They always process returns and complaints in my favour, without contest. They reach out to local logistics companies in order to improve delivery, and I can tell by the fact that those companies now have branded vehicles (and much happier and more attentive personnel than UPS!), and better verification processes (they found a logistics provider that actually emails the signature given at the door to you when the delivery is processed) that they've done well out of that. I feel they're serving me very well as a customer, and every ordinary person in my life who isn't competing with Amazon is richer and happier because of Amazon's services. > definitely not ... the businesses on the platform The businesses fulfilling through Amazon would absolutely not have received my business were it not for Amazon; in many cases they do not have the expertise to handle the orders correctly, and I do not trust all of them to process the payments securely to the degree that I trust Amazon to. They have every opportunity to improve their ordering and fulfillment systems, but they choose Amazon because it's where the customers are comfortable already. I dreamt of a logistics integration system much like Amazon Marketplace when I was 16, and every year they make it closer to that dream, I think it's great. I'm willing to accept an argument from concrete evidence that they have somehow deliberately and systematically broken the law in so doing, but I've yet to see it.
- darpa_escapee 8y ago
  I get free shipping from Walmart.com and AliExpress, the latter of which 90% of electronics on Amazon are sourced from. Walmart offers free 2 day shipping and in-store pickup. AliExpress offers the same items on Amazon without having to give middleman their expensive cut. I don't trust Amazon not to send me fake items or cheap Chinese knockoffs. There is absolutely no quality control on Amazon's end. Amazon has the resources to fight fake reviews, yet fake reviews are still rampant. As a result, I cannot trust Amazon's rating system at all.
  - microcolonel 8y ago
    > Amazon has the resources to fight fake reviews, yet fake reviews are still rampant. As a result, I cannot trust Amazon's rating system at all. While this is true, at least the part about fake reviews being pervasive, the fact is that I don't trust any reviews on a retailer's website anymore, especially those that aren't verified purchases, and the only retail site where I trust verified purchase reviews at all (and not all of those either) is Amazon. > I get free shipping from Walmart.com Yes! walmart.ca is great, very prompt and simple to work with them. > AliExpress, which 90% of electronics on Amazon are sourced from. More like 90% of obscure commodity electronic bits and bobs. But yes, some of these rinky-dink sellers and unrecognized brands do mess up the experience a bit, but imagine ordering directly from their individual weird off the shelf fulfillment sites and hoping your credit cards don't get burned. It's not any better of an experience, and at least with Amazon you generally have recourse outside the seller. > I don't trust Amazon not to send me fake items or cheap Chinese knockoffs I don't trust AliExpress not to send me fake items or cheap knockoffs either, but that doesn't stop me from trying sometimes. At least with Amazon you have recourse in my experience.
    - hakfoo 8y ago
      >More like 90% of obscure commodity electronic bits and bobs. I feel like this is a dramatic market development. In the era of brick-and-mortar shops, a lot of those products were only available as branded versions. Think when you had to go in to a store and get a printer cable in 2001, and you were paying $25 for a Belkin cable in a fancy box because it's all they sell. Branding from a consumer perspective is about building a message of "we're the quality one you know and trust" or "we're the cool/desirable one you recognize." It isn't necessary for a lot of these products: they're not sexy and the bar of competence is so low that you're unlikely to be burned. AliExpress and friends have completely reinvented that market by tapping into that sentiment. Their products are unbranded (or as-good-as-unbranded, with a name with no meaning to the buyer) but trade on cheap and good enough. I'm sure a lot of the bits-and-bobs industry is up all night sweating.
    - mcbits 8y ago
      For things like electronics components, I used to see a lot more sellers located in China who were presumably effectively drop shipping from AliExpress. Now it's almost all pre-imported goods with fulfillment by Amazon. The difference is paying an extra $2-3 bucks (basically doubling the price for something like an Arduino Nano clone) for a much faster shipping time. Sometimes that's worth it and sometimes not. Unfortunately as a non-Prime customer, Amazon's shipping has been getting so slow that the gap is closing and it's getting harder to see their value.
reaperducer 8y ago
Maybe to the shareholders Not to this shareholder. If Amazon is playing a dangerous game, then it's risking my money, which is not OK.
- microcolonel 8y ago
  > If Amazon is playing a dangerous game, then it's risking my money, which is not OK. If you're so sure of that, then why did you buy AMZN? Why have you not sold your AMZN?

Maybe to the shareholders but definitely not to the consumers or the businesses on the platform.

by warent 8y ago

Maybe to the shareholders but definitely not to the consumers or the businesses on the platform.

> definitely not to the consumers Amazon always ships packages ahead of time, at my leisure, and often cheaper than retail. They always process returns and complaints in my favour, without contest. They reach out to local logistics companies in order to improve delivery, and I can tell by the fact that those companies now have branded vehicles (and much happier and more attentive personnel than UPS!), and better verification processes (they found a logistics provider that actually emails the signature given at the door to you when the delivery is processed) that they've done well out of that. I feel they're serving me very well as a customer, and every ordinary person in my life who isn't competing with Amazon is richer and happier because of Amazon's services. > definitely not ... the businesses on the platform The businesses fulfilling through Amazon would absolutely not have received my business were it not for Amazon; in many cases they do not have the expertise to handle the orders correctly, and I do not trust all of them to process the payments securely to the degree that I trust Amazon to. They have every opportunity to improve their ordering and fulfillment systems, but they choose Amazon because it's where the customers are comfortable already. I dreamt of a logistics integration system much like Amazon Marketplace when I was 16, and every year they make it closer to that dream, I think it's great. I'm willing to accept an argument from concrete evidence that they have somehow deliberately and systematically broken the law in so doing, but I've yet to see it.

darpa_escapee 8y ago
I get free shipping from Walmart.com and AliExpress, the latter of which 90% of electronics on Amazon are sourced from. Walmart offers free 2 day shipping and in-store pickup. AliExpress offers the same items on Amazon without having to give middleman their expensive cut. I don't trust Amazon not to send me fake items or cheap Chinese knockoffs. There is absolutely no quality control on Amazon's end. Amazon has the resources to fight fake reviews, yet fake reviews are still rampant. As a result, I cannot trust Amazon's rating system at all.
- microcolonel 8y ago
  > Amazon has the resources to fight fake reviews, yet fake reviews are still rampant. As a result, I cannot trust Amazon's rating system at all. While this is true, at least the part about fake reviews being pervasive, the fact is that I don't trust any reviews on a retailer's website anymore, especially those that aren't verified purchases, and the only retail site where I trust verified purchase reviews at all (and not all of those either) is Amazon. > I get free shipping from Walmart.com Yes! walmart.ca is great, very prompt and simple to work with them. > AliExpress, which 90% of electronics on Amazon are sourced from. More like 90% of obscure commodity electronic bits and bobs. But yes, some of these rinky-dink sellers and unrecognized brands do mess up the experience a bit, but imagine ordering directly from their individual weird off the shelf fulfillment sites and hoping your credit cards don't get burned. It's not any better of an experience, and at least with Amazon you generally have recourse outside the seller. > I don't trust Amazon not to send me fake items or cheap Chinese knockoffs I don't trust AliExpress not to send me fake items or cheap knockoffs either, but that doesn't stop me from trying sometimes. At least with Amazon you have recourse in my experience.
  - hakfoo 8y ago
    >More like 90% of obscure commodity electronic bits and bobs. I feel like this is a dramatic market development. In the era of brick-and-mortar shops, a lot of those products were only available as branded versions. Think when you had to go in to a store and get a printer cable in 2001, and you were paying $25 for a Belkin cable in a fancy box because it's all they sell. Branding from a consumer perspective is about building a message of "we're the quality one you know and trust" or "we're the cool/desirable one you recognize." It isn't necessary for a lot of these products: they're not sexy and the bar of competence is so low that you're unlikely to be burned. AliExpress and friends have completely reinvented that market by tapping into that sentiment. Their products are unbranded (or as-good-as-unbranded, with a name with no meaning to the buyer) but trade on cheap and good enough. I'm sure a lot of the bits-and-bobs industry is up all night sweating.
  - mcbits 8y ago
    For things like electronics components, I used to see a lot more sellers located in China who were presumably effectively drop shipping from AliExpress. Now it's almost all pre-imported goods with fulfillment by Amazon. The difference is paying an extra $2-3 bucks (basically doubling the price for something like an Arduino Nano clone) for a much faster shipping time. Sometimes that's worth it and sometimes not. Unfortunately as a non-Prime customer, Amazon's shipping has been getting so slow that the gap is closing and it's getting harder to see their value.

reaperducer 8y ago

Maybe to the shareholders Not to this shareholder. If Amazon is playing a dangerous game, then it's risking my money, which is not OK.

microcolonel 8y ago
> If Amazon is playing a dangerous game, then it's risking my money, which is not OK. If you're so sure of that, then why did you buy AMZN? Why have you not sold your AMZN?