4 ms·

If 2-day shipping time is not an important factor, then what I've started to do is just buy items from AliExpress and DHGate based on looking at # of orders and

If 2-day shipping time is not an important factor, then what I've started to do is just buy items from AliExpress and DHGate based on looking at # of orders and customer reviews. The vast majority of stuff on Amazon could be found on AliExpress, DHGate, Alibaba, Tmall.com, JD.com, and Taobao. At this point, I just gave up and decided to buy items I don't care about that much from their 'source' for less money in exchange for longer shipping times. I wouldn't be surprised if the same overseas sellers have items being sold across every platform to maximize consumer exposure and potential orders. So many of the "brands" on Amazon are not even brands, it's just made up words next to a generic imported product. Like "iGoEnergeeFan" or something similarly stupid. The market is just flooded at this point. Any dingus looking to 'get rich quick' could think "I know, I'll get into dropshipping or importing with Amazon FBA!". There are so many bullshit 'guides' already on this kind of 'passive income'. The idea of selling cheap overseas crap to US buyers at a 200% markup is nothing new - it's been going on for the last 40+ years in retail. Except, back in the brick and mortar days, not everyone could just open up a store and start selling. There are real estate, geographic, and management constraints, among others. That makes it difficult to penetrate the US Retail market side as an overseas Manufacturer/Distributor. Fast forward to today, and the tables have turned. I could be the Chinese manufacturer/distributor AND the retailer, thanks to marketplaces like Amazon. Why wouldn't they want to go for vertical integration, when so much more money could be made at the retail level. Plus manufacturing, labor, and shipping costs are so low, the profit margins from selling junk on Amazon are enormous for those overseas sellers - even way more than domestic sellers. At this point, why would any overseas sellers care to stop? They know the industry, they can directly interface with the factories, and they have plenty of people willing to work diligently to be among the top sellers on Amazon. They are definitely not stupid or naive, they know what to do and how to work the ecosystem in their favor. Those good ole' "produce cheaply overseas and markup in our stores" business models of American retailers have come right back around to bite them in the ass.

SkyMarshal 7y ago
>So many of the "brands" on Amazon are not even brands, it's just made up words next to a generic imported product. Like "iGoEnergeeFan" or something similarly stupid. Indeed, or the recent trend of naming your generic company with an ALL CAPS name, "VECTROMOX", as if that's somehow effective at differentiating your obviously fly-by-night operation. >Those good ole' "produce cheaply overseas and markup in our stores" business models of American retailers have come right back around to bite them in the ass. Good, imho. #firstworldproblem here but I loath America's rip-off economy. $25 for a t-shirt that cost $2 to make overseas, or $100 for a pair of pants that cost $5 to make. I try really hard to buy stuff that was either made in the US, or at least somewhere with high quality standards like Japan, Korea, Taiwan or Germany. It takes a non-trivial amount of extra time and work to do that though, especially on Amazon.
- WalterBright 7y ago
  > I loath America's rip-off economy. $25 for a t-shirt that cost $2 to make overseas, Buying a t-shirt in Europe isn't any cheaper.
  - Daniel_sk 7y ago
    25$ sounds okay for a T-shirt for someone living in Slovakia (EU).
  - SkyMarshal 7y ago
    Yeah it’s a problem for all developed economies, not just the US. The rip-off, rent-seeking economies.
- Marsymars 7y ago
  > It takes a non-trivial amount of extra time and work to do that though, especially on Amazon. Probably the easiest/fastest way is to just default to brands that are known for enforcing supply chain standards, which mostly won't be available on Amazon anyway.
  - SkyMarshal 7y ago
    True, though there’s a challenge even with that, which is that most brands even high quality ones now have a mix of products, where their low-end ones are cheap rebranded crap, and their high-end ones are still manufactured in high-quality facilities. But figuring out where that split in their product line is takes work. I recently had to do that for buying a torque wrench, a hand blender, and a couple of other things.
    - Marsymars 7y ago
      Oh, yeah, I had Patagonia in mind with my original comment for clothes, but I've got no idea where one would look for tools or appliances.
      - 7y ago

SkyMarshal 7y ago

>So many of the "brands" on Amazon are not even brands, it's just made up words next to a generic imported product. Like "iGoEnergeeFan" or something similarly stupid. Indeed, or the recent trend of naming your generic company with an ALL CAPS name, "VECTROMOX", as if that's somehow effective at differentiating your obviously fly-by-night operation. >Those good ole' "produce cheaply overseas and markup in our stores" business models of American retailers have come right back around to bite them in the ass. Good, imho. #firstworldproblem here but I loath America's rip-off economy. $25 for a t-shirt that cost $2 to make overseas, or $100 for a pair of pants that cost $5 to make. I try really hard to buy stuff that was either made in the US, or at least somewhere with high quality standards like Japan, Korea, Taiwan or Germany. It takes a non-trivial amount of extra time and work to do that though, especially on Amazon.

WalterBright 7y ago
> I loath America's rip-off economy. $25 for a t-shirt that cost $2 to make overseas, Buying a t-shirt in Europe isn't any cheaper.
- Daniel_sk 7y ago
  25$ sounds okay for a T-shirt for someone living in Slovakia (EU).
- SkyMarshal 7y ago
  Yeah it’s a problem for all developed economies, not just the US. The rip-off, rent-seeking economies.
Marsymars 7y ago
> It takes a non-trivial amount of extra time and work to do that though, especially on Amazon. Probably the easiest/fastest way is to just default to brands that are known for enforcing supply chain standards, which mostly won't be available on Amazon anyway.
- SkyMarshal 7y ago
  True, though there’s a challenge even with that, which is that most brands even high quality ones now have a mix of products, where their low-end ones are cheap rebranded crap, and their high-end ones are still manufactured in high-quality facilities. But figuring out where that split in their product line is takes work. I recently had to do that for buying a torque wrench, a hand blender, and a couple of other things.
  - Marsymars 7y ago
    Oh, yeah, I had Patagonia in mind with my original comment for clothes, but I've got no idea where one would look for tools or appliances.
    - 7y ago