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A better analogy would be delivering an odd-looking home made cheeseburger wrapped in a Burger King wrapper. A couple of my recent Amazon purchases have felt l

by nugget 7y ago

A better analogy would be delivering an odd-looking home made cheeseburger wrapped in a Burger King wrapper. A couple of my recent Amazon purchases have felt like this.

AJ007 7y ago
Or they are both from Burger King, but two different restaurants, one that repeatedly is closed for rat infestations. Then there is the not new, new items issue, which is like you got a cheeseburger, but someone else got it first, licked the bun, decided they didn’t want it and returned it to the counter. For all of the billions of dollars Walmart is spending trying to be like Amazon, this is the one area they can nail Amazon directly in the gut. Amazon’s entire cashflow positive low margin growth model falls apart if Amazon was the one that had to try to be like Walmart. Once consumers think of Amazon like eBay or Craigslist, the cost to reverse that view will be massive or impossible. Ironically, I get electronics that are in great shape and undamaged from eBay, not the same experience from Amazon. Right now Amazon is a giant flea market. It’s on par with Craigslist, and a little worse than eBay. When you buy something on eBay you know who it came from. Amazon, you know nothing. Try ordering 5x of the same thing from Amazon and see the wild variations in quality and condition they are in.
- saghm 7y ago
  > Ironically, I get electronics that are in great shape and undamaged from eBay, not the same experience from Amazon. I've had the same experience as you. I'm not sure what the cause is (maybe there's lower volume, so scammers don't use eBay as much), but I've bought things like top-of-the-line noise cancelling headphones refurbished at huge markdowns on eBay and had zero issues, but I've not had great experiences buying similar things from Amazon.
- randycupertino 7y ago
  > Right now Amazon is a giant flea market. It’s on par with Craigslist, and a little worse than eBay. I'd argue eBay is actually safer than Amazon now, because at least the reviews are less sketchy and easier to trust and also buyers can self-select from more legit products by going for higher prices. And can guarantee you're buying from the same seller every time who will ship direct to you. Whereas for things like makeup on amazon even if you choose higher priced you're still at risk of getting knockoffs due to comingling.

by nugget 7y ago

A better analogy would be delivering an odd-looking home made cheeseburger wrapped in a Burger King wrapper. A couple of my recent Amazon purchases have felt like this.

AJ007 7y ago

Or they are both from Burger King, but two different restaurants, one that repeatedly is closed for rat infestations. Then there is the not new, new items issue, which is like you got a cheeseburger, but someone else got it first, licked the bun, decided they didn’t want it and returned it to the counter. For all of the billions of dollars Walmart is spending trying to be like Amazon, this is the one area they can nail Amazon directly in the gut. Amazon’s entire cashflow positive low margin growth model falls apart if Amazon was the one that had to try to be like Walmart. Once consumers think of Amazon like eBay or Craigslist, the cost to reverse that view will be massive or impossible. Ironically, I get electronics that are in great shape and undamaged from eBay, not the same experience from Amazon. Right now Amazon is a giant flea market. It’s on par with Craigslist, and a little worse than eBay. When you buy something on eBay you know who it came from. Amazon, you know nothing. Try ordering 5x of the same thing from Amazon and see the wild variations in quality and condition they are in.

saghm 7y ago
> Ironically, I get electronics that are in great shape and undamaged from eBay, not the same experience from Amazon. I've had the same experience as you. I'm not sure what the cause is (maybe there's lower volume, so scammers don't use eBay as much), but I've bought things like top-of-the-line noise cancelling headphones refurbished at huge markdowns on eBay and had zero issues, but I've not had great experiences buying similar things from Amazon.
randycupertino 7y ago
> Right now Amazon is a giant flea market. It’s on par with Craigslist, and a little worse than eBay. I'd argue eBay is actually safer than Amazon now, because at least the reviews are less sketchy and easier to trust and also buyers can self-select from more legit products by going for higher prices. And can guarantee you're buying from the same seller every time who will ship direct to you. Whereas for things like makeup on amazon even if you choose higher priced you're still at risk of getting knockoffs due to comingling.