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Ask HN: What benefit is there to requiring sign-in before browsing?
I was just trying to show a student something on aliexpress.com (that I thought would be useful for his project), and the website wouldn't let me browse product categories or search without logging in first.
I suppose LinkedIn does this, as have several other sites that I've noticed.
Why do sites choose this user-hostile approach?
In the case of the student that I was trying to show a part to, I just looked the item up on Amazon instead and Aliexpress lost a sale.
Go figure?
- elmerfud 7y agoTracking and marketing to select partners. It's easier to know who you are if you're logged in.
- notlukesky 7y agoI have to agree. There is more sales loss to me than user gains. Of course I don’t have the numbers of these companies at scale. Presumably they did the math and gain more conversions than losses to continue doing this.
- hitpointdrew 7y agoSame bullshit with "Call for pricing". How about no. How about you be transparent and list the pricing on your page.
- mtmail 7y agoIt could be a counter-measure to not get crawled by price comparison engines.