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Been using Target Staples, and Bestbuy more and while they don’t always have the same items, brand names end up being roughly the same price due to auto price m

Been using Target Staples, and Bestbuy more and while they don’t always have the same items, brand names end up being roughly the same price due to auto price matching and contractual minimum prices. Only times I’m using amazon is for cheap items no one else will ship. They’ve really just turned into AliExpress.

nerdponx 6y ago
Same here, but I wonder if Target warehouse employees have been pissing in bottles all along and the news just never picked up on it.
- slices 6y ago
  I don't know about the warehouses, but a family member stocked shelves at Target for years, and was paid the minimum wage the whole time. Hours were 1) part time, 2) too inconsistent to allow any other work.
- auiya 6y ago
  Of course they do. And lots of other awful shit you'll see in this thread - https://twitter.com/BanishedBernie/status/1376455874533801985 https://twitter.com/BanishedBernie/status/137645587453380198...
  - dawnerd 6y ago
    There really isn't a company at that scale that doesn't have problems. I rank Target over Amazon simply because I know the products are going to be legit. Most of the time I'm doing curbside pickup there anyways. And don't forget, Apple was also doing shady stuff: https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/3/21419729/apple-california-pay-workers-class-action-bag-searches https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/3/21419729/apple-california-...
doktorhladnjak 6y ago
And with those companies you actually get the brand name item instead of a knock-off!
crocsarecool 6y ago
I felt like I had to remember how to shop other places online as I’ve been making my switch to less Amazon. I’m so tired of finding little business cards in all my orders to review the products. I gave a bad review on a vacuum cleaner, and the seller has been contacting me every few weeks to refund me if I take it down. I sympathize with sellers because I know it’s hard to sell anything less than a five star product on there. The whole system feels so broken these days.
- dawnerd 6y ago
  I don't feel bad, those sellers did it to themselves. They gamed the system too hard and that's where they landed.
  - p_j_w 6y ago
    Not all of the sellers are responsible for the bad behavior, though.
crooked-v 6y ago
> They’ve really just turned into AliExpress. For a quick and concrete example of this, do a search on Amazon for "dent puller". You'll get pages and pages of obviously identical suction cups and dent removal kits with obviously randomly generated brand names like "LTGABA" and "QGMZZMF".
- heavyset_go 6y ago
  To cement this example, do a search for a product like this on Amazon, and then do the same search on Alibaba/AliExpress. Most sellers on Amazon don't even bother changing the stock images from the ones on AliExpress. It really drives the point home that you're paying premiums to unnecessary middlemen by buying on Amazon.
heavyset_go 6y ago
> Only times I’m using amazon is for cheap items no one else will ship. They’ve really just turned into AliExpress. I've been impressed with what sellers on Etsy offer when it comes to things that can't be found through AliExpress or domestic retailers.

nerdponx 6y ago

Same here, but I wonder if Target warehouse employees have been pissing in bottles all along and the news just never picked up on it.

slices 6y ago
I don't know about the warehouses, but a family member stocked shelves at Target for years, and was paid the minimum wage the whole time. Hours were 1) part time, 2) too inconsistent to allow any other work.
auiya 6y ago
Of course they do. And lots of other awful shit you'll see in this thread - https://twitter.com/BanishedBernie/status/1376455874533801985 https://twitter.com/BanishedBernie/status/137645587453380198...
- dawnerd 6y ago
  There really isn't a company at that scale that doesn't have problems. I rank Target over Amazon simply because I know the products are going to be legit. Most of the time I'm doing curbside pickup there anyways. And don't forget, Apple was also doing shady stuff: https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/3/21419729/apple-california-pay-workers-class-action-bag-searches https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/3/21419729/apple-california-...

doktorhladnjak 6y ago

And with those companies you actually get the brand name item instead of a knock-off!

crocsarecool 6y ago

I felt like I had to remember how to shop other places online as I’ve been making my switch to less Amazon. I’m so tired of finding little business cards in all my orders to review the products. I gave a bad review on a vacuum cleaner, and the seller has been contacting me every few weeks to refund me if I take it down. I sympathize with sellers because I know it’s hard to sell anything less than a five star product on there. The whole system feels so broken these days.

dawnerd 6y ago
I don't feel bad, those sellers did it to themselves. They gamed the system too hard and that's where they landed.
- p_j_w 6y ago
  Not all of the sellers are responsible for the bad behavior, though.

crooked-v 6y ago

> They’ve really just turned into AliExpress. For a quick and concrete example of this, do a search on Amazon for "dent puller". You'll get pages and pages of obviously identical suction cups and dent removal kits with obviously randomly generated brand names like "LTGABA" and "QGMZZMF".

heavyset_go 6y ago
To cement this example, do a search for a product like this on Amazon, and then do the same search on Alibaba/AliExpress. Most sellers on Amazon don't even bother changing the stock images from the ones on AliExpress. It really drives the point home that you're paying premiums to unnecessary middlemen by buying on Amazon.

heavyset_go 6y ago

> Only times I’m using amazon is for cheap items no one else will ship. They’ve really just turned into AliExpress. I've been impressed with what sellers on Etsy offer when it comes to things that can't be found through AliExpress or domestic retailers.