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You're comparing apples to oranges. Would you be able to buy a couch on Amazon? The #1 bestseller on Amazon currently says "Currently unavailable. We don't kno

You're comparing apples to oranges. Would you be able to buy a couch on Amazon? The #1 bestseller on Amazon currently says "Currently unavailable. We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock." so it doesn't work here the same way other retailers don't work. So you're saying you can't get a passport from the government but you're able to buy certain things on Amazon therefore Amazon is better?

stickfigure 5y ago
I just opened amazon incognito, searched for "couch", and everything seems to be available in a week. Some in 4 days.
- underseacables 5y ago
  Don’t you need to lay on it first? I’ve avoided beds like Casper because it’s an inconvenience if I don’t like it. Gotta lay on the couch.
binaryblitz 5y ago
Having had to get a passport recently, yes. At least better in the sense that you are actually receiving a service you've paid for. It is virtually impossible to get an appointment at the passport office in the US right now. Not a local passport office, ANY passport office. There were people outside the one I went to offering a Nintendo Switch to people to trade for a time slot. The shortest wait time I had on the phone was three hours, and I called one minute after they opened.
- barbazoo 5y ago
  I'm not sure what you are arguing here. You can buy things on Amazon but it's difficult to get a Passport right now. How is one thing related to the other?
  - tbihl 5y ago
    Probably parent is writing in terms of the common line of thinking that Amazon exercises significant control over our lives by being so enormous and saying that it's not nearly so abusive a relationship as ones he's trapped in with other large institutions. And if you have only a single citizenship, being stuck with the passport office is about as stuck as you can be.
- bserge 5y ago
  You waited 3 hours for a passport appointment?
samatman 5y ago
I just moved in to a new apartment, and I've been ordering furniture on Amazon. Why? Because the local Ikea is out of everything I've looked for, which is unsettling because I don't think of Ikea as running out of things. It works... ok. The delivery company only delivered one of three boxes for my bedframe, I got a refund but now I have a headboard and a mattress on the floor, and the model is out of stock. Woe is me, right? Everything else has gone off without a hitch, and so, tl;dr yes you can buy a couch on Amazon. Or Wayfair. But not necessarily at Ikea, at the moment. At least not here.
- renewiltord 5y ago
  I did the same and used Home Depot ship to store, then picked it up myself.
- robocat 5y ago
  Which might show the monopsony power of Amazon being abused. I recall an article talking about how manufacturers with limited stocks would supply Amazon first, prioritising Amazon other channels, due to the incentives of their contracts and the penalties imposed by Amazon's business processes. Unfortunately I can't find the article now...

stickfigure 5y ago

I just opened amazon incognito, searched for "couch", and everything seems to be available in a week. Some in 4 days.

underseacables 5y ago
Don’t you need to lay on it first? I’ve avoided beds like Casper because it’s an inconvenience if I don’t like it. Gotta lay on the couch.

binaryblitz 5y ago

Having had to get a passport recently, yes. At least better in the sense that you are actually receiving a service you've paid for. It is virtually impossible to get an appointment at the passport office in the US right now. Not a local passport office, ANY passport office. There were people outside the one I went to offering a Nintendo Switch to people to trade for a time slot. The shortest wait time I had on the phone was three hours, and I called one minute after they opened.

barbazoo 5y ago
I'm not sure what you are arguing here. You can buy things on Amazon but it's difficult to get a Passport right now. How is one thing related to the other?
- tbihl 5y ago
  Probably parent is writing in terms of the common line of thinking that Amazon exercises significant control over our lives by being so enormous and saying that it's not nearly so abusive a relationship as ones he's trapped in with other large institutions. And if you have only a single citizenship, being stuck with the passport office is about as stuck as you can be.
bserge 5y ago
You waited 3 hours for a passport appointment?

samatman 5y ago

I just moved in to a new apartment, and I've been ordering furniture on Amazon. Why? Because the local Ikea is out of everything I've looked for, which is unsettling because I don't think of Ikea as running out of things. It works... ok. The delivery company only delivered one of three boxes for my bedframe, I got a refund but now I have a headboard and a mattress on the floor, and the model is out of stock. Woe is me, right? Everything else has gone off without a hitch, and so, tl;dr yes you can buy a couch on Amazon. Or Wayfair. But not necessarily at Ikea, at the moment. At least not here.

renewiltord 5y ago
I did the same and used Home Depot ship to store, then picked it up myself.
robocat 5y ago
Which might show the monopsony power of Amazon being abused. I recall an article talking about how manufacturers with limited stocks would supply Amazon first, prioritising Amazon other channels, due to the incentives of their contracts and the penalties imposed by Amazon's business processes. Unfortunately I can't find the article now...