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I'm increasingly put out by Amazon and am trying to stop the habit of shopping there. I like books, and Amazon was founded on books, but the way they ship books

I'm increasingly put out by Amazon and am trying to stop the habit of shopping there. I like books, and Amazon was founded on books, but the way they ship books now (typically loose in a soft envelope or mostly empty box) means that >50% of the books I've ordered recently have arrived damaged and had to be returned. They used to shrinkwrap books to a cardboard plate inside the box. There are other problems: 1) Search is just terrible. Often I have to search in Google to find the product I'm looking for at Amazon. The "other people bought/looked at these items" functionality which partially made up for bad search has been pushed out in favor of sponsored products (i.e. ads). 2) Shipping is only fast and cheap if you get Prime, which basically means paying for your shipping in advance and buying constantly at Amazon to amortize your initial investment. 3) Because Amazon no longer actually controls its own catalog, duplicate listings, misleading listings, merged listings that amalgamate multiple different editions of the same book, etc. abound. e.g. search for "Norton Anthology of English Literature". Instead of a neatly sorted list by volume/edition/condition, you get a whole mess of duplicate/overlapping listings, and also misleading garbage like this (shows 3 books but you only get 1 of them): https://www.amazon.com/Norton-Anthology-English-Literature-Package/dp/039360313X https://www.amazon.com/Norton-Anthology-English-Literature-P.... I'm shifting towards just using Amazon as a 'wishlist' shopping cart and then finding the actual thing to buy elsewhere.

phatfish 5y ago
I have also been annoyed by damaged books and is one reason I avoid Amazon. I've had them arrive damaged from specialist online book stores as well, but not as often. The only way to avoid that is to go to the book store and inspect the product first (which I do on occasion). They don't seem to be damaged in transit, usually it looks like they have been dropped or badly stored. I always price check Amazon too, quite often it is not the cheapest, and you can get caught out on shipping costs as you say.
8note 5y ago
You couldn't read these books? Or you couldn't show off that you owned them? How do you lose a page from inside of a box/envelope?
- allturtles 5y ago
  Consider a category of item you care about. Would you accept it if it were sold to you as being in new condition, but arrived with substantial cosmetic damage? A dining table with a gash down the middle of it still holds food just fine. A white door spattered with red paint still opens and closes and keeps the wind out. Carpeting stained with wine still keeps your feet warm. Often, in any case, the damage is more than cosmetic. A paperback book that has been badly creased is more difficult to read than one that's in good condition. Caring about the condition of books is not a strange idiosyncrasy. There's a clear stratification in the price of the book market as you descend from new to very good to acceptable condition - because buyers generally care.
- wccrawford 5y ago
  For people who buy physical books, there's a lot of pride of ownership and enjoying the look and feel of the thing, as much as actually reading it. I'll never forget lending one of the few books I bothered to keep physically to my wife who immediately trying to crack the spine on it to have it open the way she was used to. The majority of the books I read are digital, though, and have been since PDAs were invented.
queuebert 5y ago
This times a million. It irks me to no end that they ship books like they just D.G.A.F. I get them loose in boxes with other things, in soft envelopes, and always, freaking always, with bent or dented corners. That's your one job. Ship me the thing in new condition, and you can't even do that. How much is that even saving them on packaging? A nickel? It's disrespectful and greedy, and it's a sign of how awful they really are. You can sell things cheap and be efficient without being trashy.

phatfish 5y ago

I have also been annoyed by damaged books and is one reason I avoid Amazon. I've had them arrive damaged from specialist online book stores as well, but not as often. The only way to avoid that is to go to the book store and inspect the product first (which I do on occasion). They don't seem to be damaged in transit, usually it looks like they have been dropped or badly stored. I always price check Amazon too, quite often it is not the cheapest, and you can get caught out on shipping costs as you say.

8note 5y ago

You couldn't read these books? Or you couldn't show off that you owned them? How do you lose a page from inside of a box/envelope?

allturtles 5y ago
Consider a category of item you care about. Would you accept it if it were sold to you as being in new condition, but arrived with substantial cosmetic damage? A dining table with a gash down the middle of it still holds food just fine. A white door spattered with red paint still opens and closes and keeps the wind out. Carpeting stained with wine still keeps your feet warm. Often, in any case, the damage is more than cosmetic. A paperback book that has been badly creased is more difficult to read than one that's in good condition. Caring about the condition of books is not a strange idiosyncrasy. There's a clear stratification in the price of the book market as you descend from new to very good to acceptable condition - because buyers generally care.
wccrawford 5y ago
For people who buy physical books, there's a lot of pride of ownership and enjoying the look and feel of the thing, as much as actually reading it. I'll never forget lending one of the few books I bothered to keep physically to my wife who immediately trying to crack the spine on it to have it open the way she was used to. The majority of the books I read are digital, though, and have been since PDAs were invented.

queuebert 5y ago

This times a million. It irks me to no end that they ship books like they just D.G.A.F. I get them loose in boxes with other things, in soft envelopes, and always, freaking always, with bent or dented corners. That's your one job. Ship me the thing in new condition, and you can't even do that. How much is that even saving them on packaging? A nickel? It's disrespectful and greedy, and it's a sign of how awful they really are. You can sell things cheap and be efficient without being trashy.