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I have tried to avoid shopping from Amazon for many years. It just feels bad to support ultra-capitalists that show no respect for their employees. Last year I

I have tried to avoid shopping from Amazon for many years. It just feels bad to support ultra-capitalists that show no respect for their employees. Last year I spent less than 50 EUR, this year still zero. Living in a small country it's sometimes hard to avoid them completely because many businesses don't ship here or at least not for a reasonable rate.

usr1106 5y ago
At work we used to buy computer equipment from them. After repeatedly receiving RAM chips with 50% of the capacity we had ordered and paid for we don't longer use them. I can't really imagine how that happenend. I'd assume they scan whatever they pack. Bad processes or intentional fraud by Amazon did not seem like likely explanations. A poor employee trying to improve their income? Not really sure how that scheme would work. Either way, personally I am glad we switched to other suppliers. Too big market share for one is never a good idea.
- striking 5y ago
  Inventory can be commingled at the Amazon warehouse. Additionally, sellers have been engaging in some pretty wild fraud to retain their position in the listings. I don't trust them anymore either, except maybe for cables or something.
  - capitainenemo 5y ago
    Even for cables it's pretty iffy https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10508494 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10508494 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11021665 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11021665 I seem to have better luck with tech that is bought from Newegg or Target or Walmart and using: Newegg: "Seller → Newegg" Target: "Filter → Sold By → Target" Walmart: "All Filters → Retailer → Walmart" I think 'cause they actually check their supply chains...
    - nebula8804 5y ago
      All these places are doing their best to make me dread buying from them Newegg: Make it as annoying as possible to filter out all non-newegg sales, make it harder to verify if something is in stock unless I click on the item itself, and those damn ads they insert into the top of the page 1 SECOND after the page has rendered. I start scrolling and all of a sudden everything gets pushed down. This happens every time I load a new page! Target: No realistic indicator of stock whatsoever. I have verified this with multiple employees and stores, the number of items at a particular store is just a pure guess. The search by store is so poorly designed its laughable, I have to select a different store location if I want to view stock and finally still gotta filter out non target sold items. Walmart: Similar issues as Target except this time, the search bar resets your store location every time you begin a new search. I am also creeped out when I was suggested items I bought before in a non logged in account just because I used the same credit card. (I don't know if they still do this) I still prefer to buy from these places but man I really wish there was a store that didn't suck as much as these places. All these please are built by monkey developers. I am thankful these guys still check their supply chains though so maybe I should shut up and stop complaining that America hasn't completely turned into a Chinese bazaar yet(although its getting there).
      - capitainenemo 5y ago
        Newegg's filter seems pretty straightforward actually. It's Target and Walmart that hide it a bit more. Newegg's is visible by default on a search. Store stock is pretty hit or miss with most any store. They try to keep stock in-store to a razor thin margin these days I think to maximise selection. They also don't seem to do full store inventories as often (short-staffed?). Result is that misplaced items or theft only get picked up when someone tries to purchase the thing, and then, only if the employee bothers to update the database (doesn't always happen). I've had this happen with all the major retailers repeatedly, even on common items. That said, that really only matters if you're wanting to do a same-day in-store pickup. General inventory is reliable for all the stores. If the local store doesn't have it in stock, they just flag it and it goes to Target's general warehouses I guess, and you get (usually modest) delivery delay.
peanuty1 5y ago
Amazon set a min hourly wage of $15 in 2018 and has benefits like $100 worth of annual Amazon discounts. The federal minimum wage in 2022 is $7.25. Amazon probably pays a lot more than $15/hr in 2022. How is paying more than 2x min wage disrespectful to their employees?
- toomuchtodo 5y ago
  You're setting the bar at the federal minimum wage, which hasn't kept up with inflation for some time (not much good if it's raised if the cost of living rises faster). One can look at the federal minimum wage with disdain (I encourage folks here to try to live on ~$1200/month), and also observe that how Amazon treats its retail workers is still exploitative (both at fulfillment centers and the delivery network). Regardless, a union is likely the solution for workers to improve their experience at Amazon at scale until there is enough political will (legislation/labor regulation) to stop treating these people as disposable.
- uoaei 5y ago
  How is min wage the only thing that you are comparing against here?
- usr1106 5y ago
  I'm not so sure about the wage, but the working conditions are inhumane according to all what I read (obviously I haven't worked there myself). The dirty tricks they use to hinder unionization just confirm my impression.
- saddd 5y ago
  I'm going to use an extreme & contrived example here. How would you feel about a company that pays $200 an hour, but 90% of each new batch of hires are fired by that company within a week? And the 10% who don't get fired have to physically exert themselves through things like holding it in when they need to use a restroom, and operating with less sleep than is necessary. By the end of the first month, that 10% is reduced to 1%.
ejb999 5y ago
I've pretty much stopped shopping from amazon, based solely on the fact they are almost never the lowest cost place to buy things anymore - used to be for most things I buy, now I think they are counting on people not checking prices anymore so they charge more, sometimes a lot more, than other places.
- 2ion 5y ago
  Hereabouts, unfortunately, for certain things, they are the only option. Because they excel at logistics and customer service. It's the same reason I buy my nongreat nonoffice furniture from IKEA --- because they have the product and the logistics.
NaturalPhallacy 5y ago
Most of their revenue comes from AWS anyway. Physical shipping is peanuts to them.
MrMan 5y ago
I no longer use Amazon, for many reasons

usr1106 5y ago

At work we used to buy computer equipment from them. After repeatedly receiving RAM chips with 50% of the capacity we had ordered and paid for we don't longer use them. I can't really imagine how that happenend. I'd assume they scan whatever they pack. Bad processes or intentional fraud by Amazon did not seem like likely explanations. A poor employee trying to improve their income? Not really sure how that scheme would work. Either way, personally I am glad we switched to other suppliers. Too big market share for one is never a good idea.

striking 5y ago
Inventory can be commingled at the Amazon warehouse. Additionally, sellers have been engaging in some pretty wild fraud to retain their position in the listings. I don't trust them anymore either, except maybe for cables or something.
- capitainenemo 5y ago
  Even for cables it's pretty iffy https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10508494 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10508494 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11021665 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11021665 I seem to have better luck with tech that is bought from Newegg or Target or Walmart and using: Newegg: "Seller → Newegg" Target: "Filter → Sold By → Target" Walmart: "All Filters → Retailer → Walmart" I think 'cause they actually check their supply chains...
  - nebula8804 5y ago
    All these places are doing their best to make me dread buying from them Newegg: Make it as annoying as possible to filter out all non-newegg sales, make it harder to verify if something is in stock unless I click on the item itself, and those damn ads they insert into the top of the page 1 SECOND after the page has rendered. I start scrolling and all of a sudden everything gets pushed down. This happens every time I load a new page! Target: No realistic indicator of stock whatsoever. I have verified this with multiple employees and stores, the number of items at a particular store is just a pure guess. The search by store is so poorly designed its laughable, I have to select a different store location if I want to view stock and finally still gotta filter out non target sold items. Walmart: Similar issues as Target except this time, the search bar resets your store location every time you begin a new search. I am also creeped out when I was suggested items I bought before in a non logged in account just because I used the same credit card. (I don't know if they still do this) I still prefer to buy from these places but man I really wish there was a store that didn't suck as much as these places. All these please are built by monkey developers. I am thankful these guys still check their supply chains though so maybe I should shut up and stop complaining that America hasn't completely turned into a Chinese bazaar yet(although its getting there).
    - capitainenemo 5y ago
      Newegg's filter seems pretty straightforward actually. It's Target and Walmart that hide it a bit more. Newegg's is visible by default on a search. Store stock is pretty hit or miss with most any store. They try to keep stock in-store to a razor thin margin these days I think to maximise selection. They also don't seem to do full store inventories as often (short-staffed?). Result is that misplaced items or theft only get picked up when someone tries to purchase the thing, and then, only if the employee bothers to update the database (doesn't always happen). I've had this happen with all the major retailers repeatedly, even on common items. That said, that really only matters if you're wanting to do a same-day in-store pickup. General inventory is reliable for all the stores. If the local store doesn't have it in stock, they just flag it and it goes to Target's general warehouses I guess, and you get (usually modest) delivery delay.

peanuty1 5y ago

Amazon set a min hourly wage of $15 in 2018 and has benefits like $100 worth of annual Amazon discounts. The federal minimum wage in 2022 is $7.25. Amazon probably pays a lot more than $15/hr in 2022. How is paying more than 2x min wage disrespectful to their employees?

toomuchtodo 5y ago
You're setting the bar at the federal minimum wage, which hasn't kept up with inflation for some time (not much good if it's raised if the cost of living rises faster). One can look at the federal minimum wage with disdain (I encourage folks here to try to live on ~$1200/month), and also observe that how Amazon treats its retail workers is still exploitative (both at fulfillment centers and the delivery network). Regardless, a union is likely the solution for workers to improve their experience at Amazon at scale until there is enough political will (legislation/labor regulation) to stop treating these people as disposable.
uoaei 5y ago
How is min wage the only thing that you are comparing against here?
usr1106 5y ago
I'm not so sure about the wage, but the working conditions are inhumane according to all what I read (obviously I haven't worked there myself). The dirty tricks they use to hinder unionization just confirm my impression.
saddd 5y ago
I'm going to use an extreme & contrived example here. How would you feel about a company that pays $200 an hour, but 90% of each new batch of hires are fired by that company within a week? And the 10% who don't get fired have to physically exert themselves through things like holding it in when they need to use a restroom, and operating with less sleep than is necessary. By the end of the first month, that 10% is reduced to 1%.

ejb999 5y ago

I've pretty much stopped shopping from amazon, based solely on the fact they are almost never the lowest cost place to buy things anymore - used to be for most things I buy, now I think they are counting on people not checking prices anymore so they charge more, sometimes a lot more, than other places.

2ion 5y ago
Hereabouts, unfortunately, for certain things, they are the only option. Because they excel at logistics and customer service. It's the same reason I buy my nongreat nonoffice furniture from IKEA --- because they have the product and the logistics.

NaturalPhallacy 5y ago

Most of their revenue comes from AWS anyway. Physical shipping is peanuts to them.

MrMan 5y ago

I no longer use Amazon, for many reasons