6 ms·

Amazon doesn't come close to occupying "the bottom" so far as shopping experiences are concerned. To see that it's still doing relatively well, just try this: s

Amazon doesn't come close to occupying "the bottom" so far as shopping experiences are concerned. To see that it's still doing relatively well, just try this: shop for five items on Amazon, and then shop for the same five items on Walmart. The Amazon experience remains much better—in many cases, it's superior. Listings are more relevant and better sorted on Amazon. At least, this is my consistent experience. I want Walmart to be a good competitor…but at the moment, I find that it's still not close. Simple search strategies on Amazon help, too: to avoid counterfeit products, search for products that are sold by (and not just shipped by) Amazon itself. Don't attend to one- or five-star reviews; instead, read the two- and three-star reviews (if any at all) and consider the percentage of all verified reviews that give 1-3 stars. Of course, none of this is foolproof; you may still end up with a low-quality product. But I find that these strategies help a lot. I get >100 shipments from Amazon per year, and I have almost no problem with low-quality or counterfeit goods.

wollsmoth 4y ago
Walmart feels better to me as long as I filter it to only items sold by walmart. This used to work on amazon too but now it's possible to sell anything as "fulfilled by amazon" or whatever. For some items, I'm finding myself just heading down to a physical big box store or grocery store.
- paulmd 4y ago
  You can still select "Amazon.com" or "Amazon Export" as the seller.
  - ac29 4y ago
    If they still comingle inventory, you dont know which seller is actually supplying the product you receive. This has been problematic in the past.
    - wollsmoth 4y ago
      Yeah I've seen a lot of suspect merchandise sold by amazon too. Meaning just poor quality stuff with incredibly high star ratings. Wal mart they tend to go through major distributors. For now anyway.
    - paulmd 4y ago
      yeah that's true, and they do commingle, and it's a big problem. but it does at least let you filter out all the randomly-generated "OODIXY" random generated chinese crap, at least you'll be looking at real items from real brands for the most part. Although even then, there are some random chinese brands that are sold+shipped by Amazon...
  - blagie 4y ago
    Walmart-only items does okay. I recently bought a new personal hygiene item. Many reviews on Amazon indicated that the item had been used, in two cases, with photos of pubic hair. I noped my way ought, and paid a few bucks more for the same item from Walmart. I'm mostly switching to Walmart, Instacart, and Aliexpress. I'm not sure what's wrong at Amazon, but something's very, very wrong.
z9znz 4y ago
> Amazon doesn't come close to occupying "the bottom" so far as shopping experiences are concerned Amazon exists well beyond the realm of Walmart. Even when I lived for several decades in the US, Walmart was place you only went when there were literally no other options. Aside from the practical matters, there are endless memes which illustrate why only gun-toting brain-discarding trump-loving people go there. It's a shitshow. It makes you question reality at a level which is both intensely disturbing and also possibly enlightening (assuming "reality" is a simulation that we should wake up from and break out of).
- rufus_foreman 4y ago
  I like shopping at Walmart. Helps put the problems in my life in perspective.

wollsmoth 4y ago

Walmart feels better to me as long as I filter it to only items sold by walmart. This used to work on amazon too but now it's possible to sell anything as "fulfilled by amazon" or whatever. For some items, I'm finding myself just heading down to a physical big box store or grocery store.

paulmd 4y ago
You can still select "Amazon.com" or "Amazon Export" as the seller.
- ac29 4y ago
  If they still comingle inventory, you dont know which seller is actually supplying the product you receive. This has been problematic in the past.
  - wollsmoth 4y ago
    Yeah I've seen a lot of suspect merchandise sold by amazon too. Meaning just poor quality stuff with incredibly high star ratings. Wal mart they tend to go through major distributors. For now anyway.
  - paulmd 4y ago
    yeah that's true, and they do commingle, and it's a big problem. but it does at least let you filter out all the randomly-generated "OODIXY" random generated chinese crap, at least you'll be looking at real items from real brands for the most part. Although even then, there are some random chinese brands that are sold+shipped by Amazon...
- blagie 4y ago
  Walmart-only items does okay. I recently bought a new personal hygiene item. Many reviews on Amazon indicated that the item had been used, in two cases, with photos of pubic hair. I noped my way ought, and paid a few bucks more for the same item from Walmart. I'm mostly switching to Walmart, Instacart, and Aliexpress. I'm not sure what's wrong at Amazon, but something's very, very wrong.

z9znz 4y ago

> Amazon doesn't come close to occupying "the bottom" so far as shopping experiences are concerned Amazon exists well beyond the realm of Walmart. Even when I lived for several decades in the US, Walmart was place you only went when there were literally no other options. Aside from the practical matters, there are endless memes which illustrate why only gun-toting brain-discarding trump-loving people go there. It's a shitshow. It makes you question reality at a level which is both intensely disturbing and also possibly enlightening (assuming "reality" is a simulation that we should wake up from and break out of).

rufus_foreman 4y ago
I like shopping at Walmart. Helps put the problems in my life in perspective.