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Buyer beware - my wife hates Amazon and goes out of her way to not purchase from them. She has encountered several vendors on Walmart marketplace that simply pl

Buyer beware - my wife hates Amazon and goes out of her way to not purchase from them. She has encountered several vendors on Walmart marketplace that simply place orders with Amazon at 100% markup - the packages arrive in Amazon boxes w/ a receipt showing the actual cost paid at Amazon. Total rip-off. When ordering electronics from Walmart Marketplace, particularly TVs, I’ve found that the marketplace sellers freely substitute makes and models. Maybe nobody notices if you are shipping a gift to someone else, but since I need specific models from specific manufacturers for development it gets noticed when I order LG model XYZ and get a no-name tv instead. I stopped ordering from Walmart altogether after the second time (out of two, consecutive) that happened. So my advice is anything you buy online at Walmart, make sure it is not a marketplace seller, just save yourself the trouble. In all cases Wal-Mart refunded my money after waiting for a week for the vendor to respond, though I had to lug the stuff to the UPS store to return it. Amazon usually suggests I donate stuff rather then return it. I’ve not had any issues with the items sold by Wal-mart actual, those you can buy with confidence.

TMWNN 4y ago
>Buyer beware - my wife hates Amazon and goes out of her way to not purchase from them. She has encountered several vendors on Walmart marketplace that simply place orders with Amazon at 100% markup - the packages arrive in Amazon boxes w/ a receipt showing the actual cost paid at Amazon. Total rip-off. I sell on both Walmart and Amazon. As somethingwitty1 said, this works in multiple directions; people dropshipping ittems from Amazon directly to Walmart customers, from Walmart to Amazon customers, and from both to eBay customers. It's also forbidden. Both Walmart and Amazon explicitly warn against shipping items to customers in competitors' boxes; Walmart even explicitly bans tracking numbers starting with "TBA". If your wife reports that this is happening to Walmart buyer support, the sellers won't be there for long; recent anecdotes say that both companies are really cracking down on dropshipping. >When ordering electronics from Walmart Marketplace, particularly TVs, I’ve found that the marketplace sellers freely substitute makes and models. Ugh. All I can say that I've also had less-than-positive experiences when buying from other sellers on both platforms. Amazon is notorious for allowing anyone to open a seller account. Walmart is in theory supposed to be much stricter in examining applicants' qualifications, with many waiting for weeks or months. While this is great from my perspective (both in terms of improving the overall quality of third-party sellers, and minimizing my competition), the incompetent and crooked are still getting through; Walmart recently allowing non US-domiciled sellers (i.e., Chinese) doesn't help. >I’ve not had any issues with the items sold by Wal-mart actual, those you can buy with confidence. Agreed. Amazon commingles its own inventory and that of third-party sellers that Amazon handles storage and shipping for (FBA); as a result, my own confidence in the genuineness of, say, household staples from Amazon has plummeted. I think Walmart does not do so with WFS, its FBA equivalent. In any case WFS much less used than FBA, because there is little advantage for sellers to do so over fulfilling items themselves.
surfpel 4y ago
I’ve had this happen with an Amazon vendor drop shipping another Amazon product. They were able to do this because the original product wasn’t listed in the correct department and couldn’t be found easily.
gazby 4y ago
Genuinely interested, because I hate Amazon also but spend much of my online shopping dollars with them, what makes Walmart preferable to Amazon for your family?
- HWR_14 4y ago
  I know people who believe that giving dollars to Amazon will cement their monopoly like control over ecommerce, leading to worse behavior in the future. Others object to the well-publicized (although I doubt unique) poor conditions for their drivers and warehouse employees in their fulfillment system.
  - hellisothers 4y ago
    I think the OP was specifically asking why “Walmart vs Amazon” not “why anywhere else vs Amazon”. The case against shopping at Amazon is clear but why take your dollars to Walmart who is arguably just as bad in every regard.
somethingwitty1 4y ago
This goes both ways. Numerous people (companies?) have setup arbitrage businesses. They post products on Amazon at a markup over Walmart and vice-versa. They leverage the APIs to dynamically adjust their prices based on how the prices move on each store. It technically isn't a rip-off, when you think about it. They are taking advantage of people not searching for the best deal. You get what you ordered, they make money from scouting prices and putting at a price you are willing to pay for said product (I assume otherwise you wouldn't order). Don't get me wrong, when this happens, I get that feeling of rip off, but the reality is, I didn't price shop. And someone did some work to get it to show up for me where I was looking.
- Klinky 4y ago
  It's fine if you think markets are intended to be hostile to consumers instead of bettering people's lives. I don't think incentivizing deceptive middlemen is really a net benefit to society.
  - fragmede 4y ago
    Personally I don't think it is either, but people need money to exist in this world, and we can't all be researching the cure for cancer.
    - rbanffy 4y ago
      Just noting that’s a very profitable business.
    - Klinky 4y ago
      Perhaps not everyone can research cures for cancer, but that's not a good reason to then become the "cancer". Just because it's how it is now, doesn't mean that's how it has to be. Ideally Amazon, Walmart, Google, etc.. should manage their marketplaces better to provide a optimal consumer experience, but it seems so long as they get their cut, they couldn't care less. The continued consolidation of competition leaves fewer options for consumers to even "vote with their wallets".
  - 4y ago
agumonkey 4y ago
It's staggering how the web is devolving into long forgotten shittiest practice. All that 'compute power' only to end up like this.
- realce 4y ago
  Computers only empower human nature, so it goes.
  - swayvil 4y ago
    That's all empowerment. Time, money, even self-improvement meditationy stuff. It's invariably no taste and petty power struggles, magnified. Like one of those 1950s giant insect monster movies. Power needs to be coupled to cultivation or something.
  - agumonkey 4y ago
    Yes, society rebase itself on any layer it can; I'm just surprised nobody saw it coming earlier.
- willnonya 4y ago
  Hard not to long for the days when the internet was only for geeks and porn eh.
- randcraw 4y ago
  Bricks and mortar retailers have long been prosecuted for fraud by law enforcement, local or federal. But “marketplace” e-resellers circumvent enforcement because their e-tail hosts (Amazon, Walmart, Alibaba…) don't hold them responsible and are not held responsible themselves for abuse of their service by others, no matter that the level of fraud has risen to become the norm. The cause for this is, of course, we, the willing victims. And it won't change until we insist that government NOT be just another reality show.
  - wrycoder 4y ago
    > government NOT be just another reality show. You've really hit the mark with that comment.
zrail 4y ago
I've been making a point to order electronics from Best Buy whenever possible. I can trust that Beat Buy doesn't have third party sellers, at least for now.
- paulryanrogers 4y ago
  When I bought a Motorola cable modem from Best Buy it stopped working within 24 hours. At least I could return it and only lose time. Name brands and branded stores aren't safe either, though one would hope they're better on average.
- tempest_ 4y ago
  If you use best buy's website it has the same problem as Amazon et al since it is a "marketplace" it is just the same sellers listing on both sites.
  - nightski 4y ago
    I wonder if that is specific to a country? Because in the U.S. I have never seen a marketplace seller on the best buy website.
    - tedmiston 4y ago
      Looks like it might be a Canadian thing? https://blog.bestbuy.ca/best-buy/what-is-best-buy-marketplace https://blog.bestbuy.ca/best-buy/what-is-best-buy-marketplac...
      - tempest_ 4y ago
        Huh, it never would have crossed my mind they would do it only in Canada. Odd.
        nirvdrum 4y ago
        It used to be a US thing as well, but that was shut down several years ago (2016 based on a cursory search).
pronlover723 4y ago
I had that issue. I ordered something from Walmart (a vacuum cleaner) and it arrived in a new box from amazon. I called their customer service and the claimed they never shipped anything from amazon. I guess that was a lie.
dewey 4y ago
I sometimes intentionally do that here as the IKEA online store has very high shipping costs (They probably want people to come to the store and pick up a bunch of other things on the way). There's sellers that sell IKEA things on Amazon with a markup but it's still cheaper than IKEA's shipping. I'm assuming it's just people buying a cart full of the same product and re-selling it on Amazon.
bee_rider 4y ago
Awesome, Walmart managed to copy Amazon's total lack of control over their inventory.
busyant 4y ago
About 5 years ago, one of my sons wanted a drone for xmas. In mid-November, Walmart.com warned me to "Order soon to guarantee that you'll get <x> for Christmas." So, I did the "responsible" thing and ordered the drone before Thanksgiving and it arrived around Nov 25. Wrap it up. Son opens it on Christmas, aaaaand it's broken out of the box. One of the rotors was bent and wouldn't rotate. Brought it to Walmart probably on the 27th of December and Walmart tells me, "This was sold by one of our 3rd party vendors. You have to take it up with them." 3rd party vendor tells me to pound sand because there's a 30 day return policy. Remember how I was responsible and got the drone a month ahead of time? In retrospect, I should have disputed the charge, but it didn't occur to me at the time. Still makes me angry.
- phpisthebest 4y ago
  One thing I have never understood is why parents do not inspect, open, etc the products before wrapping them? I am mean this is a decades old problem from not having the correct batteries, to missing parts, etc etc. Alot of Christmas day disappointments could be avoided by just inspecting the toys before wrapping them.....
  - NortySpock 4y ago
    Yeah, sure, maybe one day I'll have time during the holidays not allocated to "family" and "unplugging from the stress of dealing with family" and can do things like "inspect everything I'm about to give away as a gift"...
    - phpisthebest 4y ago
      I pretty clearly did not say inspect everything... I limited clearly to children toys, and it could even be limited to the "main" present like this clearly was. Every kid has the "one thing" they really want that year, I always see posts by parents that they "one thing" was missing a part, or did not have batteries, or like this case was damaged.
  - mikodin 4y ago
phpisthebest 4y ago
>>I stopped ordering from Walmart altogether after the second time (out of two, consecutive) that happened. or stop ordering from the marketplace sellers. I like ordering directly from websites for vendors i do business with. This is why I do not shop on ebay. From Amazon I rarely order anything that is not "shipped and sold by amazon", on walmart I only order Walmart Stock, on newegg I only order newegg stock, etc etc Personally I am not sure what the appeal is of all these bigger sites adding "marketplace" sellers.
- RC_ITR 4y ago
  > Personally I am not sure what the appeal is of all these bigger sites adding "marketplace" sellers. It’s the long tail. Need an unbranded under-desk treadmill manufactured by Xiaomi? Amazon marketplace has ever color of the rainbow at prices only reasonable for dropshippers. There’s ofc downsides to that, but certain consumers don’t mind.
- Animats 4y ago
  > Personally I am not sure what the appeal is of all these bigger sites adding "marketplace" sellers. Digi-Key, an electronic parts distributor which used to have a good reputation for supply chain quality, added "marketplace" sellers. Before this, when you ordered from Digi-Key, you were assured that the product went directly from the manufacturer to Digi-Key in Minnesota and then to you. You got exactly what you ordered. Now, it's much iffier.
- SargeDebian 4y ago
  > Personally I am not sure what the appeal is of all these bigger sites adding "marketplace" sellers. Money. No inventory (i.e. capital), no COGS, no returns (depending on the model), no assortment optimization. Just a share of what someone else does.
fma 4y ago
Everytime I buy anything from Walmart I check the "Walmart.com" retailer box. I wish there was a way to make it permanent. Having said that there was one time I had this same issue...I bought from Walmart's marketplace and the product wasn't what I ordered. I had no issue with returning it.
somat 4y ago
I buy a lot of stuff from newegg and when they made the shift from newegg(the store) to newegg(the marketplace) it was the same, the experience started to suck. Thankfully newegg has as a filter option, "only show items from newegg(the store)" In fact that is one of my biggest beefs with amazon, the way they have it set up it is very hard, if not impossible to figure out who you are buying stuff from.
- Gibbon1 4y ago
  The good thing about the old brick an mortar system was that there were experienced buyers between the manufacturer and the brick and mortar store. Suppliers had to submit production samples to the buyers to evaluate. So everything you bought was vetted.
agilob 4y ago
>Buyer beware - my wife hates Amazon and goes out of her way to not purchase from them. She has encountered several vendors on Walmart marketplace that simply place orders with Amazon at 100% markup ebay sellers do the same. I pay using paypal on ebay, just to get a gift package from amazon prime. Stopped using ebay and every scammer like that got negatives from me. They are still cheaper than non-amazon sellers
- Double_a_92 4y ago
  How is it a scam though? Seems just like regular business, i.e. selling something for more than you bought it for.
AmVess 4y ago
I ordered a few things last fall from Wal Mart. Each time, they charged once but delivered multiples of the same item. One other time, they shipped it to some store who said they never got it. There is no real reason why they have it so wrong. Also, I buy expensive things direct from the manufacturer if I buy online. No chance for counterfeit items that way. Wal Mart and Amazon are nothing more than digital flea markets at this point.
monksy 4y ago
This happens on Newegg market place as well.
hakfoo 4y ago
The "marketplace" concept seems to be a recipe for disaster. It's basically leasing out your legitimacy and goodwill as a vendor to businesses that wouldn't be able to pull off their own ecommerce experience. As others have said, when something goes wrong, they're not going to remember "Oh, marketplace seller biteme42069 was a rip-off, avoid them", they'll just blame Walmart. It's funny-- Amazon has managed to so squander their reputation that Walmart-- once the epitome of schlocky retail-- had managed to look decent by comparison. They had a strong enough nationwide logistics network that they could challenge the "but-but Prime 7-minute delivery" argument, and the direct nanufacturer connections to ensure they had authentic, controlled inventory. They could have been a more trustworthy choice.

TMWNN 4y ago

>Buyer beware - my wife hates Amazon and goes out of her way to not purchase from them. She has encountered several vendors on Walmart marketplace that simply place orders with Amazon at 100% markup - the packages arrive in Amazon boxes w/ a receipt showing the actual cost paid at Amazon. Total rip-off. I sell on both Walmart and Amazon. As somethingwitty1 said, this works in multiple directions; people dropshipping ittems from Amazon directly to Walmart customers, from Walmart to Amazon customers, and from both to eBay customers. It's also forbidden. Both Walmart and Amazon explicitly warn against shipping items to customers in competitors' boxes; Walmart even explicitly bans tracking numbers starting with "TBA". If your wife reports that this is happening to Walmart buyer support, the sellers won't be there for long; recent anecdotes say that both companies are really cracking down on dropshipping. >When ordering electronics from Walmart Marketplace, particularly TVs, I’ve found that the marketplace sellers freely substitute makes and models. Ugh. All I can say that I've also had less-than-positive experiences when buying from other sellers on both platforms. Amazon is notorious for allowing anyone to open a seller account. Walmart is in theory supposed to be much stricter in examining applicants' qualifications, with many waiting for weeks or months. While this is great from my perspective (both in terms of improving the overall quality of third-party sellers, and minimizing my competition), the incompetent and crooked are still getting through; Walmart recently allowing non US-domiciled sellers (i.e., Chinese) doesn't help. >I’ve not had any issues with the items sold by Wal-mart actual, those you can buy with confidence. Agreed. Amazon commingles its own inventory and that of third-party sellers that Amazon handles storage and shipping for (FBA); as a result, my own confidence in the genuineness of, say, household staples from Amazon has plummeted. I think Walmart does not do so with WFS, its FBA equivalent. In any case WFS much less used than FBA, because there is little advantage for sellers to do so over fulfilling items themselves.

surfpel 4y ago

I’ve had this happen with an Amazon vendor drop shipping another Amazon product. They were able to do this because the original product wasn’t listed in the correct department and couldn’t be found easily.

gazby 4y ago

Genuinely interested, because I hate Amazon also but spend much of my online shopping dollars with them, what makes Walmart preferable to Amazon for your family?

HWR_14 4y ago
I know people who believe that giving dollars to Amazon will cement their monopoly like control over ecommerce, leading to worse behavior in the future. Others object to the well-publicized (although I doubt unique) poor conditions for their drivers and warehouse employees in their fulfillment system.
- hellisothers 4y ago
  I think the OP was specifically asking why “Walmart vs Amazon” not “why anywhere else vs Amazon”. The case against shopping at Amazon is clear but why take your dollars to Walmart who is arguably just as bad in every regard.

somethingwitty1 4y ago

This goes both ways. Numerous people (companies?) have setup arbitrage businesses. They post products on Amazon at a markup over Walmart and vice-versa. They leverage the APIs to dynamically adjust their prices based on how the prices move on each store. It technically isn't a rip-off, when you think about it. They are taking advantage of people not searching for the best deal. You get what you ordered, they make money from scouting prices and putting at a price you are willing to pay for said product (I assume otherwise you wouldn't order). Don't get me wrong, when this happens, I get that feeling of rip off, but the reality is, I didn't price shop. And someone did some work to get it to show up for me where I was looking.

Klinky 4y ago
It's fine if you think markets are intended to be hostile to consumers instead of bettering people's lives. I don't think incentivizing deceptive middlemen is really a net benefit to society.
- fragmede 4y ago
  Personally I don't think it is either, but people need money to exist in this world, and we can't all be researching the cure for cancer.
  - rbanffy 4y ago
    Just noting that’s a very profitable business.
  - Klinky 4y ago
    Perhaps not everyone can research cures for cancer, but that's not a good reason to then become the "cancer". Just because it's how it is now, doesn't mean that's how it has to be. Ideally Amazon, Walmart, Google, etc.. should manage their marketplaces better to provide a optimal consumer experience, but it seems so long as they get their cut, they couldn't care less. The continued consolidation of competition leaves fewer options for consumers to even "vote with their wallets".
- 4y ago

agumonkey 4y ago

It's staggering how the web is devolving into long forgotten shittiest practice. All that 'compute power' only to end up like this.

realce 4y ago
Computers only empower human nature, so it goes.
- swayvil 4y ago
  That's all empowerment. Time, money, even self-improvement meditationy stuff. It's invariably no taste and petty power struggles, magnified. Like one of those 1950s giant insect monster movies. Power needs to be coupled to cultivation or something.
- agumonkey 4y ago
  Yes, society rebase itself on any layer it can; I'm just surprised nobody saw it coming earlier.
willnonya 4y ago
Hard not to long for the days when the internet was only for geeks and porn eh.
randcraw 4y ago
Bricks and mortar retailers have long been prosecuted for fraud by law enforcement, local or federal. But “marketplace” e-resellers circumvent enforcement because their e-tail hosts (Amazon, Walmart, Alibaba…) don't hold them responsible and are not held responsible themselves for abuse of their service by others, no matter that the level of fraud has risen to become the norm. The cause for this is, of course, we, the willing victims. And it won't change until we insist that government NOT be just another reality show.
- wrycoder 4y ago
  > government NOT be just another reality show. You've really hit the mark with that comment.

zrail 4y ago

I've been making a point to order electronics from Best Buy whenever possible. I can trust that Beat Buy doesn't have third party sellers, at least for now.

paulryanrogers 4y ago
When I bought a Motorola cable modem from Best Buy it stopped working within 24 hours. At least I could return it and only lose time. Name brands and branded stores aren't safe either, though one would hope they're better on average.
tempest_ 4y ago
If you use best buy's website it has the same problem as Amazon et al since it is a "marketplace" it is just the same sellers listing on both sites.
- nightski 4y ago
  I wonder if that is specific to a country? Because in the U.S. I have never seen a marketplace seller on the best buy website.
  - tedmiston 4y ago
    Looks like it might be a Canadian thing? https://blog.bestbuy.ca/best-buy/what-is-best-buy-marketplace https://blog.bestbuy.ca/best-buy/what-is-best-buy-marketplac...
    - tempest_ 4y ago
      Huh, it never would have crossed my mind they would do it only in Canada. Odd.
      - nirvdrum 4y ago
        It used to be a US thing as well, but that was shut down several years ago (2016 based on a cursory search).

pronlover723 4y ago

I had that issue. I ordered something from Walmart (a vacuum cleaner) and it arrived in a new box from amazon. I called their customer service and the claimed they never shipped anything from amazon. I guess that was a lie.

dewey 4y ago

I sometimes intentionally do that here as the IKEA online store has very high shipping costs (They probably want people to come to the store and pick up a bunch of other things on the way). There's sellers that sell IKEA things on Amazon with a markup but it's still cheaper than IKEA's shipping. I'm assuming it's just people buying a cart full of the same product and re-selling it on Amazon.

bee_rider 4y ago

Awesome, Walmart managed to copy Amazon's total lack of control over their inventory.

busyant 4y ago

About 5 years ago, one of my sons wanted a drone for xmas. In mid-November, Walmart.com warned me to "Order soon to guarantee that you'll get <x> for Christmas." So, I did the "responsible" thing and ordered the drone before Thanksgiving and it arrived around Nov 25. Wrap it up. Son opens it on Christmas, aaaaand it's broken out of the box. One of the rotors was bent and wouldn't rotate. Brought it to Walmart probably on the 27th of December and Walmart tells me, "This was sold by one of our 3rd party vendors. You have to take it up with them." 3rd party vendor tells me to pound sand because there's a 30 day return policy. Remember how I was responsible and got the drone a month ahead of time? In retrospect, I should have disputed the charge, but it didn't occur to me at the time. Still makes me angry.

phpisthebest 4y ago
One thing I have never understood is why parents do not inspect, open, etc the products before wrapping them? I am mean this is a decades old problem from not having the correct batteries, to missing parts, etc etc. Alot of Christmas day disappointments could be avoided by just inspecting the toys before wrapping them.....
- NortySpock 4y ago
  Yeah, sure, maybe one day I'll have time during the holidays not allocated to "family" and "unplugging from the stress of dealing with family" and can do things like "inspect everything I'm about to give away as a gift"...
  - phpisthebest 4y ago
    I pretty clearly did not say inspect everything... I limited clearly to children toys, and it could even be limited to the "main" present like this clearly was. Every kid has the "one thing" they really want that year, I always see posts by parents that they "one thing" was missing a part, or did not have batteries, or like this case was damaged.
- mikodin 4y ago

phpisthebest 4y ago

>>I stopped ordering from Walmart altogether after the second time (out of two, consecutive) that happened. or stop ordering from the marketplace sellers. I like ordering directly from websites for vendors i do business with. This is why I do not shop on ebay. From Amazon I rarely order anything that is not "shipped and sold by amazon", on walmart I only order Walmart Stock, on newegg I only order newegg stock, etc etc Personally I am not sure what the appeal is of all these bigger sites adding "marketplace" sellers.

RC_ITR 4y ago
> Personally I am not sure what the appeal is of all these bigger sites adding "marketplace" sellers. It’s the long tail. Need an unbranded under-desk treadmill manufactured by Xiaomi? Amazon marketplace has ever color of the rainbow at prices only reasonable for dropshippers. There’s ofc downsides to that, but certain consumers don’t mind.
Animats 4y ago
> Personally I am not sure what the appeal is of all these bigger sites adding "marketplace" sellers. Digi-Key, an electronic parts distributor which used to have a good reputation for supply chain quality, added "marketplace" sellers. Before this, when you ordered from Digi-Key, you were assured that the product went directly from the manufacturer to Digi-Key in Minnesota and then to you. You got exactly what you ordered. Now, it's much iffier.
SargeDebian 4y ago
> Personally I am not sure what the appeal is of all these bigger sites adding "marketplace" sellers. Money. No inventory (i.e. capital), no COGS, no returns (depending on the model), no assortment optimization. Just a share of what someone else does.

fma 4y ago

Everytime I buy anything from Walmart I check the "Walmart.com" retailer box. I wish there was a way to make it permanent. Having said that there was one time I had this same issue...I bought from Walmart's marketplace and the product wasn't what I ordered. I had no issue with returning it.

somat 4y ago

I buy a lot of stuff from newegg and when they made the shift from newegg(the store) to newegg(the marketplace) it was the same, the experience started to suck. Thankfully newegg has as a filter option, "only show items from newegg(the store)" In fact that is one of my biggest beefs with amazon, the way they have it set up it is very hard, if not impossible to figure out who you are buying stuff from.

Gibbon1 4y ago
The good thing about the old brick an mortar system was that there were experienced buyers between the manufacturer and the brick and mortar store. Suppliers had to submit production samples to the buyers to evaluate. So everything you bought was vetted.

agilob 4y ago

>Buyer beware - my wife hates Amazon and goes out of her way to not purchase from them. She has encountered several vendors on Walmart marketplace that simply place orders with Amazon at 100% markup ebay sellers do the same. I pay using paypal on ebay, just to get a gift package from amazon prime. Stopped using ebay and every scammer like that got negatives from me. They are still cheaper than non-amazon sellers

Double_a_92 4y ago
How is it a scam though? Seems just like regular business, i.e. selling something for more than you bought it for.

AmVess 4y ago

I ordered a few things last fall from Wal Mart. Each time, they charged once but delivered multiples of the same item. One other time, they shipped it to some store who said they never got it. There is no real reason why they have it so wrong. Also, I buy expensive things direct from the manufacturer if I buy online. No chance for counterfeit items that way. Wal Mart and Amazon are nothing more than digital flea markets at this point.

monksy 4y ago

This happens on Newegg market place as well.

hakfoo 4y ago

The "marketplace" concept seems to be a recipe for disaster. It's basically leasing out your legitimacy and goodwill as a vendor to businesses that wouldn't be able to pull off their own ecommerce experience. As others have said, when something goes wrong, they're not going to remember "Oh, marketplace seller biteme42069 was a rip-off, avoid them", they'll just blame Walmart. It's funny-- Amazon has managed to so squander their reputation that Walmart-- once the epitome of schlocky retail-- had managed to look decent by comparison. They had a strong enough nationwide logistics network that they could challenge the "but-but Prime 7-minute delivery" argument, and the direct nanufacturer connections to ensure they had authentic, controlled inventory. They could have been a more trustworthy choice.