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I'm shocked that the response to this is that people want curation of products, old retail style. Sure lets go back to the days when an HDMI cable cost $30 and

by _ea1k 4y ago

I'm shocked that the response to this is that people want curation of products, old retail style. Sure lets go back to the days when an HDMI cable cost $30 and things like phone chargers were overpriced. The better answer is that marketplaces should have to have reasonably consistent return policies. Push the risk back onto them so that it stops the fraudulent products. Keep the part that lets basically anyone start up a business and attach themselves to the marketplace at what should be the market price. There are plenty of good things coming from these marketplaces.

ilikepi 4y ago
> The better answer is that marketplaces should have to have reasonably consistent return policies. Push the risk back onto them so that it stops the fraudulent products. A good return policy is insufficient. Amazon is very good about accepting returns. Amazon also co-mingles their own inventory with that of their marketplace sellers. In the past, I have ordered items from Amazon, being careful to choose "Shipped and Sold by Amazon", and have received items that are obviously provided by a marketplace seller. It's great that I was able to contact Amazon and have them issue me a refund. They didn't even want me to bother shipping the item back. But that process still incurred a cost to me, namely: * extra time not having the item I wanted and could trust * time and effort to acquire a replacement item from a different retailer * physical waste, since I discarded the item I received from Amazon because I couldn't trust it * frustration Personally, I think the better answer is a system that doesn't put this (minor but non-zero) cost, and its alternative of accepting an inferior and/or less trusted item, onto many, many consumers. EDIT: formatting
AlexandrB 4y ago
The current situation is hardly better. The same HDMI cable that used to be $10 and worked well is now still $10 but will likely fail to work because it's actually $1.50 from Aliexpress. It's not like people are complaining about a new super-cheap tier of products but rather about being ripped off by paying about the same for less quality. And that's before you consider knock offs that have the potential to kill your or burn your house down. For me, nothing that goes into my body or into a 120v mains comes from Amazon. The risk is just too high.
tzs 4y ago
> The better answer is that marketplaces should have to have reasonably consistent return policies. Push the risk back onto them so that it stops the fraudulent products. ...and then to reduce that risk the marketplaces will start curating what they sell.

by _ea1k 4y ago

ilikepi 4y ago

> The better answer is that marketplaces should have to have reasonably consistent return policies. Push the risk back onto them so that it stops the fraudulent products. A good return policy is insufficient. Amazon is very good about accepting returns. Amazon also co-mingles their own inventory with that of their marketplace sellers. In the past, I have ordered items from Amazon, being careful to choose "Shipped and Sold by Amazon", and have received items that are obviously provided by a marketplace seller. It's great that I was able to contact Amazon and have them issue me a refund. They didn't even want me to bother shipping the item back. But that process still incurred a cost to me, namely: * extra time not having the item I wanted and could trust * time and effort to acquire a replacement item from a different retailer * physical waste, since I discarded the item I received from Amazon because I couldn't trust it * frustration Personally, I think the better answer is a system that doesn't put this (minor but non-zero) cost, and its alternative of accepting an inferior and/or less trusted item, onto many, many consumers. EDIT: formatting

AlexandrB 4y ago

The current situation is hardly better. The same HDMI cable that used to be $10 and worked well is now still $10 but will likely fail to work because it's actually $1.50 from Aliexpress. It's not like people are complaining about a new super-cheap tier of products but rather about being ripped off by paying about the same for less quality. And that's before you consider knock offs that have the potential to kill your or burn your house down. For me, nothing that goes into my body or into a 120v mains comes from Amazon. The risk is just too high.

tzs 4y ago

> The better answer is that marketplaces should have to have reasonably consistent return policies. Push the risk back onto them so that it stops the fraudulent products. ...and then to reduce that risk the marketplaces will start curating what they sell.