3 ms·

https://archive.ph/Kz0Rn https://archive.ph/Kz0Rn “around every corner lies a brand you’ve never heard of, selling a product you’re not sure about” Enshittifi

https://archive.ph/Kz0Rn https://archive.ph/Kz0Rn “around every corner lies a brand you’ve never heard of, selling a product you’re not sure about” Enshittified

tivert 3y ago
> “around every corner lies a brand you’ve never heard of, selling a product you’re not sure about” And whenever you feel that, hop on AliExpress and find the exact same thing for about a tenth the price.
- jfim 3y ago
  With two month shipping, instead of two days. It's still worth it sometimes, since Amazon is slowly turning into AliExpress.
  - tivert 3y ago
    > With two month shipping, instead of two days. It's still worth it sometimes, since Amazon is slowly turning into AliExpress. In my experience, it's not that bad. I usually get all my stuff within a couple weeks to a month. Also you have to pay a lot of money for a Prime subscription, and even then Amazon doesn't consistently hit its two day shipping targets (IIRC Amazon without Prime gets you something like no-rush shipping, which takes like week).
    - rrrrrrrrrrrryan 3y ago
      Free shipping that you pay for
- sottol 3y ago
  I guess it depends on the niche. 3D printer parts do often pop up on Amazon 1-2 months after Ali for 5-10% extra. I think many sellers on Aliexpress are aware of the true price people are willing to pay and charge close to that. And then someone does the arbitrage on Amazon close to that. Now if you want to see a "real" good price, go to Taobao and cough up for the MOQ of 1000, that's 1/10th in my niche.
- crazygringo 3y ago
  Can you give an example? I keep hearing this, and I've started looking on AliExpress, and the prices are only a little bit cheaper, but the shipping takes forever. Like I recently was looking into desk globes, and the first one that popped up in search is $16 on AliExpress with 4-week shipping, or $20 on Amazon with 1-day shipping: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256802137627481.html https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256802137627481.html https://www.amazon.com/TTKTK-Decorative-Geography-Educational-Magnifying/dp/B0791H8BVT https://www.amazon.com/TTKTK-Decorative-Geography-Educationa... And this seems pretty representative. I've never found a single case where it was worth it to buy with AliExpress. Especially since I know I can return anything on Amazon pretty effortlessly, whereas with AliExpress I have no idea.
  - tivert 3y ago
    $15.99 for 1x https://www.amazon.com/Works-Portable-Emergency-Re-Charger-Batteries/dp/B09PC92SG8/ https://www.amazon.com/Works-Portable-Emergency-Re-Charger-B... $10.49 + $5.16 shipping ($15.65) for 5x https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805076529896.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.33.3582fSdxfSdx84&algo_pvid=40fc2982-9ddd-4bff-a0df-81ba4da61a8e&algo_exp_id=40fc2982-9ddd-4bff-a0df-81ba4da61a8e-16&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21USD%2119.80%2110.49%21%21%2119.80%21%21%40210324f116959276758222355e7930%2112000032403959925%21sea%21US%210%21AB&curPageLogUid=jroMPV6SFMsD https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805076529896.html?spm=a2g... $1.50 + $2.59 shipping ($4.09) for 1x https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803289357326.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.7.62895af79WwZTI&algo_pvid=2c8b79a3-8e45-4b3b-b5d1-aeaf60713ce8&algo_exp_id=2c8b79a3-8e45-4b3b-b5d1-aeaf60713ce8-3&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21USD%212.14%211.5%21%21%212.14%21%21%402101e9d516959284233658044e7d17%2112000025956123503%21sea%21US%210%21AB&curPageLogUid=I5rJcgbu0DJj https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803289357326.html?spm=a2g... Literally the exact same thing. I tend to use AliExpress for small electronic doodads and things like battery boxes. I'm not some AliExpress wizard, but I don't think the shipping is fixed per item (and I'm usually ordering several) and I think sometimes they batch orders together (which may lower the shipping price?). I don't know how to get a breakdown of the shipping cost I actually paid, which is one of the things that annoys me about the site.
    - crazygringo 3y ago
sottol 3y ago
I'd even say "around every corner lie 10 brands you've never heard of, selling 20 slight variations of the same product you're not sure about".
slowmovintarget 3y ago
I choose to call it "fuzzed." The level of noise has increased to make it much harder to detect the signal. This is not about predatory monetization.

https://archive.ph/Kz0Rn https://archive.ph/Kz0Rn “around every corner lies a brand you’ve never heard of, selling a product you’re not sure about” Enshittified

tivert 3y ago

> “around every corner lies a brand you’ve never heard of, selling a product you’re not sure about” And whenever you feel that, hop on AliExpress and find the exact same thing for about a tenth the price.

jfim 3y ago
With two month shipping, instead of two days. It's still worth it sometimes, since Amazon is slowly turning into AliExpress.
- tivert 3y ago
  > With two month shipping, instead of two days. It's still worth it sometimes, since Amazon is slowly turning into AliExpress. In my experience, it's not that bad. I usually get all my stuff within a couple weeks to a month. Also you have to pay a lot of money for a Prime subscription, and even then Amazon doesn't consistently hit its two day shipping targets (IIRC Amazon without Prime gets you something like no-rush shipping, which takes like week).
  - rrrrrrrrrrrryan 3y ago
    Free shipping that you pay for
sottol 3y ago
I guess it depends on the niche. 3D printer parts do often pop up on Amazon 1-2 months after Ali for 5-10% extra. I think many sellers on Aliexpress are aware of the true price people are willing to pay and charge close to that. And then someone does the arbitrage on Amazon close to that. Now if you want to see a "real" good price, go to Taobao and cough up for the MOQ of 1000, that's 1/10th in my niche.
crazygringo 3y ago
Can you give an example? I keep hearing this, and I've started looking on AliExpress, and the prices are only a little bit cheaper, but the shipping takes forever. Like I recently was looking into desk globes, and the first one that popped up in search is $16 on AliExpress with 4-week shipping, or $20 on Amazon with 1-day shipping: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256802137627481.html https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256802137627481.html https://www.amazon.com/TTKTK-Decorative-Geography-Educational-Magnifying/dp/B0791H8BVT https://www.amazon.com/TTKTK-Decorative-Geography-Educationa... And this seems pretty representative. I've never found a single case where it was worth it to buy with AliExpress. Especially since I know I can return anything on Amazon pretty effortlessly, whereas with AliExpress I have no idea.
- tivert 3y ago
  $15.99 for 1x https://www.amazon.com/Works-Portable-Emergency-Re-Charger-Batteries/dp/B09PC92SG8/ https://www.amazon.com/Works-Portable-Emergency-Re-Charger-B... $10.49 + $5.16 shipping ($15.65) for 5x https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805076529896.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.33.3582fSdxfSdx84&algo_pvid=40fc2982-9ddd-4bff-a0df-81ba4da61a8e&algo_exp_id=40fc2982-9ddd-4bff-a0df-81ba4da61a8e-16&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21USD%2119.80%2110.49%21%21%2119.80%21%21%40210324f116959276758222355e7930%2112000032403959925%21sea%21US%210%21AB&curPageLogUid=jroMPV6SFMsD https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805076529896.html?spm=a2g... $1.50 + $2.59 shipping ($4.09) for 1x https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803289357326.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.7.62895af79WwZTI&algo_pvid=2c8b79a3-8e45-4b3b-b5d1-aeaf60713ce8&algo_exp_id=2c8b79a3-8e45-4b3b-b5d1-aeaf60713ce8-3&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21USD%212.14%211.5%21%21%212.14%21%21%402101e9d516959284233658044e7d17%2112000025956123503%21sea%21US%210%21AB&curPageLogUid=I5rJcgbu0DJj https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803289357326.html?spm=a2g... Literally the exact same thing. I tend to use AliExpress for small electronic doodads and things like battery boxes. I'm not some AliExpress wizard, but I don't think the shipping is fixed per item (and I'm usually ordering several) and I think sometimes they batch orders together (which may lower the shipping price?). I don't know how to get a breakdown of the shipping cost I actually paid, which is one of the things that annoys me about the site.
  - crazygringo 3y ago

sottol 3y ago

I'd even say "around every corner lie 10 brands you've never heard of, selling 20 slight variations of the same product you're not sure about".

slowmovintarget 3y ago

I choose to call it "fuzzed." The level of noise has increased to make it much harder to detect the signal. This is not about predatory monetization.