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I think Amazon have been their own enemy here, their antics have set the conditions for a race to the bottom. Instead of Amazon's early days where I'd see a la
by quitit 3y ago
I think Amazon have been their own enemy here, their antics have set the conditions for a race to the bottom.
Instead of Amazon's early days where I'd see a large range of options and quality/price levels, I now deal with page after page of the same low-quality options from a large number of "different" suppliers. Increasing my spend doesn't work, as they've got that angle covered, it's just the same items but with a higher price. I can't even rely on reviews, since those are gamed too.
Then when I did find the item, the next hoop to jump through was the scams, when it's clothing: it's often a knock off using stolen photos, or the wrong size, or return instructions that demand delivery to a far away country even though the goods didn't come from there.
Then there are the issues with counterfeiting, or worse, like when Amazon's own staff steal the product by swapping the contents of the box - something that is incredibly difficult to prove with customer service.
Now if I want to shop online, I visit a store's website and buy directly. No scams, no counterfeits, no wrong sizes or b/s photos.
- m463 3y agoWhy do I always get funneled to shoes and jackets from UPCASEBRAND or MADEUPNAME, even though I know I want something from a known brand?
- jollofricepeas 3y agoWe exist. We’re just hard to find. There are lots of American companies that have designed their own products and sell online but we are outnumbered by Chinese sellers who use a lot of similar tactics to sell their goods to get better placement. It is a war zone for most popular product categories. I’m happy people are starting to cover how Amazon (and Apple to a lesser degree) has decimated the small mom and pop online businesses. Most of us leveraged social media to find small US communities that were underserved. And now they are out of business completely or they have had layoffs in the last two years.
- Cagrosso 3y agoApple? As in there ebook business they were fined for? I don’t know of many mom and pop cell phone or laptop manufacturers. I’m curious as to what you are referring to.
- 20after4 3y agoThe app store?
- mathgeek 3y agoThe marketplaces rather than the products.
- jollofricepeas 3y agohttps://www.cnbc.com/amp/2022/02/02/facebook-says-apple-ios-privacy-change-will-cost-10-billion-this-year.html https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2022/02/02/facebook-says-apple-ios-... Traditional media does not serve underserved markets. If you want to target Christian moms over 40 who live in Southern markets… Or Muslim women 20-30 year olds looking for stylish but conservative clothing… Then your best bet was social media. Keep in mind, the Facebook, TikTok and Shopify partnership were growing into strong competition for Amazon. Once they were dead in the water, Amazon raised prices and put the squeeze on its small FBA sellers by forcing everyone to sell FBA and purchase advertising.
- P_I_Staker 3y agoClothing IMO has always been terrible on amazon. Amazon really for cheap house stuff and electronics. Nick nacks. If you know the brand and want to see what can be bought with a button push, or if you want to find random shit, go ahead. I don't know if I've found any good general clothes shops. Just e versions of big boxes, and the brands own page. Then you have collectors/vintage/DIY shops.
- JohnFen 3y agoYes. This is one of the large reasons why I stopped going to Amazon entirely. > Now if I want to shop online, I visit a store's website and buy directly This is what I do as well. Interestingly, my experience doing that has generally been better than Amazon in every way, except that if I want 2 day shipping (which I rarely want very much) then there is often a minimum order or additional fee. Which is fine.