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Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?
- nullhole 1y agoMaybe I'm prudish, but I really dislike the term 'enshittification'. It sounds ugly, and it makes what would otherwise be polite discussions vulgar. 'Degradation' seems to carry most (all?) of the same meaning and doesn't have those downsides.
- worthless-trash 1y agoI think we're well past 'degredation', enshittification is abuse at the end users cost.
- nprateem 1y agoNot only that, if someone has such a poor grasp of English they probably have little of value to say.
- riffraff 1y agoEnshittification was coined by Cory Doctorow who has been writing and publishing for decades and won plenty of awards. I don't always agree with what he says, but I'm pretty sure he has a pretty good grasp of English and plenty of valuable things fo say.
- tietjens 1y agoWhen the present-day is compared to the promises and hopes for big tech as the companies were starting, the word seems appropriate. We ain’t in Sunday school! Degradation doesn’t capture that many of the changes for the worst are willful and intended.
- Animats 1y ago"Enshittification" captures the concept that the degradation was knowing and willful, not accidental.
- forgotusername6 1y agoI agree that is vulgar but the word carries more meaning than degradation. I thought perhaps dilapidation might work but that also misses some of the nuance.
- mnsc 1y agoDegradation sounds passive, like something getting worse due to lack of care. Enshittification as a new word have the luxury of no baggage, so to me it perfectly captures the process of taking active, intentional steps to change stuff in a way that makes end user experience worse, but (maybe) product owner richer.
- ta1243 1y agoI agree, a conspiracy theorist would suggest it's a deliberate move to reduce the amount of people talking about it, in media, amongst friends etc. There are some people who swear every other word when talking to friends and family. Fine, they'll talk regardless. But there's a significant number who don't, and they will thus avoid using "enshittification" in conversations, reducing the cultural awareness of it.
- ahartmetz 1y agoI agree that the vulgarity is problematic, but the ugliness seems rather appropriate. Degradation can happen due to inaction - that is not what enshittification is. Enshittification is the endgame of a platform where the owner stops courting buyers and sellers (in that order) and allocates all the profit to itself.
- riffraff 1y agoI understand where you're coming from and agree. But "enshittification" has its own specific meaning which goes beyond existing terms (i.e. it's specific to degradation of platforms making money from two sides of the transaction). I wish we had a better term for it, but it can't be replaced by just "degradation".
- tjwebbnorfolk 1y agoDegradation has a generic meaning. When you say enshittification, people know exactly what you mean.
- function_seven 1y agoExactly. Degradation can occur for many reasons. Enshittification is a deliberate kind of degradation to juice a metric. That metric is never “customer satisfaction”
- thebruce87m 1y agoI think it’s perfect. It captures the vulgarity present in the intention.
- conductr 1y agoI don’t mind it at all, because it’s purposefully turning to shit. Degradation sounds slow natural. Like how a computer bought in 2005 that runs just as well as back then has seemed to have degraded 20 years later, no fault of its own. I do have a hard time believing this author coined the term in 2022. I’ve had this phase as part of my vocabulary for much long than that to describe the same exact phenomenon, I know I didn’t invent it but it’s been around in the online software community at least. Maybe he claims ownership because he was the first to write about it, or maybe my memory is just failing me and he deserves the credit. Idk but that tidbit bothers me way more than the words. I don’t let vulgarity get in the way of having polite conversations, they’re not mutually exclusive in my opinion.
- shinryuu 1y agoYou are right. Looking at ngram it seems to have appeared around 2016. But it was even around in 1970s but perhaps in a different context. So it’s perhaps better to say that he popularised it.
- _joel 1y agoIsn't that the point, though?
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- nine_k 1y agoIf you want, you can translate to Latin and call it "faecefaction". The key difference is that degradation can be a natural process, or a result of neglect, while faecefaction is a deliberate act of turning a product into crap, while knowing that the customer will continue buying for some time, due to inertia and / or lack of alternatives.
- jhljlkjlnlkn 1y agoMy P.O.V is that corporate double speak is prudish, distorts on purpose and overall is much worse for humanity. Enshittenification is ugly but truthful.
- dartharva 1y agoAmerican English prefers more slang in general. The context here is largely American.
- tstrimple 1y ago> It sounds ugly, and it makes what would otherwise be polite discussions vulgar. The impacts to consumers are ugly, so it's only fair to use ugly language to describe it.
- krelian 1y agoEnshittification captures a specific type of degradation - the inevitable deterioration of a product or service under an economic system that is obligated to secure ever larger profits. I like the fact that it is slightly vulgar because there is an element in this process that is revolting - the idea and acceptance that its fulfillment is guaranteed. The vulgarity also carries with it higher odds of the term detaching from the intellectual sphere and into the common man, increasing awareness and hope of consumer pushback.
- rjknight 1y agoI always think of it as the "Perez plateau"[1], but I will grant that this is less catchy. [1]: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Phases-of-the-S-Curve-Perez-C-2001_fig6_273741542 https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Phases-of-the-S-Curve-Pe...
- pkal 1y agoI agree with you -- I never use vulgar words, so I cannot use this word myself. That being said, maybe you saw this article being posted a few days ago: https://frankchimero.com/blog/2025/selling-lemons/ https://frankchimero.com/blog/2025/selling-lemons/ writing about the concept of "Market for Lemons". The last paragraph compares the two ideas: > What makes the Market for Lemons concept so appealing (and what differentiates it in my mind from ens**tification) is that everyone can be acting reasonably, pursuing their own interests, and things still get worse for everyone. No one has to be evil or stupid: the platform does what’s profitable, sellers do what works, buyers try to make smart decisions, and yet the whole system degrades into something nobody actually wants. (I don't know if Doctorow's concept really relies on malice.)
- SalmonSnarker 1y agoyour handle is "nullhole", sorry champ enshittification is no more vulgar than that.
- sails 1y agoThis article is about enshittification not Amazon
- 8n4vidtmkvmk 1y agoDoesn't sound like it. Entire article was specifically about the enshittification of Amazon
- globalise83 1y agoIn some ways Amazon's entshittification is others' gain. For example, Amazon used to be a place you could easily buy and download music files legally. But they entshittified their music product to the point where it was impossible to use. Others stepped in selling lossless format downloads with a good buyer experience and made nice businesses out of them. The same will happen in all other areas previously dominated by Amazon.
- dwedge 1y agoCan you recommend one?
- marksbrown 1y agoI'm a huge fan of Bandcamp
- filterfish 1y agoAgreed,Bandcamp is good, very good.
- _DeadFred_ 1y agoI like qobuz.com.
- 8n4vidtmkvmk 1y agoI'm not sure how. Their warehouses and deliveries are very efficient. I'm sure it cost a fortune to build out. Hard to compete with without a ton of capital.
- frozenport 1y agoThe author's laundry list of fixes are already formally done, most of things the author wants to treat as fraud are already treated as fraud.
- t1E9mE7JTRjf 1y agoIndeed. Seems more like a hit piece to me. Amazon is a company the Guardian often likes to pick on.
- chaostheory 1y agoThey hit “day two” years ago in order to meet quarterly Wall Street analyst targets, which is why they didn’t end commingling inventory until recently.
- ggm 1y agoAmazon kindle books search is designed to show you authors other than the name you search on, to increase sales of "in the style of" which could have been a tickbox item, but no: they know it irritates, but it makes them more money. If type "Charles dickens" in search, there should be a way to get works by Dickens exclusively. Even if you select the Web link author name, you get "in the style of"
- wiether 1y ago> If type "Charles dickens" in search, there should be a way to get works by Dickens exclusively. I tried it: - on the website from the home page - in the Kindle category - on my Kindle directly All I got was books by Dickens. There was the usual "sponsored" items but they are explicitly displayed as it. I don't know if it's a country issue, but I don't have the same experience as you. Furthermore, I read regularly on HN comments about how bad Amazon became, selling fake products, taking forever to send packages... Again, maybe a country issue, but here in France my experience is the same as it was ten years ago. It's even a bit better thanks to the number of Lockers that are available near my flat or my office and the fact that more and more refurbished products are offered.
- ggm 1y agoI just did it on Web and got Emily Bronte, and Oscar Wilde as well as Dickens. I did it for "Philip kerr" and I get Richard wake and mark oulton. John le carre and I get Andrew Brown. These are "in the style of" clone authors.
- wiether 1y agoI can see how annoying your experience must be in that case! I don't know what (who?) caused this, but I'm certain that I don't want to have the same experience...
- notrealyme123 1y agoThe Amazon-Basic version of Charles Dickens
- tjwebbnorfolk 1y agoA few weeks ago I bought a "new" coffee maker which arrived physically broken and with used coffee grounds in the hopper. I don't understand how this is even possible. That's the last thing I'm buying on Amazon. Amazon pre-COVID was amazing. But 2-day shipping is now 5+ day shipping. It's chock full of cheap/fraudulent junk. It's been interesting to watch it go downhill so fast.
- rdn 1y agoThat's return fraud, someone orders a new version of a product they have, put their old product in the new box and file a return immediately. Amazon probably doesnt take the time to check it or check it thoroughly. Goes back on the shelf and you receive it.
- blagie 1y agoIt's double-return-fraud. Amazon shouldn't sell returned products as "new," but as "open box." The other way it happens is co-mingling. Some vendor sends an "open box" product to Amazon as new, or a fake product, and Amazon ships it out when sold by Amazon since it considers goods to be fungible. I stopped buying anything which goes in my body from eBay, Amazon, and similar after receiving a premium food product with very clearly fake packaging.
- rkomorn 1y agoMan, I don't think this co-mingling thing was big or existed when I moved to a country that Amazon doesn't ship to directly almost 6 years ago. Reading about it on HN makes me feel fortunate. I can't recall ever running into something like this back then.
- blagie 1y agoAmazon broke in 2020, when most shopping went online. It never recovered. I doubt it ever will. Trust takes a long time to earn, and a little bit of time to break. I had four or five incidents on Amazon, cancelled Prime, and I doubt it will ever make business sense for Amazon to get me back. I do think there's a place for a competitor to Amazon right now which looks more like the old Amazon. Starting one would be super-capital-intensive. It's not a lean startup. There's only a handful of organizations with the capital to do that, and I doubt any of them will, in fact, do it.
- 6ak74rfy 1y agoAmazon's search results have been garbage from a really long time, I often wonder how come the executives or the team behind it never experience that themselves. I now to Amazon only if I know exactly what brand I am going to buy before opening Amazon. I also quit Prime couple of years ago. Hardly miss it.
- napo 1y agoAmazon search looks bad for us because it is designed to sell ads. Its goal is to make company pay the most money to show articles. Iirc, when this was proposed, Jeff Bazos said that this was the most stupid idea he ever heard. I think the reason why it was introduced, and why Executives don't want to change it, is that it generates a ton of money for Amazon. I'd personally love if in the end this would be the reason that Amazon stop making money and it would have been some short sighted greedy move. I'm afraid that advertisement, when it comes down to numbers, is just damn too profitable.
- FiveOhThree 1y agoUnfortunately the store's primary revenue source seems to be from advertisers bidding on sponsored search result slots instead of the actual product sales.
- BobaFloutist 1y agoWhich can't possibly be actually true, since advertiser bids must necessarily be funded by actual product sales - I guess there's an edge case where an independently successful business intentionally overspends on Amazon ads to quash potential competitor discovery, relying on non-Amazon sales to make up for the deficit, but I can't imagine that's a particularly common result. If people give up on buying things from Amazon because there's just no way to find reliably usable products, Amazon will eventually lose out on that advertising revenue. So either we're mid way through that process, or there's something more complicated going on.
- p1dda 1y agoAmazon was simply superb in the early 2000 which made them so popular and dominating that most people will still buy from them even if they are rubbish and predatory. Why should they improve when people use them anyway?
- mnsc 1y agoYou should read the article. :)
- p1dda 1y agoIt's behind a pay wall
- paperhatwriter 1y agoAh yes that famous paywall at TheGuardian.com
- me_again 1y agoActually no - there's a "please help fund us" but you can read without paying
- cycomanic 1y agoNo it's not?! The guardian does not have a pay wall. They ask for you to subscribe put you can simply refuse.
- kristianp 1y agoIt's easy to mistake it for a paywall, an enormous wall of text telling you to pay some money.
- _zagj 1y agoI don't use Amazon often, but as a fan of puzzle games, I really appreciate the UX (which regularly changes, so as to not get stale) of trying to buy something without inadvertently signing up for Prime.
- FabHK 1y agoTook me a second to realize this apparent praise is anything but.
- ph4rsikal 1y agoI am trying to buy a new Nintendo Switch, but it seems impossible. Search results are polluted by refurbished products that you only realize are refurbished once you look at the details. This happens for me even after selecting "new" specifically.
- rcstank 1y agoI believe this is because Nintendo pulled out of Amazon for Switch 2.
- BoredPositron 1y agoAt least it Germany it's mostly down to marketplace shenanigans. Ofc you can still get your refunds but now you sometimes get wrong articles. Return frauds are normalized and the only thing they seem to check before sending it out again is weight. You can't find brand items anymore because it's flooded with Chinese throwaway brands and Amazon fulfillment is just garbage... well at least the outsourced company in our region.
- zeroq 1y agoside note: Amazon is a marketplace, and more and more different vendors came to that place selling cheaper, shady things. They seems to have an open door policy. It's somewhat understandable. But that same strategy got adopted in many different places. Decathlon on their website offer products from other vendors. It's really shady as they advertise hassle free returns everywhere but that only applies to products sold by them specifically, not to majority of products available in their shop. Kaufland (if you're in US think Germany's Walmart) has the same thing going on.
- wiether 1y agoThe UX on Decathlon's website was never good, but since they opened the marketplace, it's worse than ever.
- spockz 1y agoAt least the decathlon site has an easy way to limit search results to only Decathlon products. I kind of like how it is because it also allows me to discover products from alternatives that might be better while keeping the option to stick to decathlon.
- rkomorn 1y agoUnfortunately, a "marketplace" is precisely what I don't want from a lot of the commerce sites that include them on top of their "first party" inventory, and they're seemingly becoming ubiquitous.
- Boltgolt 1y agoThis is happening everywhere, making a quick buck and completely ruining your reputation. The main Amazon competitor in The Netherlands bol.com has gone down the exact same path
- eastbound 1y agoDarty, Fnac, Leroy Merlin do the same. It’s impossible to go to a shop’s website and expect to buy their products. They’re all just copying Amazon in a cheaper, scratchier version.
- iamwil 1y agoDespite trying to instill a customer-centric culture, as soon as Bezos let his foot off the gas, his company just isn't as customer obsessed. Or, they changed their definition of customer from the buyer to the seller. I dramatically lowered my buying from Amazon about 8 years ago, when I noticed that listings had reviews on items that were completely different than what was being listed. Apparently, sellers sell a known good product that gets good reviews, and then swap it out for something else, so that the new product can piggy back off of the good karma. Amazon just didn't shut this down for years. Also, when Fulfillment services by Amazon mixed the the official provider's inventory with 3rd party distributors and reseller inventories. Sometimes, people would get knock-offs. I knew then, Amazon would coast for at least a decade before the decline would be apparent. I thought I'd buy more Shopify stock as a result. Dunno if I ever did.
- zargon 1y ago> Or, they changed their definition of customer from the buyer to the seller. s/seller/shareholder/ I almost never buy from Amazon any more. For certain things it is difficult because Amazon has destroyed so much logistics and has such a stranglehold that a lot small/medium sized companies only sell through Amazon now. I ordered some kitchen gadget a few months ago from the company's own website, thinking I was avoiding Amazon, and it was delivered by an Amazon driver.
- tchalla 1y agoAnother mind boggling aspect of Amazon’s review system is that it categorises multiple products / variations under one. So if you want to buy products X with variations X1, X2 and X3- the review page for product X1 will also show X2, X3 ratings bundled together. You don’t quite know the rating of X1 individually. You can filter reviews out by the overall rating is the aggregated view. I can’t believe how this is helpful for customers.
- Underphil 1y agoAlso the variations are often not just cosmetic things like colour. Sometimes they are entirely different products.
- submeta 1y agoWhat bothers me more is Amazon limits the products you can see. When you search for a product type (say a USB Hub), it will show you constantly the same set of products. While you scroll, it repeats the products that are sponsored, sprinkling them here and there, and the mindless customer scrolls search results, seeing only the limited number of products Amazon wants to show you. Finally you‘ll order the one with the highest number of stars. This is not a neutral listening of all available products. Although Amazon proposes has and knows all sorts of products. It will push the ones right in your face that it wants to promote. So if you are into a purchase, do your research on other platforms first before you order on Amazon.
- Maxion 1y agoThey also tend to show a very narrow selectio of items, if you search for a synonym of the product you're looking for you often end up finding other items that even contain the original search phrase in the item title and description. It's very very frustrating.
- quantummagic 1y agoIt may be that it's area, or customer specific, but Amazon is still great here. I'm ordering a computer overnight, so I hope I don't eat my praise on this one, lol. As a household we spend several thousand a month on average, so maybe we get put in the "keep-em-happy" file? One thing is, we only order if it ships from Amazon; never with someone who handles their own shipping.
- procaryote 1y agoAmazon is my last resort nowadays, because some things are only sold there and on alibaba. If I only find a thing I want on amazon, I'll search again for the vendor name to see if they have a site of their own and if so buy it there instead It does help me buy less stuff because the process is so annoying nowadays
- zargon 1y agoExactly. Some companies only sell through Amazon now. In those cases, I often just go without and the company loses the sale.
- palata 1y ago> Some companies only sell through Amazon now. Which is probably because they don't have a choice. > I often just go without and the company loses the sale. Which is not helping the company in any way. Not that it is your fault, but confirming the point of the article.
- zippyman55 1y agoAmazon is so dead to me. I may buy one or two items a year. There are so many better options where you can better ensure quality.
- dwedge 1y agoI bought a $120 book from Amazon a couple of months ago, internationally, and they sent the wrong book. I told them, and they said they'd refund it, don't need to send it back, and they'd even add $15 credit. The refund never arrived so a few weeks later I got in touch again and they said I need to send it back if I want a refund. They told me the previous CSR had lied to improve ratings. I asked who I can complain to and they said nobody and closed the chat. I reopened it, restarted the refund, it was accepted and then 2 hours later I got an email saying that unless I sent them ID my refund would be rejected and that I can "no longer contact them" about this refund. I ignored that email, sent the book back and got the refund. Another time I bought a Samsung Fold and it cracked down the middle. I told Amazon and they said they'll refund it under warranty. I sent it back and got a warning that if I return anything else in "non original condition" I'd be banned. Even though it was a warranty return. That level of service would have been totally unheard of for Amazon 5 years ago.
- decremental 1y ago[dead]
- madaxe_again 1y agoYeah - I think they’ve put a big focus on reducing returns over the last year. I bought a Quest 3 last year. One of the controllers totally packed in within half an hour - thumb stick permanently locked to full. Wanted to do an RMA. Amazon told me to go hang, said I couldn’t return used goods, it would have to be unused in the box, and that I should contact meta. I contacted meta, who told me to go hang, as they don’t officially support Portugal, which is where Amazon Spain happily shipped it. So it’s just sat in a box gathering dust since, and I now avoid using Amazon whenever possible. I had already ditched meta so frankly I should have known that I was going to step on a rake.
- monegator 1y ago> Amazon told me to go hang, said I couldn’t return used goods I don't buy it. Don't we have actual consumer protection laws here in europe? We can return anything we bought online in 14 days time, full refund, no questions asked.
- r_singh 1y agoAmazon in India is truly a miracle service. Affordable, has the largest range of products with quick and easy returns. I think it’s basically impossible to compete with it.
- palata 1y agoStill in step 1 there?
- mizzao 1y agoFor everyone's context, I think this is about the process of enshittification: 1. Prioritize customers (product feels great) 2. Prioritize B2B (sellers in this case — customer experience starts to suffer) 3. Prioritize shareholders (customer experience is terrible, now sellers' experience starts to suffer too, product eventually dies — though it takes a while)
- palata 1y agoWhich is precisely what the featured article is about :-)
- r_singh 1y agoThanks for sharing. Someone in Indian tech news should cover this and warn people of over reliance on Amazon. In my city there’s a local market which is trying to compete by using Google ads and undercutting Amazon’s pricing for electronics items. It has impressed me. I wouldn’t have found out or actually used it though if it hadn’t been for my senior who’s older and still checks the prices at multiple places before buying.
- r_singh 1y agoYeah I guess so! Maybe a transition between 1 and 2 and I probably am counted as a B2B user by them so maybe it isn’t clear to me yet how shitty they are (becoming). They even have a different account tier for business users.
- jnaina 1y ago[flagged]
- renewiltord 1y agoAmazon works great for me. Everything from cheap Chinese stuff I want immediately to fresh produce in a couple of hours to grill grates. The return policy is good with simple instructions and I'm comfortable with the error rate.
- Foorack 1y agoI haven't read the article, but as a Swede I am stunned by the title. I shop from Amazon a couple of times per month, with Prime subscription. Delivery is always insanely fast (within 1-2 days), I always get exactly what I ordered, prices are always lowest compared to all competition, returns are convenient and human-free, and the additional Prime Videos is a nice bonus. I am honeslty worried of local Swedish business, becase they are getting the floor wiped. I haven't had a single issue some other people are mentioning.
- lkramer 1y agoMy take is that it's because there is still competition in Sweden to keep them on their toes. Once they have decimated the Swedish high street, like they have in the UK, they will start cutting costs.
- Telaneo 1y agoI'm sceptical of Amazon's ability to do this in a country with strong consumer protection laws. If Amazon becomes the default for every online purchase in Sweden, and then enshittify, assuming there aren't other options to fall back on, the pressure will be pretty heavy, while in the US, that pressure basically doesn't exist.
- harvey9 1y agoI've had crappy service on UK high streets long before Amazon. A keyboard I got from Tottenham Court Road stopped working within a week so I took it back in person. The shop manager tried to tell me I had to send it to the manufacturer. He backed down when I put the phrase "contractual relationship" into a sentence.
- octo888 1y agoCurrys? They're so well-known for immediately and always saying "talk to the manufacturer" it must be in their training manual right at the top
- 1y ago
- ekianjo 1y agoin Japan I experience none of the problems that people in HN seem to have with Amazon in other countries. Never encountered fake products, return has always worked, and stuff that never arrived was also reimbursed. Maybe I'm an exception.
- RichardLake 1y agoHow is Japan's customer protection? Here in Australia it is enshrined in law that the seller, Amazon, must handle warranties and such for the expected life of the product.
- SXX 1y agoMost likely Japan just have better customer protections. Amazon only able to sell open-nox and co-mingled knock-off crap because US regulators are toothless. Louis Rossmann have a video about fake electrical fuses sold on Amazon US with almost half a million views. Literally the product that can burn your house to the ground: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B90_SNNbcoU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B90_SNNbcoU Did Amazon US at least pulled these off store? Nope.
- ekianjo 1y ago> just have better customer protections Maybe. Or it could be simply relying on being a high-trust society. Screw up with consumers, and people will talk about it and shame you night and day.
- ninjin 1y agoTrue, but it is worth mentioning that since Amazon Japan dropped using established delivery services and went with their own gig-based one their service has taken a drastic turn for the worse: Claims of having ringed the bell, despite not having done so; packages left outside, without having allowed them to leave them outside in the settings; big envelopes rammed into mail boxes and hanging ~1/4 outside, because they could not be bothered to use the delivery lockers; absolutely mad parking and driving with their "delivery cars"; impolite behaviour when delivering at your door; etc. With Japan Post and the regular delivery services I have never seen any of these things. Sure, Amazon fairs better than elsewhere, but even Japan is not immune.
- alkonaut 1y agoHas Amazon been forced to take responsibility for their third party sellers’ products anywhere yet (safety, environmental, counterfeit etc)?
- sometimes_all 1y agoIn India, Amazon has been quite good IFF you have Prime. Deliveries are quite quick, returns and refund rules are clear, and always get processed if eligible. If you're a frequent user, it's well worth the subscription cost. If you don't have Prime though, it's a different place altogether. But you don't have much of a choice - Flipkart (the other alternative) is worse in every way.
- wtmt 1y agoI was looking through the comments here for something like this. Additional context for others here: Amazon in India is legally allowed only to operate a marketplace. It is not allowed to stock and sell products by itself (it does FBA, i.e., Fulfilled by Amazon for warehousing and delivering products by third party sellers). Amazon in India has been close to perfect on customer service. I have had issues, but it’s still easier to contact customer service on chat or have them call me (both modes have become a little more difficult to access with the stupid chat bot responding and not helping). Anytime there’s a defective item that needs to be returned for refund or replaced, it’s been very quick. Lately though, I’ve made it a habit of shooting unboxing videos and photos of the delivered package so that I have clear evidence on any wrongdoing by anyone in Amazon. For larger appliances and such, I’d still prefer a local brick and mortar store. On the other hand, Flipkart, which is Amazon’s primary competitor, has worse prices on many items of interest to me, does not really offer fast shipping like Amazon does, has only a phone number to contact customer service (and that’s pretty useless), doesn’t have a simple way to get returns or replacements done, has a really stupid and useless “SuperCoins” rewards scheme, and more. It’s a wonder that Walmart is still an investor and owner in Flipkart and hasn’t sold it off and salvaged itself. I do believe that Amazon’s service in India has deteriorated over the last couple of years or so. Don’t know if management doesn’t care as much or what’s happening within.
- cemoktra 1y agoA huge part for me is how they handle employees and how that makes employees steal things. My wife ordered an iPhone and we received a salt mill and a flashlight. Called them, they said sorry send it back. But then they would not return the money cause we did not return the phone. At that point Amazon accused us for betrayal and forced us to take a lawyer to get parts of the money back. That was our last day of using Amazon or prime video.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- solid_fuel 1y agoI bought a book from amazon 5 days ago, specifically picking the new - not used - version. What got delivered was not just clearly used, but has a large patch of tape on the cover where there was a large tear. They definitely tried to send me a used book as if it was new. I'm sick and tired of Amazon lying to me.
- anonymousiam 1y agoI've been an Amazon customer since the were just a book store (in 1999). I buy a lot of stuff from them. Just in the past three months, I've noticed a lot of changes. Orders are being lost, orders are being cancelled by them for lack of product, orders are being split, with no indication of the split -- showing all products delivered when the split portion is still in transit. In the past, the customer could see the same order information that their Customer Support staff could see, but now we can't see as much. Recently, I had an order split three ways (three of the same item) without any notice. The shipment arrived with only one item, so I contacted Customer Support. The support rep spun on it for a while, and then told me I would receive the remainder of the shipment the next day. By the end of the call, it changed to two days. It finally arrived four days later, but that shipment also only had one item (of the three ordered). I tried contacting customer service again, but instead of letting me reach a human, Amazon forced me into an AI chat. The chatbot told me that my only option was to accept a refund for the missing (third) item. I repeatedly told it that I would rather receive the item, but it insisted that was impossible. So it refunded part of my purchase price. Two days later, I received the third item (with no shipping status updates of any kind), followed the next day by a demanding email from Amazon that I pay them for the item I had received (which I did do). Even more recently, I ordered an m.2 SSD. While placing the order, I opted for the "green" option to get a little money back by not rushing them. Everything was fine with the order until the next day, when I got an email saying the charge to my (Amazon) card was declined. I checked the card, which still had $8,100 of credit, and I had just received and paid the ($1,900) bill the day before. I called Amazon (and reached a person!) -- the guy in the foreign call center had an accent so think that I had trouble understanding him, but he insisted that the issue was MY fault three times before I got him to consider that maybe it wasn't. He offered to try charging the order again, and it went through. I checked the order status while still on the call, and the "green" option was no longer there, so I cancelled the order and tried re-placing it, but there was no longer any "green" option, so I didn't re-place the order. I think all of this nonsense is a consequence of Amazon deploying AI into their systems across all business functions. The last one was probably an AI trying to maximize their margins by depriving me of the (1%) "green" credit. Hopefully my actions helped "train" the AI that ripping off your customers will reduce your sales revenue. I know this was a long rant, but at least in my case, Amazon's deployment of AI is going to reduce the amount of money they earn from me.
- OutOfHere 1y agoAmazon recently ruined Order Search for no reason at all. It used to be that it worked, showing matching recent orders. Now it shows altogether unrelated orders from years ago, for no reason at all except to ruin my experience.
- rafinha 1y agoThe genious leadership at prime video thought it would be a good idea to introduce adds not only on the beginning of movies but also in the middle of it, with an extra paid option (on top of prime) to remove it. When an add appeared I got so frustrated I cancelled my prime subscription at that very moment. I wonder if they even considered/cared about brand reputation impact.
- bell-cot 1y agoSadly, brand reputation is a means to an end. If they lose the most demanding 5% of customers, while getting 10% more profit from the other 95%, that's a huge net win. At least in the short term. But manager bonuses and promotions and the stock price are all based on the short term, aren't they?
- hdgvhicv 1y agoI canceled prime when they introduced ads. That means I no longer spend nearly $1k a year on other things from Amazon too. They dont care. The mismatch in power between trillion dollar companies breaks the traditional accountability relationship between seller and buyer.
- immibis 1y agoI've seen (somewhere on HN) it compared to soviet central planning committees: decisions are made by people so far removed from any actual situation on the ground and with so little accountability they have no hope of making correct ones, and then sooner or later, whatever they're in charge of collapses.
- supermatt 1y agoWhen your stock price is so high that it out-values operations and out-paces innovation, and you need to provide value to your shareholders to retain your valuation, what can you do other than squeeze your revenue stream for more juice? Hopefully Enshittification is just the dying throes of a megacorp before they implode - otherwise we are all screwed if this becomes the new normal.
- bell-cot 1y agoTitle suggestion - add "(Cory Doctorow)". His being the author is much more significant than the fact that his article was published in The Guardian.
- SXX 1y agoDo not ever buy anything safety-critical off Amazon. Fake electrical fuses linked in Louis Rossmann video are still for sale: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B90_SNNbcoU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B90_SNNbcoU Or any food, or anything that you wear too close to your body that can be health hazzard due unsafe or toxic materials.
- MrDresden 1y agoFor a few years now I have made an effort to first try to find a local (in the neighborhood, city or country) seller who has a good reputation before even considering Amazon. In all cases, where I have found alternatives, I've had great experiences, and no issues. The only thing I've noticed is the very big price difference between academic/technical books when bought on Amazon vs a local book store (40+%) in favour of Amazon. Bulk discounts play a part in that I assume.
- Symbiote 1y ago> Bulk discounts play a part in that I assume. Potentially also threats — Amazon demands the discount, with the threatened alternative being they won't stock any of the publisher's books.
- DocTomoe 1y agoIt may be more rubbish than it was 10 years ago ... but it still beats out 9 out of 10 other online stores, at least in the country I live in. When the bear is hunting after your your group of friends, you don't have to be the fastest runner, it is sufficient to not be the slowest one.
- sidcool 1y agoPrime Video with ads has become a trash place. I don't use it anymore. And stopped prime membership too.
- thinkingemote 1y agoI use Amazon to get the base price and any reviews and then search elsewhere. Often the same sellers or manufacturers will offer the same product with the same price but with cheaper shipping on eBay.
- harvey9 1y agoI was shopping for a specific jacket last week and a few different Amazon sellers had very different prices for an identical product. Still agree with your point though since I still got a base range of prices. I ended up going to the website of a clothing retailer instead.
- haunter 1y agoThe root of the problem is that they mixed the Amazon retail storefront (aka The Amazon people know) with the Amazon Marketplace used by the third party sellers. So when you buy something the whole thing works automatic and invisible to get the “best price” Unless you make your own choice and going deep into the purchasing options you will end up in one of the 3 scenarios - Product sold and shipped by Amazon - Product sold by third party but shipped by Amazon - Product sold and shipped by third party I have never had a problem with the first category but the other two are always problematic, especially the third. You are on Amazon.de > you can end up buying from the US, UK, or China (so outside of the EU). Not just you will get hit by customs but good luck enforcing the mandatory 14 day return law.
- lyu07282 1y agoI had issues with the first category too because of the commingle inventory perhaps. Counterfeit SD card sold and shipped by Amazon. Seems like a very common issue.
- KevinMS 1y agoWhere are these horror stories coming from? I've bought thousands of things off amazon for the last 10 years and almost never have a problem, and the price is at least equal to someplace I'd drive to. Not only do I use prime deliveries, I also watch prime streaming, buy groceries through Fresh, and host things on AWS Their return policies are really lenient too. I bought a computer monitor, didn't like it so I sent it back, bought another and liked it even less, sent it back. The third one I liked, all the returns didn't cost me a thing. Just a few weeks ago, just be accident, I got a refund on a loaf of bread that had been dented, while I was getting service on something else. Nothing is perfect, but their online chat support has resolved any problem I've had, even if it took some effort. I don't want to sound like an ad although I probably do, but what am I doing right? Do I somehow, instinctually, avoid products that will be trouble? If things were as bad as the comments suggest, I don't think amazon would be still in business. If this is enshittification, more please.
- dev_l1x_be 1y agoI only buy cheap garbage from Amazon and check the reviews for the more pricey items there. It is not worth the hassle. Price from buying it somewhere more reliable is most definitely worth it. I attribute this to MBA types taking over. They care about metrics that are optimized for their promotions not for customer satisfaction.
- jaccola 1y agoWhat on earth is he talking about? Firstly, I find Amazon fine for goods that are hard to be faked (washing powder, books, etc...). But the real shocker to me is: > That means shopping anywhere other than Amazon has become substantially more inconvenient. and > We’re all still stuck to the platform, but we get less and less value out of it. I've simply started buying all of my electronics, and other expensive goods from the manufacturer (D2C) or a reputable retailer in the space. My groceries I can order through my supermarket or one of the grocery focused platforms. They all offer simple free or cheap shipping at a convenient time. I think, to some extent, Amazon has helped this push for better/cheaper shipping. > Break up with Amazon and delete your apps, and you will lose all the media you’ve ever bought from the platform. Yes... but if you simply stop paying them you will keep them all? I have never bought a movie through Prime but I have some audio books which all work fine despite me no longer paying Audible. All in all it seems like this guy has come up with some hypothesis of their master plan but the reality is that switching costs are low and Amazon doesn't hold a monopoly in any tangible way.
- jaccola 1y agoThis article just gets worse and worse! > you can’t stop enshittification by “voting with your wallet” (those votes are always won by those with the thickest wallets, and that’s the billionaires who made money by enshittifying everything) Er... Amazon can't run with only the patronage of billionaires? What is he imagining, Elon Musk just buys a billion dollars a day from his mate Jeff? Obviously if the platform gets worse, customers will start switching (en masse) to the 85-90% of global ecommerce that Amazon doesn't control.
- Hnrobert42 1y agoWashing powder and books are classic cases of items that are easily counterfeit and often appear on amazon. https://thecounterfeitreport.com/product/138/Laundry-Detergent.html https://thecounterfeitreport.com/product/138/Laundry-Deterge... https://clark.com/scams-rip-offs/fake-laundry-detergent-how-to-avoid-buying-it/ https://clark.com/scams-rip-offs/fake-laundry-detergent-how-...
- necovek 1y agoI am outside US and have used them to ship internationally because they are one of the rare retailers who will ship delivery duty paid, avoiding local UPS/FedEx/DHL offices charging 30-60 USD just to do customs processing (local ~30% customs fees still come on top of combined shipping and item prices). Their international shipping charges have gone bonkers recently though too (what used to be like $70 for an ultraportable laptop is now like $200+). Thus I am bound to Amazon.de more but there's a smaller selection. I also temporarily sign up for Prime when I visit US (usually for a week), but recently, unless I order on Sunday of my arrival and deliver to one of their lockers, "2-day shipping" or even extra paid same-day-shipping won't arrive by Friday to my hotel (last few experiences in Boston, MA). Due to only "delivered by Amazon" products having delivery-duty-paid option, I avoid some of the risk of new Amazon, but I need to be extra careful when shopping while in the US.
- aborsy 1y agoNever had issues with Amazon, frequently shop. Local shops are scams in my area: expensive, don’t take back items, limited selections, don’t have the right items and have to settle for less, time consuming, bad customer service, can have language requirements for some people at the time of disputes (but not when selling), the reviews of items are not available and a lot of them turn out to be bad, long waiting lines … Your complaints about online shopping remain with local shopping. The benefits of online shopping for consumers are plenty and evident. The majority of products I bought online that I researched carefully have been solid.
- distances 1y ago> Local shops are scams in my area: expensive, don’t take back items, limited selections, don’t have the right items and have to settle for less, time consuming… None of these are scams, you're misusing the word. You mean a worse shopping experience, not defrauding the customer.
- throw-the-towel 1y agoI live in a country with the same problems, and everything here is so much more expensive, it absolutely deserves to be called a scam. Stuff such as books and electronics can easily be 2x as expensive locally as abroad.
- qcnguy 1y agoStill not a scam. Stop damaging the language.
- ipaddr 1y agoNot a scam a local business who can't compete on price with a global marketplace. What they offer is the ability to put the product in your hands immediately, they hire your friends /family and pay taxes to your city and national government allowing services like police, fire and hospitals to be funded. For many cheap prices, longer wait times and not supporting your local area makes more sense to them. But then they complain about the local services and not realize their decision to not support them had an affect.
- gverrilla 1y agoThat's the free market so many people in HN praise.
- TrackerFF 1y agoI've noticed that the enshitifacation of e-commerce marketplaces has become a global problem. Here's what I've observed for the past 5 years or so: - Pretty much every webstore of size will now list / sell everything, where 99% of the products are not in stock, and needs to be ordered - probably from the vendors in China, or whatever. - Explosion in independent 3rd party sellers, within those stores. You now have to check that you're explicitly purchasing from the webstore you're visiting, and not some third party they allow to sell through them. Luckily some stores have become better at notifying the buyer that the item is being bought from someone else, and not the store. - Acceptance of lookalike products. Basically, it seems like all the stores are competing to be AliExpress and Temu now.
- general1465 1y agoThen it is a question, why not buy directly from AliExpress. At least you know what you have paid for and there is implicit agreements that there are going to be no returns.
- jwr 1y agoThe ideas are correct, but the argument in the article… could use some improvement. In stage 1 ("good for users") Cory describes how the platform becomes bad for users. In stage 2 ("abusing users, good to businesses") he actually describes how Amazon is BAD to businesses. Not the best presentation of his fantastic "enshittification" term.
- casenmgreen 1y agoI missed out on what seems to be the deterioration over the last few years; I stopped using Amazon, some years ago, because I'd seen too many and consistent stories of the work lives of warehouse staff.
- cyberax 1y agoTo add my voice here: I have never had problems with Amazon. And I'm ordering tons of very niche electronics stuff from them. Right now I have two PZEM-016 meters in front of me, connected to an RP2040-based FeatherWing board. All of that was delivered within 2-3 days, as expected, and at a price point that is the same or nearly the same as in other online retailers. I got a fake product only once, a box with packing peanuts instead of a ZigBee relay. They refunded the cost right away.
- vachina 1y agoAmazon is a data & server company disguised as an online store.
- gtsop 1y agoThis is capitalism, profit over human needs, what's the surprise here?
- drsalt 1y agoenshittification commentary is also enshittifying
- MathMonkeyMan 1y agoHow many times can you say "genocide" in an article about Amazon?
- tiku 1y agoPayed for fast shipping for emergency cavity filling paste only to get it 3 days later than advertised. No excuses from the semi-chatbot-drone worker when confronted.
- regularfry 1y agoHas anyone else ordered a pair of shoes only to open the box and find... one shoe? Best I can guess someone's ordered two pairs, split one of the pairs across the two boxes, and sent both boxes back for two refunds and they've gone straight back on the shelf.
- 400thecat 1y agohow would that help? either they check the returned boxes or they don't. sending back 1 shoe does not fools the inspection
- Macha 1y agoAn empty shoebox is so much lighter than a full shoebox that the odds of triggering someones sense of this being fishy are way higher I guess.
- regularfry 1y agoIt matters less if it's actually true than if someone trying to pull off the scam thinks it might be. The only way to find out if that hole exists in the system is either to have an insider tell you that it would, or to try it out...
- regularfry 1y agoOh, and to add further to the nonsense: the product description technically doesn't say that what you're buying is a pair of shoes. So a sufficiently automated system might mistake a single shoe for a legitimate product. It's absurd, but not impossible to see how you might end up there.
- foldr 1y agoA couple of years ago Amazon UK somehow bamboozled me into buying a monthly subscription for a pot of hair product. When the next month's item was delivered and I saw the charge on my card, I was so infuriated that I impulsively disputed it. Months later, Amazon sent me a rude email asking for their money, but I eventually won the dispute. It feels kind of good knowing that I'm one pot of hair wax up on Jeff Bezos. (I did offer to send it back.)
- kotaKat 1y agoEasy: Amazon missed the mark and started piling on all the useless bullshit on top of what they used to do, veered far out of their lane, and started becoming a media and software production company instead of just selling books. Now I can't get anything delivered to my house within 2 days or less because I'm punished as a rural customer, but they can sure as hell send me letters every 2 months complaining I haven't touched my Prime Video.
- dubeye 1y agoMy reason for using Amazon has changed over the years it used to be for the good returns but now my situation is such that I’ve no interest in taking the time to use the return service. And I use the service for the quick delivery of small items that I can write off if I don’t like and it works for that fine on the occasion I have returned stuff. It’s never been an issue. I suspect that some of the posters on here have passed some kind of returns threshold which impacts their experience.
- mgh2 1y agoWhy does the author need to inject his political viewpoints into the article? > Cory Doctorow is an activist, science fiction author and co-editor of the blog Boing Boing. If you have not dealt with digital marketing, this article is structured as an advertorial, present a pain (Amazon practices), then offer a solution/product, with a subtle call to action (CTA) at the end - "subscribe to the left ideology to get rid of the problem" I am tired of political propaganda masqueraded as information. Ironically, the author doesn't know that he is a product of "enshittification"; but instead of physical products, left ideologies, heavily advertised through social media. https://www.allsides.com/news-source/guardian https://www.allsides.com/news-source/guardian
- grafmax 1y agoEssentially the enshittified internet is a rent-extracting one. It locks users in, often taking a loss leader, then once it has built this moat, it degrades user experience by extracting rent. Rent extraction is a form of profit that allows the wealthy owners of these platforms to parasitize money from the working class by relying on lock-in instead of offering something of value in return. It’s in society’s interest that businesses like this are expropriated and socialized and handed over to the workers to run. This would lower prices by eliminating lock-in based profiteering, restore the internet from its state of enshittification, and decentralize power by reducing wealth concentration. However power is so centralized in the hands of these oligarchs this wont happen on its own. They are currently turning our country into a white Christian nationalist ethno-state to try to preserve their tenuous hold on power. In the medium term, their adversarial approach to society’s welfare is likely to backfire as we continue to find ourselves increasingly squeezed by the enshittified world these oligarchs have created - and turn to the only real effective tool that we have left: mass strikes. The longer we wait the harder it’s going to be.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- Simulacra 1y agoMaybe I missed it, but I haven't seen any mention of the postal rates reform vis-à-vis China. That certainly ended the era of cheap products from China sold on the platform, so I was always curious if removing postal subsidies had an impact on Amazon's quality, or supply chains?
- bichiliad 1y agoMy partner ordered two sets of watercolor paints in a travel case, both new. One of them was just an empty case — someone had taken the paints. I feel like everyone has stories like this, which makes me pretty scared for more important purchases. What if I ordered an iPhone and just got a box?
- QuiEgo 1y agoI feel like Amazon’s internal culture did not survive Bezos leaving + Covid. All that’s left are a bunch of people desperately trying to survive and climb their way up (stepping over whoever is necessary to do so). It’s not about the customer or the business at all any more.
- Esophagus4 1y agoThe Iron Law of Bureaucracy[1] > in any bureaucratic organization there will be two kinds of people: those who work to further the actual goals of the organization, and those who work for the organization itself. Examples in education would be teachers who work and sacrifice to teach children, vs. union representatives who work to protect any teacher including the most incompetent. The Iron Law states that in all cases, the second type of person will always gain control of the organization, and will always write the rules under which the organization functions [1] https://wiki.p2pfoundation.net/Jerry_Pournelle's_Iron_Law_of_Bureaucracy?utm_source=perplexity https://wiki.p2pfoundation.net/Jerry_Pournelle's_Iron_Law_of...
- rightbyte 1y agoThe exemple is bad. The union rep is in a parallel organisation. The admin can be FTE schemers and outdo teachers. But bad teachers have no edge on good teachers.
- chaostheory 1y agoDay Two came before Bezos left and Covid
- heelix 1y agoJust having to deal with getting the wrong item - something more expensive shipped, though it was not the item I was actually after. Did not take the wizard past the return instructions where they would charge me the amount, but no information on the return. For a $15 item, I'll keep the $20 package they shipped me -- not going to deal with their mistake if it is going to cost me to help them fix the issue. Biggest issue is the shipping. The primary reason I had prime was the shipping - and I swear, only a small fraction of packages ship anywhere near the published date.
- seesaw 1y agoI had been a customer of Amazon for almost 20 years. I had Prime since day one. For me the breaking point was when they increased the fee and then decided to have ads for Prime Video. I sold the few Amazon stocks I had, and canceled Prime. I found after I canceled Prime, my Amazon spending significantly went down. Sometimes I will add something to the cart, look at the shipping fee, and decide to abandon the cart. Canceling Prime made me realize I was ordering a lot of junk I didn’t need.
- scoofy 1y agoFor me it was when prime raised it's price to $125, they stopped giving me any credit when my prime deliveries were late (they were more often than they weren't), and so I decided to walk over to Target in my neighborhood and see if it was more expensive -- Target was cheaper. At that point I decided the experience of going for a walk when I need something in a pinch was nicer than ordering online, and if I need something obscure, I'll pay for shipping once or twice a year.
- paffdragon 1y agoI rarely buy from Amazon, but some small things I find only there. I ordered some phone accessories last week and needed a little more for free delivery so I added a shampoo. They dropped the shampoo without packaging in a paper bag with all the other stuff, when I opened it, of course, the shampoo was all over everything. Their packaging and delivery quality is one of the worst. But they are still responsive to customer requests, although that is going down the sewer as well. I get often responses that look LLM/chatbot generated and often not answering my question. Or they try something like, sure I'll get you the refund as soon as you place the order again. Then I insist they refund now and so far I always got my money back. So, basically their advantage for me is their sortiment (but you need to navigate through a lot of fake and garbage products), free returns and quick refund (often even without a return). But this is not a very strong one and I very rarely open their website - the pile of low quality listing is so off-putting that I generally avoid.
- Popeyes 1y agoThe point Amazon went downhill, and like all online stores, is when they started letting third party sellers sell through the platform. It's now a black market where shady companies are trading on the good name of Amazon and selling the same products at lower products but usually from the grey market. The only one where I have seen it improve a store (in the UK) is Next where they allow other trusted fashion brands to sell through the store.
- reaperducer 1y agoThis summer it took Amazon 74 days to deliver a book. Not even a new book. A book sold and fulfilled by Amazon. Amazon's online system kept pushing back the delivery date one week at a time, so it couldn't be canceled either online or by the phone drones. After the second delay I just went to a local bookstore and bought it right there. When the book from Amazon finally arrived, I took it straight to Whole Foods for a refund.
- Pogiebait 1y agoI’ve been buying from Amazon since they begin. I went through the pain of it being new company [missed shipments, wrong product, colors and a multitude of other headaches] back then they extended your membership or something like that. Now you are you are a take it or leave it sucker. Customers who have stuck around you 30 or 20 years should get some kind of discount on their membership fee. I have been slowly going to Walmart and Sam’s Club for a lot they’re slowly cleaning up their act.
- rentaprogrammer 1y agoWhat I've found on Amazon product listings is that honest reviews are buried underneath thousands of vague, five star reviews. Nowadays you can churn out tons of positive reviews with AI. Product reviews on Amazon are completely meaningless today. My experiences with multiple products differ vastly from those reported on the product page.
- dabockster 1y agoThe largest moat I’ve seen with Amazon and e-commerce in general has been the logistics aspect of it. Because even when 90%+ of the goods sold are junk, the remaining 10% are lower volume niche items or hard to find in retail stores for various reasons. E-commerce can absolutely unleash underserved and redlined areas, for example. So honestly, I think we haven’t even gotten close to the rock bottom point where people will actually start cancelling things like Prime. Especially while the competition still won’t sell their goods to “dirty” areas. And then people wonder why Amazon and Walmart are so big.
- giroro 1y agoHere's a specific example. IMDB (an Amazon company) forces you to watch a movie trailer for a movie you don't want to see in order to watch a movie trailer for a movie you actually want to see. You have to watch an 2-minute ad in order to unlock the privilege to view the same kind of 2-minute ad. I'm not sure weather to call that absurdism or dystopian, but it's nuts. More importantly, it is friction. It actively stops the customer from doing what amazon (or its advertisers) actually want them to do. This same thoughtlessness to the impacts of decision making has been inexplicably implemented into Amazon's companies at every level. This is a big problem for Amazon customers, especially. Amazon's insistence on advertising blocks customers from spending money. Every unrelated "sponsored" product in the search results gives that much more opportunity for a buyer to look on a different site. Serving an ad has inexplicably become a higher priority than closing a sale. Look at Amazon's "are you really sure you actually want to buy that" page they are now using to try and upsell customers before letting them check out. To say the least, it is a fundamental change in philosophy from the company who invented single-click checkout and "Buy it Now".
- swah 1y agoIn Brazil its getting better and better. I even feel bad because I question myself what are we going to do outside if everything can arrive next day and cheaper than anywhere else... local business can't compete etc. (Another nice thing is that I can buy (some) imported goods (say a Peak Design pouch) directly on my local Amazon site and feel confident they will arrive. Not sure exactly what makes items appear listed on the local store.)