33 piece electronics precision repair set : $5.99
6ft HDMI cable: 25c shipped
540pc electrolytic capacitor assortment: $7.78 shipped
A good nights sleep: Negotiable
In principle it’s easy to hate Amazon, but I no longer possess the strong convictions, moral fortitude nor the thick bankroll to avoid their marketplace. I don’t really want to get into an extended discussion about what happens when a single company rises out of the pits of Mordor and forges a ring so powerful that hobbits must embark on unexpected journeys just to destroy it. I was just thinking it’s refreshing when sellers are too lazy or shameless or financially strapped to even bother hiding where their product originates from with rebranding or other such common trickery.
I think there’s no question where my precision electronics repair set came from.
Anyone else have some Amazon oriented irony or any other “light and not too preachy” anecdotes they want to have a “glass of gin at room temperature” dry laugh about?
one of the things that has started to truly insult me is the state of their automated emails. maybe its just how they show up on my phone but they are the only business of that size to have such laughably pathetic emails
accounts and lists > communication and content - communication preferences > email preferences / general settings (drop down)
Scroll all the way down and click the checkbox for “Do not send me any marketing email for now” and update.
I literally opted out of all emails that don’t say something was shipped or a payment has been made. Yet even in the confirmation emails they still put those “continue shopping for” and show me a picture of something I clicked on accidentally.
Where I live (Colombia), Amazon is a blessing, I’ve got synths, a mixer, stands, cables and bags for my synths. Many of those things are really hard to find here, if you look at buying a synth here, the market is small and filled with overpriced Microkorgs, Volcas and some Minilogues (a big exception to Moog and Modal which have local distributors).
Direct shipping from Amazon to here take one week or less, most of the time it’s free. Even with the import taxes the prices you can get for many things are really competitive. So, I’m guilty of dealing with the devil for my synths.
They may indeed be in leagues with the devil but I don’t think you need to feel guilty, you are just using a system, already in place, to your advantage.
And @Cosmic is right, you can find crazy hard to find things if you’re willing to pay a premium. Like, never been used - still in box, smells fresh items that have been discontinued for 30 plus years and sometimes (if you’re willing to pay enough) same day delivery.
I’m on more of a “free delivery option” budget but I still don’t understand how this guy is blowing out hdmi cables at .25c US shipped. The price includes shipping. I really don’t think I want to know the answer.
I read a statistic that 40% or internet sales happen on Amazon (worldwide) because they have a network of sites.
You can buy the original version of that teenage engineering toy record maker kit on amazon japan for like 60 bucks before shipping, it’s just not branded with the TE logo but it’s the exact same product.
I think Amazon is misunderstood a little , yes here are some alleged underhand business practices and many items that are copies / unregulated etc ( alleged )
But my main point here is how they’ve invested and innovated in their infrastructure, much more than most companies.
Especially how they’re actually a distribution/ front end for many small business . They’re revolutionised storage, marketplaces, dropshipping and distribution… many use it instead of eBay.
It’s not just ‘ one shop’ .
No other store has setup lockers nearby for me easily have items delivered to a very close locker I can open via Bluetooth… or before that sign up local stores to all pickup from them
Where they lead others follow eventually.
it’s hyper capitalism and it’s bad for everyone everywhere. i’m sure the delivery drivers pissing in water bottles so they stay on schedule as their supervisors send them multiple text messages asking why they are 7 minutes behind schedule or whatever is just a great thing. in time that won’t be a problem though because they will shit the workforce right down the toilet as soon as the robots are good enough.
bezos sucks, amazon sucks. the idea of them being a front end for small businesses is a joke. they used their position to leverage price cuts everywhere and they pressure everyone from book publishers to people selling random crap to do things their way, accept the price cuts, the percentage increases etc… amazon is just another extraction industry. they extract wealth from below and funnel it to the top. don’t delude yourself.
/rant
/off soapbox
could link to a handful of podcasts with history of amazon, history of bezos with lot’s of details about all the things i mention but not in the mood. behind the bastards bezos episodes are a good start though as is the podcast that just about amazon… i forget the name though.
edit: and i’m not holier than though… have from time to time caved and bought something on amazon because it was literally not available anywhere else… but i do my best to never buy there.
I shop at Amazon and do not have the moral fortitude to stop, the end user experience is (mostly) very good, but the cost of doing so is a huge problem
Where it’s going wrong is the ridiculous results from searching (not just the fake stuff) … there’s so much promotion and hijacking by legit companies that getting vaguely accurate hits is becoming a distant memory - the recommendations are increasingly absurd too
Anyway, just wanted to post the MOBLLE SDUD STATE which makes me chuckle, surely nobody is this naive … and quite why Amazon haven’t shut this down (after many months) is beyond me ($pon$ored ftw eh!)
I only really buy stuff I have a need for, so my Amazon shopping is rather boring and mundane, it is usually stuff I can’t find elsewhere. I rarely ever buy new stuff on ebay, so Amazon for new, ebay for used. I generally prefer to buy used, often vintage items though, where practical.
I tend to think in terms of how long something will be useful for, so frivolous impulse buys and gimmicks are not something that interests me, landfill fodder as far as I’m concerned.
I have an Amazon prime chase visa credit card that gets my 5% cash back at Amazon and 5% back at Whole Foods.
Every month I get more $ in cash back than the monthly prime membership fee costs me, mostly from grocery shopping though.
The card has no annual fee, and also opens you up to some financing offers (split this purchase up into 18 monthly payments with 0% APR), which I’ve found great for buying Apple products. I’ll likely use it to buy my wife an M2 iPad Air. Apple products are typically on a rotating discount of 5%—12% off on Amazon as well.
I’m not here to sell anyone on the card, just to say I’ve found a way to make the occasional “free shipping” Amazon perk work for me, financially. Prime Video has some rather good programming as well, much of it in 4K UHD, unlike many other streaming services.
I typically try not to buy things on Amazon I can buy locally from a mom&pop. If they have a book I want, I’ll seek it out from the publisher directly (usually only $4-$5 more). And at the same time some of my favorite authors want me to buy their work from Amazon, as it helps them more in the long run.
But it it’s some random commodity product from a large multi-National corporation that I’d otherwise have to buy at a big box store, then yea I’m probably gonna save the fuel in my own car, stay home, and have Bezos get it to me in a Rivian electric van.
FWIW, I have a few friends and a couple family members who work for a Bezos run company or subsidiary and they’re all quite pleased with their employment. I know this is often the exception, and not the rule though.
Amazon Essentials jeans are the only ones I can find that are slim fit (not skinny fit- I’m just a skinny person, not trying to be trendy) BUT boot cut at the bottom. They are also the only jeans where I can set the length to whatever I want (I’m short). I really didn’t want to wear Amazon clothes but, every other brand is so limited, I had to. Also, if you need a mens button up casual but a little dressy regular old shirt, they’re the most inexpensive and again, way more choices for people that aren’t your standard 6’ dude. I feel like we’re headed towards everyone wearing the same pants from the same mega-corporation like in the movie Her (the one about J. Phoenix and the computer OS he falls in love with). I hate Amazon and I loathe Bezos and all his fellow billionaires but there’s shit on there that I just can’t find anywhere else.
EDIT: and if this thread turns into one of those where I have to hear about what a super awesome deal someone got on gear I’m going to throw up again. Everywhere I go, as far as gear forums are concerned, people cannot f**king wait to tell everyone what a great deal they got on their gear. As Pops in Secret Life of Pets once said, “Nobody cares!”
I think it’s good to try and stay away from purchasing new stuff whenever possible.
I’m not super well off either, so that definitely helps with making more of those options haha. I just feel kinda bad knowing there’s someone slaving away in some far off country for my tshirt or whatever.
Buying 2nd hand is so good, you get very nice things and you pay even less than new worse things.
Sometimes I buy new stuff too, but a lot of the time I don’t think we need to.
Everyone has a valid point, and I can tell some people feel very strongly about the broader strokes painted simply by invoking the name of the beast. It was not my intention to create a puddle of muddy angry water for us to put on our galoshes and stamp our feet in, BUT, I respect your right to do so.
I do not, however, want this to become a powder-keg or a shooting range. I was personally looking for some jokes about lazy sellers, shady discount products with misspelled names, or half eaten candy bars being sold by the warehouse in grades from “used excellent” to “acceptable - observed visible signs of nibbling, item may come repackaged”.
I think it’s harder for people to find things to laugh or feel good about these days than it is to find puddles of muddy angry water.
)
