General Request to pretty much everybody (or so it seems).

[cabover4us]

Yup. In business you have to constantly change, innovate, adjust. And part of the problem is, as you get larger, those thing become harder. I run a lean, mean little business. We enjoy facing each new challenge (and it is brutal out there). So far, for 11 years, we have had phenomenal growth!

IMO Sears' big mistake was when they looked at Walmart and K-mart killin' it selling cheap Chinese junk, and decided: "Hey, let's drop what everyone has loved about us for over a hundred years--made in America and lifetime money-back guarantee--and just sell cheap Chinese junk too! And of course the clueless old farts sitting at the conference table who made that decision will retire with their golden parachutes regardless....

Agree 100% that Amazon may be at it's peak now, but will inevitably face their own challenges. Have noticed a definite decline in quality in the last 6 months. Orders sloppily and inaccurately packed, for one.

I have sent multiple videos to Amazon to show completely inept packaging, the one sheet wonder, or a box in a box with no foam, nor newspaper nothing, absolutely no response from Amazon. Most times smaller online retailers seem to care more on how they package their shipping. Even a box full of newspapers protecting my wigget is more impressive than a one sheet wonder.

 

[daugen]

Amazon got on a big kick about packaging about a year ago and I personally saw some improvement.
No more putting containers of liquid or something goopy in with other stuff, and it all lapidary tumbles itself enroute to arrive with empty bottles and ruined goods. I had a pair of pants ruined that way. Told them exactly what happened, they accepted it, and never an apology or anything. It's like you are talking to a giant robot. Try and find a phone number to call Amazon on their website. Just try...

Other than Walmart, who else to call when you live rurally and have minimal local shopping ability without driving almost an hour for me. Which has to add five bucks in auto/truck cost if you amortize all your trips.
So to me there is a real incentive to shop online, unless I can find the same product in a store downtown.
If I could, 99 percent of time I'd buy locally. But I can't buy what doesn't exist.

I use Amazon's own credit card to pay strictly my Amazon purchases and zero balance it every month.
That gives you a 5 percent credit off a future purchase. I always wondered who was paying for that 5 percent and I guess it's all the sellers paying for Amazon's marketing program.
There's an old saying of how can you knock success?
I guess we are finding out.

 

[txdon]

Can we ease up with the references to the shopping site named after a South American river? Jeff's already a multi-billionaire and he doesn't need your money. The little guys do. I know a lot of times when you buy from there, it's a little guy seller, but that isn't always true and even when it is, Jeff still gets his cut.

I just find it annoying that so many threads point people there for one thing or another that is almost always available from other sites.

Just say No to JeffCo.

Jeff was mentioned 3 times. It seems you have a grudge against him. What has he done to you, or do you just want to spread our money around? Are you one of the little guys or are just looking out after them? What % more should we be willing to pay to help the little guy? Who are these little guys?

 

[LD48750]

Amazon got on a big kick about packaging about a year ago and I personally saw some improvement.
No more putting containers of liquid or something goopy in with other stuff, and it all lapidary tumbles itself enroute to arrive with empty bottles and ruined goods. I had a pair of pants ruined that way. Told them exactly what happened, they accepted it, and never an apology or anything. It's like you are talking to a giant robot. Try and find a phone number to call Amazon on their website. Just try...

Other than Walmart, who else to call when you live rurally and have minimal local shopping ability without driving almost an hour for me. Which has to add five bucks in auto/truck cost if you amortize all your trips.
So to me there is a real incentive to shop online, unless I can find the same product in a store downtown.
If I could, 99 percent of time I'd buy locally. But I can't buy what doesn't exist.

I use Amazon's own credit card to pay strictly my Amazon purchases and zero balance it every month.
That gives you a 5 percent credit off a future purchase. I always wondered who was paying for that 5 percent and I guess it's all the sellers paying for Amazon's marketing program.
There's an old saying of how can you knock success?
I guess we are finding out.

You do know that there are other places "on line" to buy things don't you?
With VERY LITTLE effort you can usually find ANYTHING you are looking for cheaper then Amazon and shipped "free" without paying $120 up front for that "free" shipping.
No need to drive anywhere. Delivered right to your door.
Yes, I admit I sometimes wait more then 2 days but if I can wait 2 days, I can usually wait 3 or even 4.

Example, I needed an air filter for a lawn mower.
Found it on line...
Lowes... $8.78
Amazon .... $6.14 for 2, $3.06 for one
WalMart.... $2.99
EBay......$.99 (shipped free)

Yup, it took a week to get the one from Ebay but it's here, I didn't have to drive anywhere to get it.

 

[JohnBuffaloMN]

Blamazonc is mostly a middle man operation. There's plenty of competition coming for them. They had a rating system that was (is still) superior to any other online shopping outlet. They have a "Prime" option that they handle (package and ship) and others can use their website to list their own crap shipping it themselves. Wally World is steering the behemoth ship now to bring their own brand of CRAP service to the consumer on the Interweb, and after ordering online from them a few times they've helped me reaffirm my dislike for Wally World. Wrong item, piss poor customer service in handling return and no "right item" to remedy the problem.

Bezobub will make money on so many other ventures that his online sales machine could just stop and there'd still be a "Largest River of Cash In The World" flowing in.

Gooble is more egregious to me - and they've got some corrections coming - both regulatory and in the market place too.

 

[NoTrespassing]

Any sources you can cite for Amazon actively building a mononpoly on retail sales? Because the existence of Walmart, Home Depot, Walgreens, and, well, every other retail sales outlet large & small seems to be at odds with your claims. And the fact that he's building his own logistics services don't even begin support your claims, nor is it even remotely related. Ozarka and Sparkletts have delivered their own water for years. Walmart has its own delivery fleet. And those diabolical folks at O'reilley, AutoZone, Napa, Gorman Uniforms, Schwann's, Grainger, Fastenal, Home Depot, Dominoes, Papa John's, and pretty much any automotive and equipment dealer who side-step your perceived societal obligation to utilize 3rd party couriers. Heck, farmers bring their own produce to the farmers' market. Should farmers be forced to use DHL to send their cabbages 5mi down the road to the farmers' market? What's the difference? I don't understand the gripe with him buying his own trucks to deliver his products if he can ship them himself for cheaper than existing couriers and pass those savings on to his customers. It's a competitive edge, and if his competitors want to compete, maybe they need to consider doing the same. And the "pat doe" thing? I haven't seen a background check on my local USPS delivery lady (because such info is not available to me even if I cared to see it) but I can tell you that she's bat shart crazy (probably a meth head), and lazy to boot. She won't get out of her car if there are any clouds in the sky because they might rain on her. She puts "dog" on a little pink slip even if my dog is alseep inside on the couch, and I have to drive to the post office to get my package. I don't know the first or last names of the UPS or FedEx guys who typically drop off my amazon purchases and I haven't seen their rap sheets either, so there's no difference in my mind between them or (whoever you're talking about, it doesn't really matter).

In the off-chance that Amazon really is usurping the free market by some unfair means (like purchasing legislation that benefits them only, while hurting everyone else) and you've just done a poor job of articulating that fact, then I whole-heartedly would agree with your sentiments. I hate monopolies. Like the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA), who is a private company, whose sole right to insure in certain counties is guaranteed by state law, and whose coverage I am required to carry where I live. Until Jeff Bezos pays off (oops, I mean "lobbies") congress for the right to be the sole distributor of certain goods, I'll shop wherever I can get the best deal (which is usually Amazon).

And getting into the grocery business?! How nefarious! Someone tell K-mart, Wal-mart, Target, and the local gas stations, to take up political arms and fight down anyone who dares to sell perishables alongside non-perishables![/QUOTE

Thanks, good post. I think it's just human nature to hate the successful and root for or feel sorry for the loser. Maybe that's what happened to Xerox.

I wish I'd had the forethought to invest in Amazon.

Kevin

 

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

It's not about "hating the successful" what a ridiculous idea. There are real-world concerns and consequences when ONE company grabs too much market share.

My beef is the way they are systematically killing smaller Amazon sellers. It is similar in some ways to what happened with Walmart (and they ended up ruining several good American companies; read the story of what happened to Rubbermaid if you're curious).

Lack of competition will hurt buyers in the end.

 

[3930dave]

They could easily afford to do it for 10 percent.
I mean how much money does Bezos want?
all of it?

Yes.

I did a few tours in Tech...... while predatory and abusive behaviour is hardly confined to the tech sector, it's pretty normalized there. Cross section in tech - consistently, surveys show much higher levels of charitable donations in (what's left of) the smoke-stack industries than in the tech sector.

At the top of Tech...... let's just say that being a narcissistic sociopath is not considered a negative, but more as a baseline requirement to compete at that level. Notice that JB only recently discovered charitable giving, after public backlash was building that he had donated virtually nothing....

Camperforce, if you haven't heard about it....

https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/front-porch/387143-camperforce.html

^ Not saying anything one way or another about Amazon....... it is what it is......

So, enough about the dark side.....

I don't Prime, so I don't have the extreme volume of purchases to base my comments on that some people do.... small data pool here. That said.....

Canadian market has always been different than the USA market - product selection, pricing, and SHIPPING COSTS were historically much worse here. At the top of the market, there wasn't (and in some sectors, still isn't today) much competition. Canadian retail in-store service.... let's just say much of the time, you could walk into a store, set of fireworks, and still not get noticed. I consistently get good in-store Canadian service from LV Tools, but that is an exception....

I value, and directly support high-value independent retailers when I can. I've been buying from Lee Valley Tools for about 40 years now, later times ipdusa got plenty of business from me for rwd volvo parts.

^ I'm not wealthy...... throughout history, certain artisans were directly supported by wealthy patrons - I can choose to pay more for specific things to support local business on an exception basis, but I can't do it by default today.

My wife took a one year contract job in Northern Canada (southern Canada is over-populated, and under-jobbed, at least in term of anything that pays well outside of government.....). Flew up north, with one suitcase, got an unfurnished appt. Basic things like a radio....... I could (and did) buy a brand new Sony AM/FM table radio, AC w. AA backup on Amazon, and have it shipped to Northern Canada, for less than what Canada Post would have charged me to just ship an old radio from home.

That's ^ how bad Canada is, just for shipping costs.

Selection. Needed to buy a filter cap socket for an old diesel..... could have tried chasing a tool truck all over the region to get one, or just clicked on A, late one night. Done.

Still need to get an oil filter cap wrench for a Ford 2.3L road engine..... picked that vehicle up this year out west, had to mcgyver something to get the job done...... even Lordco out there with 20 or so filter cap wrenches on the wall did not have the right size....

Next A buy I do, click, and I'll have the correct wrench on it's way. It's on my A list.

It's difficult for someone who's only lived in the USA to understand how much Amazon's non-Prime "$35 buy means free shipping" helps...... the USA has always had a relatively competitive retail sector, tons of good mail-order companies (talking pre-Internet), and low or "no-cost" shipping. Gasoline is expensive here, not Western Europe expensive, but still much higher than USA prices..... even if I have the time, driving distances to get what I want is not cheap, though I've selectively done that too (picked up trailer tires and tractor chains, upstate NY - that reminds me - Clearing Customs with something like UPS is obscenely expensive - something Amazon and RockAuto has improved immensely for us Canucks.....)

I'm not interested in paying for Prime. I'm patient. I'll wait to collect several small items and build a $35 order later. Some of these items (like examples above) I can't find on the shelf anywhere near here.

I hold no illusions about the predatory nature of a company like Amazon...... but since I have to earn my money in the predatory private-sector job-market, it is a tool that I will use selectively to balance my household budget, and manage my time.....

Rgds, D.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I just looked up some camperforce jobs. They pay more than my wife makes as a substitute teacher.

 

[prichard]

I was just reading a blog written by full time campers. He's done 2 seasons at camperforce and is planning to do a third.