Amazon isn't new, we had mail order.

[protoolman]

All the threads on Sears Wards etc.got me to thinking. What's the difference between then and now? Nothing really, ordering from Amazon is just like ordering from Sears they both had everything you might need. We always had the stack of three or four catalogs to look through. And you could sit on one to see over the table at supper time if you were still a bit too short. They gave us access to the world of known products just like Amazon does today.

 

[GasGuzzler]

It took three weeks to send in a check, wait for it to clear, and item shipped back out. I am 40-ish miles from an Amazon commercial airport hub and sometimes get items THE SAME DAY I ORDER THEM ... usually next day. It's not the same.

 

[eveled]

Yep. Same business model minus the internet and delivery fleet.

If they had held onto their catalog a few more years and embraced the new technology. They would be huge.

 

[Jeepnik]

If I remember correctly, in the beginning Amazon was more Ebayish. They were a market place. Sellers, companies and individuals sold and shipped merchandise individually.

Amazon's big brainstorm was to centralize warehousing and shipping. There are still other companies that ship independently on Amazon. But in most cases Amazon warehouses and ships for sellers or sells directly.

Not exactly the same as catalog but close enough.

 

[eveled]

I’m pretty sure Sears was a mix, their own warehouse's for stuff they sold in their stores and some stuff shipped from the manufacturer.

In the hey day you could order kit buildings and farm equipment from Sears catalog. AFAIK , just about everything except groceries.

Imagine being in rural America and having your new house and barn delivered from Sears.

I just remembered I ordered headers and dual exhaust from Sears!

I used to order a lot from JC Whitney, Dixie Gun Works and Cabelas. Not by mail, I’d phone in and use a credit card.

 

[bobski]

there is nothing new under the sun. the concept has always been around.
just the tools to do it changed.
the catalog book was replaced by the smart phone with apps. fed-ex, ups, amazon all replaced usps and rea express,
and...intelligent american workers were replaced by people who cant speak english clearly, trained in (learing) centers, doing business in an american market, from the other side of the world.

 

[GasGuzzler]

No, in the beginning Amazon was for books then branched out to other media before going for it all ... and it's still a market with all kinds of sellers, just like Walmart.com.

 

[Durango Dave]

Computers drastically changed mail order companies.
It used to be if you ordered something from a mail order catalog and it didn't show up in a timely manner you would call them up on the phone. Someone would answer the phone and write your name on a piece of paper. They would then go into a room full of filing cabinets. They would find a folder with your order. That's how they knew the status.

Then computers allowed one employee to handle much more customers. Now you can't talk to anyone at Amazon if you wanted to. You look up your own order on the Internet with a password that only allows you to see your own order.

Far less employees get far more work done.

We are still very much still in the computer revolution. Examples are AI also trucks that drive themselves with GPS and computers. And much more.

 

[Kevin]

And the big mistake Sears made was not creating a website to compete with Amazon. They kept the same business model and didn’t modernize fast enough.

They had all the brick and mortar stores in malls or wherever. But people wanted to order off the internet.

I think my fist Amazon order was in 2001 or 2002. It was a DVD player. And I could have gone to Sears but didn’t.

 

[Yaworski]

And the big mistake Sears made was not creating a website to compete with Amazon.

They had it but it sucked and they didn't put the money into improving it.

 

[Yaworski]

I have long contended that print ads are superior to online because you see things that you didn't know that you wanted.

If I want a can opener and I'm shopping online, all I'll see are can openers because my search entry is "can opener." If I grab the "Kitchen Stuff" catalog to look for can openers, I'll see knives, scrubbers, pot holders and other things on my way to page 52 where can openers reside.

You flip through a print catalog and you see something and say, "Hey, that looks interesting. I'll order that with my new can opener." That doesn't happen as much with on line shopping.

 

[GasGuzzler]

I still get junk mail which is mostly sales flyers. You don't?

 

[JiminMaine]

I’m pretty sure Sears was a mix, their own warehouse's for stuff they sold in their stores and some stuff shipped from the manufacturer.

In the hey day you could order kit buildings and farm equipment from Sears catalog. AFAIK , just about everything except groceries.

Imagine being in rural America and having your new house and barn delivered from Sears.

I just remembered I ordered headers and dual exhaust from Sears!

I used to order a lot from JC Whitney, Dixie Gun Works and Cabelas. Not by mail, I’d phone in and use a credit card.

In about 1955 the kid next door saved up his birthday money and chores money and ordered a pony from Sears. His parents didn't know about it until it showed up at the door.

 

[vito]

Does anyone here remember Spiegels? I recall that when stationed in Germany from '78-'81 we ordered a lot of things, including clothes for my kids, from the Spiegel catalog and then waited the 4 to 6 weeks for the items to arrive through the APO.

 

[Deer Hunter]

Does anyone here remember Spiegels? I recall that when stationed in Germany from '78-'81 we ordered a lot of things, including clothes for my kids, from the Spiegel catalog and then waited the 4 to 6 weeks for the items to arrive through the APO.

Yes, alot of the old game show prizes were from Spiegels. (Lets make a deal, The price is right)

 

[6GUNSONLY]

Yes, alot of the old game show prizes were from Spiegels. (Lets make a deal, The price is right)

I can still hear it: "From Speigels, Chicago, Illinois, 60609."

 

[redhawker]

I think I mentioned in the Sears post that Sears could have been Amazon if they had embraced the internet. They pretty much did themselves in by not doing that and by, over the course of several years, reducing the types of items they carried until they were just another big box clothing store. They left the opening for Amazon, and Amazon took it and ran with it. As far as things being the same, well, sort of. Except prior to the internet, you looked through the catalog, filled out an order sheet, figured the cost, shipping, and tax (if any), and then stuck the order sheet and a check in an envelope, went to the mailbox or post office, and sent it on its way. They received it a few days later, then filled the order after a week or so (giving time for the check to clear), and then sent your order to you. Usually, it was a two-week or so process.

 

[eveled]

Don’t forget the first generation of dot com stores all failed miserably.

Google says. Sears big catalog ended in 1993, Amazon started selling books in 95.

 

[bigbillyboy]

I ordered lots of mail order in the day , usually the last page or two of most catalogs were order forms .

 

[jimbo1096]

Remember Western Auto? We used to have a store here in town and last time I remember buying anything was new chrome lug nuts for my old car. They actually had two sets in stock and had to order the other two sets. The one here closed up, maybe four or five years ago. They sold just about a little of everything.
Found this old advertisement. Wouldn’t it be fun to have?

 

[Nimrod308]

When I was growing up everything we had hunting, shooting, fishing etc. was from Herters. They had a big catalog that I could thumb through for hours. Still use a Herters reloading press and dies.

 

[coach]

At some point early in the 20th century Sears sold kit houses. Let’s see Amazon do that with next day delivery.

 

[375hh1973]

Ive heard of mail order brides.

Does amazon have those?

 

[Jeepnik]

Ive heard of mail order brides.

Does amazon have those?

I don't know about brides, that would be trafficking. But they do sell sex toys.

 

[Jeepnik]

At some point early in the 20th century Sears sold kit houses. Let’s see Amazon do that with next day delivery.

As I mentioned elsewhere, I have a friend that lives in a Sears kit house.

 

[Joe Reilly]

Ive heard of mail order brides.

Does amazon have those?

Like everything else “Made in China”

 

[bobski]

remember the j.c.whitney car parts catalog?
from what a gather, they modernized and are still in business.

 

[blume357]

I have long contended that print ads are superior to online because you see things that you didn't know that you wanted.

If I want a can opener and I'm shopping online, all I'll see are can openers because my search entry is "can opener." If I grab the "Kitchen Stuff" catalog to look for can openers, I'll see knives, scrubbers, pot holders and other things on my way to page 52 where can openers reside.

You flip through a print catalog and you see something and say, "Hey, that looks interesting. I'll order that with my new can opener." That doesn't happen as much with on line shopping.

I think you are wrong there Yaworski... when ever I try to look for something on the infernal net, and I buy a lot on line, all kinds of stuff related and sometimes not even related jumps up while I'm looking for what I want... Amazon is really good at this... suggesting items sort of kind of related to what I want .... I still think the whole system is going to collapse one day and lead to to the total collapse of society as we know it.... the reason? Years ago when I first started to buy from Amazon I needed a new case for my I-Phone and went to them to order one... after finally choosing the one I wanted they offered me a I-phone 12volt car charger for something like $3.50. I had one but figured what the heck for less than $4 I'll get a spare and it won't be a big deal they'll just throw it in the same box or what ever with the case I ordered.... nope... the charger was shipped by itself Fed Ex from someplace in the middle of China.... I know it was just one package of probably hundred if not thousands of packages that were being shipped to 'us' but still there is no way to justify or balance the cost of shipping something halfway around the world for that $

 

[GasGuzzler]

Agree. Junk mail comes more electronically.

 

[bobski]

imagine all the trees cut down to make cardboard shipping boxes........
did you know the boarder inspectors have teams to look for wood bores living in crate wood from overseas?