Why Amazon...?

[sfhogman]

So yesterday I went to indulge my OCD by topping up the spare tire in the car.. I fired up the compressor and and found that the air chuck was leaking like a sieve. Managed to top up the tire, and went looking for a simple closed ball chuck.

Went to the local auto store: "Sorry, we know what you mean, but we're out."

Went to the local hardware store- the place is full, with no parking.

Called Home Depot: "Sure, we have it!" "Are you sure?" "Well no, but we usually have things like that..."

Harbor Freight does have it, but it's in San Rafael, which is 20 miles north of where I live in San Francisco. Which means an $8.50
Bridge toll, plus gas, plus traffic and aggravation. For a $3 goody.

Settled down in my easy chair, whipped out the smartphone and ordered it from Amazon with Prime shipping. It was supposed to arrive the day after tomorrow, but they just emailed me to say it'll be here tomorrow morning. I can track delivery online.

Say what you will about Amazon, but their business model works. After using them since 1997, I have found that when things do go wrong - rarely - they've made it right with no hassle. Nada. Convenient, fast and delivery to my door.

O'Reilly and Home Depot can pound sand as far as I'm concerned.. I like supporting locals, but only if they support me... :D

Jeff

 

[Fox Mike]

I too have to give a "thumbs up" to Amazon. I had to return an item. Took it to the local UPS, handed them the shipping slip and was done. I have had items arrive earlier than expected, but never later.

ADDENDUM: Just received a notice that something I ordered and was supposed to be here the 23rd is "out for delivery" and should be here later today.

 

[caryc]

I like their email link to their live map allowing me to see where their truck is and follow them as they get closer.

One thing I found out about Amazon, when you intentionally go on their site to purchase one item as the OP did, think about it first. Every time I order something, I usually think of something else I should have also ordered.

I receive a lot of my packages the next day. They have great service.

 

[Johnnu2]

I too bought a new air chuck thingie last year thru Amazon.... Got it in no time... they are always there for me (as long as I have the money)... Always order a few books for my wife to help eliminate shipping charges. I usually spend $60 for a simple chuck-like item, but the wife is happy.... And I didn't have to go out of the house.

J.

 

[Pat-inCO]

I went one step further. If you sign up for "their" credit card (actually Chase) you get
a 5% credit toward further purchases (at the end of the billing month). I've ordered
several things and have them delivered to my door "for free" because of the 5%.

DO, make sure you shop around! You will find the exact same item ON AMAZON
for multiple prices. Second hint, LOOK AT WHERE IT WILL SHIP FROM! That can
make a BIG difference in how fast (or not) you receive it. - - - I also look at other
merchants to see if their price is competitive. :wink:

While Prime is expensive, if you buy a bunch of things from Amazon, you can
easily pay for Prime in very few months.

So long as they are competitive in pricing (occasionally well below others)
I'll continue to buy from them. :D

 

[redhawker]

I go through this with the wife a couple of times a week. She wants me to check the local Home Depot or Lowes or whatever for some gadget or doodad. After a half-hour online at those places with no success, I'll go to Amazon and usually they'll have it and it will be here tomorrow. I don't know why I just don't go to Amazon first.

 

[blume357]

I will spend my money locally if I know I can go and get it with out too much trouble.. (I'm not sure I consider Lowes or Home Depot local) but with anything 'exotic'... Amazon is the place to go... fast simple and efficient to an unbelievable degree.

the odd thing is I had to order from Office Depot on line new cartridges for my laser printer last week... so I oder the four cartridges (over $400 by the way) and throw in one print tape for a label maker I have which is about the size of a pack of cigarettes .... laser cartridges show up in two boxes but no print tape.. it came yesterday from Amazon. Seems if Office Depot doesn't have it they will just order one from Amazon and have it direct shipped to me.

 

[any ruger]

Keep it up there will be no stores of any kind in your hometown.

 

[WAYNO]

Then maybe the stores should respect their obligation to stock the things people are looking to buy.

I look in stores first. When they don't have what I'm looking for, I go online.

Playing the devils advocate on both sides of the fence, I'm not always enamored with Amazon, either. I don't always know when I'm ordering from a third party. I try not to, as I've been stiffed by Amazon's third party vendors, and Amazon is very little help.





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[Igor]

I've often wondered how Amazon can do what it does at the prices they charge. I can order a bag of dog kibble on Amazon, and it will be at my house the same day.......at the same price as the local pet shop. I never could figure that out until I read a recent article, and that article explains it.

Amazon is huge in cloud services........they make billions off of that part of their business. In fact, they make so much there that they can meet or beat prices that local stores charge on everyday items. So, they offset what they might lose on a bag of dog kibble with their cloud revenues.

Amazon will eventually kill the small mom-and-pop business with their business model. I'm not sure if it's a good thing or not. I guess what Amazon does is just pure capitalism at work, but some people will suffer for sure. I try to do my shopping locally if I can, but I do buy stuff from Amazon.

 

[DeletedMember275]

I have a love/hate relationship with Amazon. When I lived at Yuma Proving Ground, AZ, I hated them. I would order something and specify UPS shipment. It would come to town, and UPS would hand it off to the USPS. Only problem is that the USPS does NOT deliver to the house at YPG, so they would return it to Amazon (I had two addresses - a PO Box for mail and an actual physical street address.) I sure got tired of having stuff returned because of that. Brownells was good for that, too. Here in South Korea, I order a lot of stuff from Amazon that I can't get locally and have it shipped through the U.S. Mail. One item that I ordered originated in Seoul, 135 miles away. It was shipped to the States by the Korean postal system, transferred to USPS, and returned here to Korea. It took a month to arrive back 135 miles from where it started. I now purchase that item locally, for less money. It also seems like Amazon packages travel MUCH faster than first-class mail, whether by design or by chance. When I order from Amazon, it typically arrives in two weeks or less. When I mail bills, I typically receive late notices due to the long transit time - and that's only going to get worse.

 

[arfmel]

You have to watch Amazon. Lots of times they’ll be higher priced on an item than the local store. Particularly on foods. My wife likes a particular kind of cold cereal. I can buy it locally but it’s a time consuming drive to the store that carries it. I found it on Amazon for about 50¢ a box more, and thought “what the heck”, and just ordered a case of it. When it arrived and I opened the carton I thought to myself the boxes looked somehow different. Next time I was at the supermarket that carried it I bought a box. It turned out to be about 15% larger than the ones Amazon is selling (and cheaper!).

Amazon also tracks your buying habits and can ratchet their price up on things you buy repeatedly from them.

I buy all of my shoes and boots from Amazon because NOBODY in our little home town carries size 14. Amazon’s free return policy works out well for me when I try shoes on. If they don’t fit right I send ‘em back. Then when I find a brand and style I like and that fit I buy 3 or 4 pair.

 

[Selena]

I can't help but wonder if the things said about Amazon now are the same as was said about Sears in the 1800's.

 

[Kevin]

Amazon also tracks your buying habits and can ratchet their price up on things you buy repeatedly from them.

I can’t really agree with this. I’ve been buying a lot of dog food on Amazon for the past 6 years. For me the price hasn’t gone up. I’m not sure what you are buying that they raise the price.

But as far as tracking what you buy, Costco and Sam’s Club are well known to track your purchasing habits. For example they will send out emails if a product you’ve bought has a recall notice. I suppose credit card companies do the same. Just like Google and any other search engine will track what users search out on their platforms.

 

[arfmel]

“I can’t really agree with this. I’ve been buying a lot of dog food on Amazon for the past 6 years. For me the price hasn’t gone up. I’m not sure what you are buying that they raise the price.“

I’m not saying they do it on everything, but it’s happened to me. We buy a lot of stuff off amazon when we’re at home, because there’s so little variety available locally.

Brick and mortar stores have to post prices on the displays in their stores, so they don’t have the option to tailor their pricing to our personal shopping pattern. Amazon isn’t hindered in that manner. If their objective is to maximize profit, why wouldn’t they adjust prices to do so?

 

[vito]

I find the convenience and price combination too good to resist. And the return policy is unbeatable and so easy to manage. I rarely have a day without expecting something from Amazon. I probably average 2 to 3 orders a week.

 

[Fox Mike]

I want an "item A". I find it in the local store that requires me to drive to the area and find a parking spot very near the store since I am unable to walk long distances, OR I can go to Amazon, find that same "item A", order it, and it will be on my front porch in a day or two, for the same price. To me it is a no brainer.

 

[Watchman]

Some day, every store will be Amazon.

But your town, and all of the people that used to make a living there, offering things you might want or need today, will be gone.

And Jeff Bezos, liberal jackwagon with a God complex, will be even richer, and even more able to spend his money to ensure your Rights are squashed. But what the hell. You saved six bucks and half an hour for your air chuck. So it's all good. :roll:

You people really need to start thinking about the big picture. Before it's too late. :idea:

 

[sfhogman]

Heh.
For a liberal, Bezos seems to have a pretty good handle on the free market...

Had to go to the hardware store today for some supplies. The local store is about half a mile away, and usually has what I need. Family owned, good people, been there for years. I always go there first, and as usual, they had what I wanted.
If they had not, I wouldn't have bothered with the morlocks at Home Depot. Once again, Mr. Bezos would have gotten my money...

 

[Fox Mike]

Some day, every store will be Amazon.
But your town, and all of the people that used to make a living there, offering things you might want or need today, will be gone.
You people really need to start thinking about the big picture. Before it's too late. :idea:

Remember when the 'horseless carriage' came along and eventually put all the stables and many of the blacksmiths out of work. Oh and if man was supposed to fly God would have given him wings. You just don't see the same amount of Greyhound and Trailways on the road today because of those noisy airplanes. Guess what; it is called progress.

 

[Watchman]

All of the things the liberals - progressives - do that everyone here is always complaining about, they also call "progress".

It's not progress if society gets destroyed in the process.

 

[Kevin]

But your town, and all of the people that used to make a living there, offering things you might want or need today, will be gone.

Seems like a pretty negative ‘doom and gloom’ attitude...Those merchants and stores won’t be gone, they will adapt to this new business model.

Just in the last year businesses have had to adapt to the environment of being on lock down and reduced foot traffic. Especially restaurants, they’ve had to adapt to offering take out and delivery services. Or movie theaters? They have had to adapt as well.

How many grocery stores offer delivery now? It ain’t just Amazon. I see several grocery store delivery trucks almost daily around town.

Sometimes it takes a swift punch to the gut to get these businesses to adapt and change to what the customer wants. Amazon is providing that punch. And I myself, as a consumer, am happy for the change.

It isn’t all doom and gloom. What did the camera companies do when digital phased out film? Or record companies do when CD’s replaced vinyl? And now streaming music has replaced The CD. The list could go on and on.

 

[Watchman]

Brick and mortar stores are going out of business all over the country, but especially in small towns.
Just go to any shopping mall and check out the empty spaces formerly occupied by stores of all types.

Stores rely on people coming in to buy stuff to stay in business. When people start doing all their shopping online, they wither and die. Big players like Amazon get better deals from manufacturers because they buy in volume. They can offer goods to you for less than your local store, which still must pay for staff, benefits, and utilities. Even if your local store goes online, Amazon can likely beat their price, and will come up first on your search engine when you are shopping online.

Eventually, the small town becomes a ghost town. If you want something, it means a drive to the big city or waiting for a Fedex truck.

The people formerly employed in retail become unemployed, with fewer job prospects in a shrinking job market. Relocation is sometimes their only option. Not everyone can drive a Fedex truck. Or work for Amazon.

This isn't about stores changing what they sell. It's about people changing the way they buy.
Is this progress? It depends on your point of view. I don't think it is.

 

[Kevin]

Brick and mortar stores are going out of business all over the country, but especially in small towns.
Just go to any shopping mall and check out the empty spaces formerly occupied by stores of all types.

A note about shopping malls. That design is out dated. Back in the 1980's and 1990's people liked shopping malls, but not any more. Rent was always sky high and stores in the mall was never a representative of typical small town brick and mortar stores. Malls all over America are going dead, but not because of Amazon.

And I've been thinking about this for a while. You're implying we should shop local, and Amazon is bad for the small town business. Well, here in Dallas, I have to really search to find a "local" business. Around my part of town, they are all national franchises, such as Target or Wal-Mart. There aren't any local grocery stores, so that's out. But even hardware stores, there aren't any "local" stores. I can shop at Home Depot or Lowes.

So if I spend a buck at Amazon, instead of Wal-Mart, who am I hurting, and whom am I helping? I'm certainly not hurting Wal-Mart. Which by the way, was known for driving small town businesses out of town long before Amazon and e-commerce showed up.

If anything, Amazon is leveling the playing field. If small businesses want to compete, and can't lower their prices, they need to increase service. For example, we were at Half Price Books (National chain store originating in texas by the way) And they didn't have a book my daughter wanted, however, another store had it. It would have taken them a week to get the book transferred to my local store.

 

[Kevin]

I think instead of focusing on where people spend money, the thought should be put on where the product comes from. If more people bought American made products, that would shift the business model more than just buying from a local store vs. online.

 

[Watchman]

If more people bought American made products, that would shift the business model more than just buying from a local store vs. online.

On that point, we can agree completely!

 

[Fox Mike]

If more people bought American made products, that would shift the business model more than just buying from a local store vs. online.

On that point, we can agree completely!

I posted this earlier. We speak of 'buy American' but remember that there North, Central, and South America. Just out of curiosity I started looking at things I have within reach of my computer desk. My Logitech mouse, the keyboard I am typing this on, my Acurite weather station display panel, my little battery powered Norelco razor, my Yamaha guitars (6 & 12 string), and the cup I am drinking my morning coffee from are all made in China, My Wi-Fi modem is made in Vietnam, my Uniden phone is from Japan, and my neubulizer is from Mexico. I know that my HP printer is from an American company though I am not sure where it was actually manufactured (and am not going to pick it up to look under it). Something I forgot but my NRA lock back knife is also made in China.

 

[Kevin]

Fox Mike:
I remember that thread about the American made products, it was very nice. Thanks for bringing it up, back then and now as well.

 

[Selena]

Brick and mortar stores are going out of business all over the country, but especially in small towns.
Just go to any shopping mall and check out the empty spaces formerly occupied by stores of all types.

Stores rely on people coming in to buy stuff to stay in business. When people start doing all their shopping online, they wither and die. Big players like Amazon get better deals from manufacturers because they buy in volume. They can offer goods to you for less than your local store, which still must pay for staff, benefits, and utilities. Even if your local store goes online, Amazon can likely beat their price, and will come up first on your search engine when you are shopping online.

Eventually, the small town becomes a ghost town. If you want something, it means a drive to the big city or waiting for a Fedex truck.

The people formerly employed in retail become unemployed, with fewer job prospects in a shrinking job market. Relocation is sometimes their only option. Not everyone can drive a Fedex truck. Or work for Amazon.

This isn't about stores changing what they sell. It's about people changing the way they buy.
Is this progress? It depends on your point of view. I don't think it is.

Ah yes, just south of us there is a "town" called Hanging Grove. At one point it was a thriving community with businesses and commerce based on the sale and transfer of cattle & hogs. Then came the day when a town called Lee established a railhead just 10 miles away. Producers used the railroad just because of more dependable marketing and within two years, Hanging Grove was very nearly a ghost town while Lee grew to a size that nearly mirrored the county seat. Then some redneck engineer figured out that if you rebuilt the back seat of Mr Ford's automobile he could drive animals to market on his own without paying the brokers fee and needing enough livestock to fill a railcar. Business suffered and now Lee is just a spot on an ancient paper map and a footnote in the platbook.

But who cares? Those are just a couple flyspeck towns in Indiana of no import. Let's concentrate of the destruction of an industry that left hundreds of thousands unemployed... Those stalwart men tried and true than hunted the whale on rickity boats and the men that processed them on shore. All laid low because an upstart named Rockefeller noticed that kerosene from crude oil was cheaper and safer to obtain and more a effective a lamp oil.


Towns rise and fall, the midwest is dotted with small communities that were destroyed by the railroad and for all intends and purposes started elsewhere. Gary Indiana was once a city on the move until the steel mills closed and is now pretty much a ghost town. The same unions that built Flint Michigan destroyed the city when they started thinking with their greed instead of their concern for the future. Sears closed down a number of the old timey General stores where the proprietors had a death grip on the economy. Sears was wounded by the mall and given the coup de gras by the internet. Same song, different jukebox.

But here's to you Watchman. Old timey music for 19th century ideas. Pause and shed a tear for Mr Nico.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCReuifnxxE

 

[Fox Mike]

When I was a youngster my grandad lived in St Petersburg FL. The 'road most traveled' was US 301. Little motels, little towns, traffic lights and all. Then along came the Interstate highway system. All the little towns and motels were bypassed. Somehow life went on.