[Misc] Amazon: Benign marketplace enabler or parasitic leech?

[Mustafa II]

Amazon is an incredible service. Ridiculously fast & reliable, with no effort no stress refunds when required.

It is however going downhill for the following reasons:

- Much of the third party stuff is either cheap, faulty or fake. It's not always clear at first whether youre buying from an authentic retailer, or a warehouse in China.

- It is not cheap. It pretends to be cheap. It misleads consumers into thinking there are discounts. In reality, clever algorithms are being used to sell their stock for as much as possible, largely through deception.

- The reviews and ratings (previously one of its strengths as a service) are largely corrupted or manipulated through various means. You can't trust them anymore either.

So to conclude - it's great if you want to buy a product quickly, conveniently & reliably - but it is not the best nor cheapest place to buy many types of item from anymore.

 

[Live by the sea]

I never use Amazon out of principle.

 

[beorhthelm]

I don't see why our government couldn't pass a law to tax companies of such size based on revenue, regardless of where they try to funnel their profits to.

because you cant set a rate that works across companies that make varied profit magins, putting many into loss, or increase losses of those not making profit.

 

[Triggaaar]

because you cant set a rate that works across companies that make varied profit magins, putting many into loss, or increase losses of those not making profit.

I imagine you could set a law that means if your turnover within the UK is over x billion, you have to pay y rate of tax on the revenue. It would apply equally to all companies, but the reality is that only a couple of companies would have a high enough revenue to fit the rule, and those are the ones you'd want to tax.

 

[zefarelly]

I imagine you could set a law that means if your turnover within the UK is over x billion, you have to pay y rate of tax on the revenue. It would apply equally to all companies, but the reality is that only a couple of companies would have a high enough revenue to fit the rule, and those are the ones you'd want to tax.

What the country needs is a better HMRC with the tools to tighten regulation on international money laundering and tax companies on their real turnover/profit from transactions which occur in this country.

unlike say using flabay and paying via payapl in Luxembourg or wherever.

being part of a like minded group of International trading partners might help Here.

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

Amazon is an incredible service. Ridiculously fast & reliable, with no effort no stress refunds when required.

It is however going downhill for the following reasons:

- Much of the third party stuff is either cheap, faulty or fake. It's not always clear at first whether youre buying from an authentic retailer, or a warehouse in China.

- It is not cheap. It pretends to be cheap. It misleads consumers into thinking there are discounts. In reality, clever algorithms are being used to sell their stock for as much as possible, largely through deception.

- The reviews and ratings (previously one of its strengths as a service) are largely corrupted or manipulated through various means. You can't trust them anymore either.

So to conclude - it's great if you want to buy a product quickly, conveniently & reliably - but it is not the best nor cheapest place to buy many types of item from anymore.

This is a good view of Amazon - the old adage of 'buyer beware' still holds true.

It isn't always the cheapest but is often convenient. Lead times are a good clue of where the product is coming from so I try to keep to stuff fulfilled by amazon of from suppliers which have a UK presence (easy enough to check).

As for reviews, I bought a bluetooth mouse earlier in the year for about £20. Worked fine for a few weeks and then kept hanging. I wrote a one star review to warn others. A few days later I got an email from the supplier offering me £25 to remove the review. I contacted Amazon about this thinking that they might be interested in this manipulation of the system. All I got back was a templated email and not a sniff of any investigation, action or even caring about it.

Soon after, I got another email from the supplier offering me £50 of amazon vouchers if I removed the review. I removed the review and the vouchers came through in less than 2 hours so I loaded them up straight away to check they were genuine which they were. I'm sure some will say this is wrong but if Amazon don't care, why should I.

 

[Justice]

My wife started an online sales business and I was shocked at the charges Amazon put on their sellers for sales. They make a huge %age of the sales price, even if you do the delivery yourselves.

No wonder Bezos is one of the richest leeches on Earth.

If you play that fee off against Google AdWords the other alternative it’s probably similar in terms of fees paid to generate a sale.

 

[Superphil]

I don't see why our government couldn't pass a law to tax companies of such size based on revenue, regardless of where they try to funnel their profits to.

Would there be a bene£it to our politicians to do that? I guess not, otherwise they would have done so by now.

 

[nicko31]

Very clever and ruthless business model, personally I go out of my way to not use them.

Hate it when people send Amazon vouchers, just lazy

 

[worthingseagull123]

Amazon are a god send.

Given how local councils like B and H make driving into town and parking more and more expensive, why bother with the hassle of shopping in the town, when Amazon can bring it all to you.

 

[Tyrone Biggums]

Bezos is a piece of shit.

For that reason I'd never buy anything off Amazon. Always buy locally made or at the least support a local business sellng the same thing.

 

[portlock seagull]

I refuse to use them and ask friends and family buying me gifts for whatever occasion not to purchase from either. It only takes a little bit more effort and/or imagination to buy things directly or locally as an alternative.

Sadly people are so lazy now that anything beyond 30seconds of clicking or requiring a small degree of planning and organisation and they appear incapable. Same goes for Food Apps. Feck ‘em.

 

[portlock seagull]

Amazon are a god send.

Given how local councils like B and H make driving into town and parking more and more expensive, why bother with the hassle of shopping in the town, when Amazon can bring it all to you.

000’s of other online retailers - why the need to buy from or via Amazon if can’t easily drive/park in B&H? Alternatively, buses, trains, taxi’s etc?

 

[virtual22]

First year I didn’t buy a single present from them. We cancelled prime earlier in the year as well. Found that they often don’t actually show the cheapest price even on their own site, I was finding more and more that prime delivery would be days away and other retailers (John Lewis for example) we’re just as good, if not cheaper.

Morally we decided we don’t have to shop at a business that treats staff so badly and does not pay the tax it should so now we don’t.

Being able to no longer order stuff so easily and quickly is probbaly a good thing too as you get a period of reflection, do I really need that or is it an impulse buy?

 

[Jim in the West]

Amazon provides amazing customer service - not just the website ease of use, but delivery times, returns, etc. I use it too much. But I’m trying to look for alternatives. For books I now mostly use bookshop.org - you get a small discount on the cover price, but need to pay postage, so it’s definitely more expensive. But you’re supporting local independent booksellers, which is vital. And like others I’ve researched alternatives and sometimes found them cheaper. We recently bought two dehumidifiers. I got the first from Amazon, then realised I could get the same model direct from the manufacturer for slightly less (and next day delivery). But sometimes Amazon is just so convenient it’s hard to avoid.

 

[The Maharajah Of Hockley]

Agree on all of that, but for the majority convenience will often outweigh anything else - I'm very guilty myself - it's far, far easier to make a few clicks on my Ipad than actually go to the shops for anything I can wait (usually no more than) 24 hours for (with no delivery cost). Choice is enormous, prices are often the best, easy to check product reviews and as you say customer service is excellent - on the rare occasion something does go wrong it's very easy to speak to someone and instantly sorted out.

I think that free delivery angle doesn't hold as much water any more. They often mark up prices to cover their "free delivery". A quick search on eBay and most can find the majority of products cheaper, and with free delivery.

Also let's not forget there's a £100 fee for the privilege

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

The thing about Amazon and tax is simple to fix, change the tax laws, that succesive Tory governments have failed to do so isnt Amazons fault and they can not be blamed for not paying tax they havent been asked to. After all no one gets their pay statement and thinks I want to pay more tax and writes a cheque to HMRC

Edited for you.

By making the UK Open For Business, the tories have given us the fastest growth and the lowest unemployment in Europe.

Let's stop talking this great country down.

Under Corbyn Labour we would all be talking Russian, and going cap in hand to the EMF.

 

[The Maharajah Of Hockley]

Amazon is an incredible service. Ridiculously fast & reliable, with no effort no stress refunds when required.

It is however going downhill for the following reasons:

- Much of the third party stuff is either cheap, faulty or fake. It's not always clear at first whether youre buying from an authentic retailer, or a warehouse in China.

- It is not cheap. It pretends to be cheap. It misleads consumers into thinking there are discounts. In reality, clever algorithms are being used to sell their stock for as much as possible, largely through deception.

- The reviews and ratings (previously one of its strengths as a service) are largely corrupted or manipulated through various means. You can't trust them anymore either.

So to conclude - it's great if you want to buy a product quickly, conveniently & reliably - but it is not the best nor cheapest place to buy many types of item from anymore.

Nail head.

Amazon's delivery model has also changed shopping habits for the worse. We have several neighbours who receive packages every other day; sometimes every day, and I doubt these are one offs.

People are hooked on the next day convenience in the belief they "need" something tomorrow, when in reality if they plan ahead they could buy things cheaper, and more ethically.

And let's not get started on the cheap dangerous marketplace tat, exorbitant seller commission and fake ratings.

 

[beorhthelm]

First year I didn’t buy a single present from them. We cancelled prime earlier in the year as well. Found that they often don’t actually show the cheapest price even on their own site, I was finding more and more that prime delivery would be days away and other retailers (John Lewis for example) we’re just as good, if not cheaper.

Morally we decided we don’t have to shop at a business that treats staff so badly and does not pay the tax it should so now we don’t.

Being able to no longer order stuff so easily and quickly is probbaly a good thing too as you get a period of reflection, do I really need that or is it an impulse buy?

keep seeing this moral angle, i wonder how many research the tax and employment affairs of other online or high st retailers, or simply fly blind on this.

 

[zefarelly]

Edited for you.

By making the UK Open For Business, the tories have given us the fastest growth and the lowest unemployment in Europe.

Let's stop talking this great country down.

Under Corbyn Labour we would all be talking Russian, and going cap in hand to the EMF.

I know EMF had a few hits, but I thought they blew it all up their noses, I'be surprised if they could afford to bail anyone out.