Amazon-Free: A Two Year Anniversary

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mediatechnology
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Amazon-Free: A Two Year Anniversary

Post by mediatechnology »

March 19, 2017 was my last order to Amazon.com.

I haven't missed them one bit.
I either shop local or just go to the websites of merchants who have their own online stores.

I buy Lee jeans direct from Lee's.
Batteries from "Battery Bob." https://www.batterybob.com/
Hardware from the local store owned by people who've been in business since the mid-1950s. http://www.wisemanhardware.com/

At the end of the day I've spent less money because I've bought less.
Amazon had great service, low prices and just about everything anyone would want.
But, at the end of the day, Amazon wants people like me dead. Just read the Washington Post.

I'm unwilling to pay for that.
Gold
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Re: Amazon-Free: A Two Year Anniversary

Post by Gold »

I don’t order very much through Amazon. Usually my last choice. If you order something the pace of spam from them increases.

I’m always amazed that Home Depot can be so big and have so little I want. I’m happy ordering most things from McMaster. The prices are fair, the quality always good. I’ve had good luck with CPO tool outlet for power tools.

I usually use Markertek or Redco for cables and connectors.

One of the reasons Amazon wants to be in NYC is that there is a lot of potential business. It’s difficut for most people in NYC to receive packages. Unless you have a doorman or can get packages at work it’s almost impossible to have home delivery. Another reason not to give away the store.
billshurv
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Re: Amazon-Free: A Two Year Anniversary

Post by billshurv »

I'm 98% Amazon free as I dislike their employment practices despite boss being able to swim in money. And I like to have a local shop to go to. The hardware store in town closed at xmas after over 100 years. Proper ironmongers but it couldn't compete with the internet. Mind you they didn't stock the UNF bar thread I needed for my speaker stands either and ebay did. sigh.

AWS sadly I have to use as work insist on it for some projects.
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mediatechnology
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Re: Amazon-Free: A Two Year Anniversary

Post by mediatechnology »

I was an Amazon seller for about 3 months.
They were impossible to work with when it came to adding items: I had to have their approval to add a SKU in my own store.
During that time they brought me exactly two sales.
Being on ebay, where I had complete freedom, I couldn't fathom that.

Their employment practices are horrific.

This is an interesting article: "Amazon Vendors Panic After Online Giant Suddenly Halts Purchases" https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-03- ... -purchases

Saw the above coming years ago.
Build up your vendors - then break them.
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JR.
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Re: Amazon-Free: A Two Year Anniversary

Post by JR. »

I just received my most recent order from Amazon yesterday... :o That said I wouldn't sell my drum tuners on Amazon (their web merchant agreement sucks last I checked).

I am working on my car and needed some metric sockets (to fix my american car). Since my only car is parked in my carport until I put humpty back together again, Amazon seemed eminently practical. I managed to make it 7 decades without owning a metric socket set, while I already had some small metric wrenches and even a metric hex driver socket set for working on my bikes.

When I first moved here over 35 years ago there were two hardware stores in town, now there are zero. Since Amazon is a common platform used by many other small vendors with some effort you can go around amazon for maybe 99% of the SKUs on their website. I wouldn't join their subscription service even if I had too much money (I don't). For larger purchases I shop multiple sources.

Walmart has expanded their website along amazon lines to merchandise non-walmart branded SKUs. Many people vilify walmart also, like blaming them for killing my local hardware stores, and/or underpaying employees.

Life is too short to punish everybody when I'm not perfect (yet). :lol:

JR

PS: I just upgraded my home heating/cooling system to a real deal 2 ton heat pump (mitsubishi ductless split). I could have bought the same unit direct from an internet vendor for hundreds of dollars less, or some noname chinese brand for close to 1/2 the price. I have a friend in GA offering to help me install it, but instead I purchased it from a local dealer/contractor one town over (10 year warranty already locked in). Ironically perhaps his business name is "Kenny's TV shop & heating and cooling". He apparently adapted to the changing market surrounding consumer TV set sales. The "diamond" rated contractor, 20 miles away, I was referred to by the mitsubishi website still hasn't contacted me... or returned my call after I called his office days later trying to get some response. In this case closer to home was definitely better.

PPS: For chuckles I just checked and the mitsubishi compressor and evaporator are manufactured in Thailand, not very local either.
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mediatechnology
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Re: Amazon-Free: A Two Year Anniversary

Post by mediatechnology »

I am working on my car and needed some metric sockets (to fix my american car). Since my only car is parked in my carport until I put humpty back together again, Amazon seemed eminently practical. I managed to make it 7 decades without owning a metric socket set, while I already had some small metric wrenches and even a metric hex driver socket set for working on my bikes.
What about Home Depot or Lowe's online?

Now that Sears is fubar and with Craftsman sold to Stanley(?) Craftsman is available at Lowes.

I have a screen capture somewhere where Sears Marketplace was listing an SSL compressor.
Sears would be the last place I'd look for that.

Speaking of Amazon killing Sears I wandered into a Sears store a couple of years ago looking for jeans.
They had size 28" waist or less or 42" and greater.
32, 34 and 36s were completely sold out and never replaced.
The racks and tables were full of unsold winter gear - it was May.
I don't normally visit Flea Markets but Sears had that vibe.
Never went back - not even for a car battery.
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Re: Amazon-Free: A Two Year Anniversary

Post by billshurv »

And My Imperial socket set that I needed to work on my American car when I had it came from Sears. Actually a lot of my favourite tools are craftsman brand.

Sears should have been able to stifle Amazon at birth and they missed out. Which means at some point someone will kill amazon, but we may not live long enough to see it.
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JR.
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Re: Amazon-Free: A Two Year Anniversary

Post by JR. »

mediatechnology wrote: Thu Mar 21, 2019 11:50 am
I am working on my car and needed some metric sockets (to fix my american car). Since my only car is parked in my carport until I put humpty back together again, Amazon seemed eminently practical. I managed to make it 7 decades without owning a metric socket set, while I already had some small metric wrenches and even a metric hex driver socket set for working on my bikes.
What about Home Depot or Lowe's online?
I've used both when appropriate...

I have one unresolved purchase issue when I first put 4" pipe down in my buried drain trench late last year... Home depot shorted me one 25' length of pipe out of a 5x25' order... They ignored my emails, and when I reached a customer service rep by phone even she couldn't get a straight answer about delivery... she suggested I use my credit card company to dispute the purchase, but I didn't. I wrote a letter expressing my anger to corporate headquarters, but for only $17 of pipe I no longer needed, I moved on.

I bought my stanley metric hex driver sockets at walmart where I do my food shopping, so if my car was working I could have bought metric sockets at Walmart store.
Now that Sears is fubar and with Craftsman sold to Stanley(?) Craftsman is available at Lowes.
I have watched Eddie Lambert (sears holdings) spiral the sears franchise into the ground ever since he purchased KMart. He invested big in bricks and mortar (over valuing the underlying real estate) just when the fortunes of bricks and mortar flipped negative.
I have a screen capture somewhere where Sears Marketplace was listing an SSL compressor.
Sears would be the last place I'd look for that.
Sears stores have been depressing in person for many years.

The last time I visited the Sears website I was trying to buy parts (broken temperature sensor... why me :roll: ) to repair my old Kenmore wall oven. No luck and I bought my new (not Kenmore) wall oven from Lowes.
Speaking of Amazon killing Sears I wandered into a Sears store a couple of years ago looking for jeans.
They had size 28" waist or less or 42" and greater.
32, 34 and 36s were completely sold out and never replaced.
The racks and tables were full of unsold winter gear - it was May.
I don't normally visit Flea Markets but Sears had that vibe.
Never went back - not even for a car battery.
Amazon didn't kill Sears, Eddie Lambert killed Sears. They have been in decline longer than Amazon's ascendency. They had an unassailable market position, iconic brands, and good reputation but frittered it all away. They have operated like they were in liquidation (like not having popular sizes) for at least the last decade plus, making it a self-fulfilling prophecy. Besides craftsman I think Eddie has also sold off and/or licensed other legacy sear's brands (like Kenmore) to raise capital, as he staves off straight liquidation bankruptcy and continues to shrink.

[edit] I just saw a several page article in WSJ about the history of Sears decline... The credit/blame is shared between more than just Lambert who opportunistically bought Sears after it was already in trouble from problems and missteps that started a few decades earlier. [/edit]

He is supposed to be a smart guy (big deal hedge fund operator who made $B) but doesn't look very smart from here. Ironic perhaps that Sears the original (mail order catalog) direct sales company, couldn't manage the paradigm shift to Internet selling. Walmart has even struggled with this but seems on top of their game now melding internet with B & M.

==

OK almost warm enough to return outside to finish reassembling my car using my metric Stanley sockets I purchased through Amazon.

JR
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JR.
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Re: Amazon-Free: A Two Year Anniversary

Post by JR. »

For an amusing amazon anecdote... I just bought an assortment of metric nuts to replace one I dropped repairing my car.. While logged in they tried to sell me some LM3915s... :lol: :lol: :lol:

JR
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Re: Amazon-Free: A Two Year Anniversary

Post by mediatechnology »

Now how did they "know" that?
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