It's absolutely staggering how cheap things would be if we could all buy straight from the manufacture. So many people between the ones making X and the one trying to buy X that do nothing but jack up the price.

CPT Ethanolic: I did my best for years to go to brick-and-mortar stores so that I could support my community. I don't mind paying a little extra, but the selection from online retailers is just way beyond what local stores can do. I can go online and buy exactly what I want, or go to the local store and get something "comparable" or "almost as good".

Im the same way. The only problem I had was the big difference in price on amazon. I paid 30 something for a box set for my dad I got next day shipping for 11 bucks and it was still $20 cheaper than at the stores.

Until the courts deal with the physical presence requirement for state taxation once and for all, amazon is going to continue to nom nom nom the market.

Amazon will kill many of the small retaliers simply because the small retailers suck. The only instances where Amazon cannot kill local retail is where there is too much an advantage to being able to have the thing immediately after you decide you want to have it, or where any kind of shipping delay is undesirable.

So if a hot new book or dvd movie comes out and you want to read it 'today', maybe you go to the store. If you want to buy a classic book or movie that you could have had a few years ago, you may as well hit Amazon. A day or two of shipping delay wont matter so much.

END COMMUNICATION

The only time I buy though Amazon is when I can't find something locally. I'm building a bedset and I had to purchase the door hinges and pull knobs online. Zero selection anywhere around here.

groppet: Im the same way. The only problem I had was the big difference in price on amazon. I paid 30 something for a box set for my dad I got next day shipping for 11 bucks and it was still $20 cheaper than at the stores.

And you could have downloaded and burned it for free.

Lando Lincoln: It's certainly a foe to big retailers. I might not have a job next year largely due to Amazon.

Hopefully they'll be opening up a distribution center near me.

Yup, big box is dead (or at least dying). And it's just not prices, it out of this world customer service they can offer because of less overhead on stores and store employees.

Conversely, now that all the gen 1.0 mom and pop stores are almost dead, 2.0 is booting up. Millennials that know how to utilize the internet and social media are finding ways to specify niche stores and offer high quality product, great customer service, a pulse on what the local community needs; all while having a small online presence that buttresses their sales nationally.

I really think we're in for a mom and pop and inet resurgence the next 15 years or so.

People are still going to need local shops, but big box marts cost cut and generalized themselves to death. Best Buy is switching to kitchen electronics as fast as possible, but it won't save em for long.

GoodyearPimp: groppet: Im the same way. The only problem I had was the big difference in price on amazon. I paid 30 something for a box set for my dad I got next day shipping for 11 bucks and it was still $20 cheaper than at the stores.

And you could have downloaded and burned it for free.

Yeah, he probably wanted to get it legally though.

The people that are complaining in this article aren't adding alot of value, so they eventually would be replaced for that reason alone. They buy a product that was manufactured by someone else, have it shipped to a warehouse by a third party carrier, sell it via a website that they don't manage, and then ship it to the end user via a 3rd party carrier. Their only value addition is temporary storage. If it wasn't Amazon competing on price, then it would have been someone else. And competition would drive the price down until it was within pennies of the cost of doing business.

There quite possibly could be unfair dealings going on, but the article didn't address any of them. Remember the days where a journalist would actually do something called "research" (in this case on antitrust law) and then discuss what violations they might be commiting?

SuperChuck: GoodyearPimp: groppet: Im the same way. The only problem I had was the big difference in price on amazon. I paid 30 something for a box set for my dad I got next day shipping for 11 bucks and it was still $20 cheaper than at the stores.

And you could have downloaded and burned it for free.

Yeah, he probably wanted to get it legally though.

Nothing says 'Thoughtful Gift' like Memorex and barely-legible Sharpie.

AKTurkey: Until the courts deal with the physical presence requirement for state taxation once and for all, amazon is going to continue to nom nom nom the market.

I don't think so. One warehouse vs one warehouse and 100, 15,000sq feet stores with employees, maintenance, development, ect is the real issue.

Taxation is an issue as far as the states are concerned, but It's not going to really effect amazons model all that much, as it will with it's smaller independent stores. Their "amazon trusted stores" are why they push back on the taxation issue, because it makes margins much smaller, and makes using amazon not as lucrative.

We're seeing more and more Brands pulling their wares from big box stores where they're lost in thousand of square feet and building tiny brand stores to show demo them off under their own terms. Apple is king of this so far, but Sony has also been opening brand stores. More companies are in the pipe to do so too.

You can always use eBay.

Multiple items shipped separately, one tracking number. Tracking link didn't work. Got one item. Defective. Other item arrived 3 days late. Return shipment had a lovely costly qualifier added after sale. Defective item was probably damaged due to no padding in tyvek bag mailer.

Lost count of how many ignored messages I sent. Opened a case and the seller requested that I hurry up and cooperate. And this was supposedly from a US based seller.

In what will probably be my last eBay purchase, I bought a different version of the defective item with more features for less money. STRAIGHT OUTTA SHANGHAI!!1!

Black market? Slave labor? Child labor? Rampant pollution? Loss of American jobs? Yeah, well, both the previous defective item and its replacement are made in the same Chinese factory. And if a US seller is going to lie to me, ignore me, not play by eBay rules, ship defective items, change the sale post-contract, then biatch at me for being too slow, then fark it I'm buying directly from China.

Amazon.com? Love them when they treat me right. Hate them when they treat me wrong.

I know nothing about how Amazon treats sellers, but they are wonderful to their customers. I had a package stolen off my doorstep. Called Amazon, and they over-nighted a replacement that arrived the next day, free of charge. I appreciate a seller who does not assume I am a thief.

/May I see your receipt?

TyrantII: Conversely, now that all the gen 1.0 mom and pop stores are almost dead, 2.0 is booting up. Millennials that know how to utilize the internet and social media are finding ways to specify niche stores and offer high quality product, great customer service, a pulse on what the local community needs; all while having a small online presence that buttresses their sales nationally.

I really think we're in for a mom and pop and inet resurgence the next 15 years or so.

People are still going to need local shops, but big box marts cost cut and generalized themselves to death. Best Buy is switching to kitchen electronics as fast as possible, but it won't save em for long.

This is absolutely true. I was actually in the market fairly recently for a new racquetball racket. The big box sporting goods stores only sold low-end models and I desired something a bit nicer than that, but at the same time, I actually wanted to feel the weight and balance of the racket before handing over a few hundred dollars on it. Lo and behold, I found a local retailer that not only allowed customers to try out racquets, but also matched the cheapest online price you could find! I paid sales tax, but that 7% was easily one of the best investments I've made in a long time. Not only did I buy the racket from them, I'll be buying all my stuff from their store from now on.

Trust me you don't want a job in one of Amazon's distribution centers. They recently opened one up in TN and I knew some people that went to work there. Hard working folks that had previously worked in auto parts distribution, none of them made it more than a month working for Amazon due to the terrible working conditions. Since then I feel guilty ordering from amazon but sometimes it's almost unavoidable.

/have cut Wal-Mart out of my life though, and I'm better off for it

We own a brick and mortar store along with a website for it. Unlike a bunch of retailers we stock 4000 different parts at all times. People hop on our website, see we have what they want in stock, and drive over and get it (or we ship it - anymore it's cheaper to have something shipped if you live more than 30 miles away). Yea - it's not cheap or easy to stock that many different items but if you don't like it, don't be a retail store. Retailers who don't keep up with current buying trends and technology need to just stop whining that Amazon hurts them - step up to plate and start running a real business or close it up.

My old man, who is semi-retired, makes a living selling refurbished crap on Amazon. I'd say they're fair but firm with their merchants. I trust Amazon merchants much more than ebay.

Fark_Guy_Rob: It's absolutely staggering how cheap things would be if we could all buy straight from the manufacture. So many people between the ones making X and the one trying to buy X that do nothing but jack up the price.


About 50% of the human race is middle-men
and they don't take kindly to being eliminated

SpikesCafe: I know nothing about how Amazon treats sellers, but they are wonderful to their customers. I had a package stolen off my doorstep. Called Amazon, and they over-nighted a replacement that arrived the next day, free of charge. I appreciate a seller who does not assume I am a thief.

/May I see your receipt?

My German Shepherd stepped on my Kindle screen and it stopped working. Called Amazon and had a new one the next day, no charge. Just had to ship back the broken one.

Lord Zardoz: Amazon will kill many of the small retaliers simply because the small retailers suck. The only instances where Amazon cannot kill local retail is where there is too much an advantage to being able to have the thing immediately after you decide you want to have it, or where any kind of shipping delay is undesirable.

So if a hot new book or dvd movie comes out and you want to read it 'today', maybe you go to the store. If you want to buy a classic book or movie that you could have had a few years ago, you may as well hit Amazon. A day or two of shipping delay wont matter so much.

END COMMUNICATION

That hot new book can be delivered instantly to your kindle. Instead of sitting in traffic, finding a parking spot and standing in line at Barnes and Noble, you could already be reading.

LarryDan43: My German Shepherd stepped on my Kindle screen and it stopped working. Called Amazon and had a new one the next day, no charge. Just had to ship back the broken one.

That's terrible! Why would you send back a loyal family pet just because he made one mistake?

groppet: Im the same way. The only problem I had was the big difference in price on amazon. I paid 30 something for a box set for my dad I got next day shipping for 11 bucks and it was still $20 cheaper than at the stores.

So, one of the reasons Amazon has low overhead costs is that they can keep products in giant warehouses.

So, why doesn't somebody just open a store that's just a giant warehouse? I mean even more than frys (IE, don't put shiat on display, it should just be rows and rows of shelves lined with nothing but boxes, throw in a kiosk where you can search for products and find where it's shelved).

lordargent: So, why doesn't somebody just open a store that's just a giant warehouse? I mean even more than frys (IE, don't put shiat on display, it should just be rows and rows of shelves lined with nothing but boxes, throw in a kiosk where you can search for products and find where it's shelved).

So, like a Sam's Club or a Costco, but even less convenient?

Amazon charges sales tax in KY, they have a big distribution center in Lexington.

karmaceutical: You know, Macy's has an online function that lets you browse all their sheets and then locate it a retail location? This could save you the indignity of having to go to the store and physically look at the 70 varieties of king size sheets they have in the store, only to find that they don't have the perfect one.

And those things tend to suck because none of the retailers have figured out how to do retail management properly.

I can't tell you how many times I've uttered the phrase "I checked online 10 minutes ago and it said you have 3 in stock".

"Well it's not here on the shelf"

"maybe it's in the back"

"*sigh* ok, I'll go check

10 minutes later

"Ohh, I found it in the back, but they weren't where they were supposed to be, sorry about the wait.".

// I'm in your store, because your online inventory system said you had something in stock, something I'm looking for. Don't give me 'tude when I ask you to go check the stockroom.

// in fact, fark shelving, just let me in the stockroom and I'll find the damn thing myself. That's my ideal store, just a giant stockroom.

Otherwise Just Fine: Fark_Guy_Rob: It's absolutely staggering how cheap things would be if we could all buy straight from the manufacture. So many people between the ones making X and the one trying to buy X that do nothing but jack up the price.

"About 50% of the human race is middlemen and they don't take kindly to being eliminated."

No we don't. Middlemen stock Amazon's warehouses. You can pay an extra fee to have your inventory held at their facilities. You're still paying a middleman when you buy anything. No. Matter. What.

And no. We don't take kindly to being eliminated. If Amazon destroys people's livelihoods, Ebay will surge again, or some other site will be more fair with them and it will grow and grow. Capitalism creates. It also destroys.

/Very poignant quote from Malcolm Reynolds.

lordargent: karmaceutical: You know, Macy's has an online function that lets you browse all their sheets and then locate it a retail location? This could save you the indignity of having to go to the store and physically look at the 70 varieties of king size sheets they have in the store, only to find that they don't have the perfect one.

And those things tend to suck because none of the retailers have figured out how to do retail management properly.

I can't tell you how many times I've uttered the phrase "I checked online 10 minutes ago and it said you have 3 in stock".

"Well it's not here on the shelf"

"maybe it's in the back"

"*sigh* ok, I'll go check

10 minutes later

"Ohh, I found it in the back, but they weren't where they were supposed to be, sorry about the wait.".

// I'm in your store, because your online inventory system said you had something in stock, something I'm looking for. Don't give me 'tude when I ask you to go check the stockroom.

// in fact, fark shelving, just let me in the stockroom and I'll find the damn thing myself. That's my ideal store, just a giant stockroom.

Best Buy was and still is famous for this. I find it on their website, it says it's at the particular store closest to me so off I go to satisfy my urge for instant gratification.

Arrive at said store, talk to the drone who looks it up and says they don't have it. I ask them why their site shows it as in stock and how is it a company of this size and complexity can afford to do business like this. He goes off on some odd tangent about how no one really has the ability to manage inventory in real time....enough.

I left and got it elsewhere. Wonder why they're failing?

Tellingthem: cheetahsaresexy: Otherwise Just Fine: Fark_Guy_Rob: It's absolutely staggering how cheap things would be if we could all buy straight from the manufacture. So many people between the ones making X and the one trying to buy X that do nothing but jack up the price.

"About 50% of the human race is middlemen and they don't take kindly to being eliminated."

No we don't. Middlemen stock Amazon's warehouses. You can pay an extra fee to have your inventory held at their facilities. You're still paying a middleman when you buy anything. No. Matter. What.

And no. We don't take kindly to being eliminated. If Amazon destroys people's livelihoods, Ebay will surge again, or some other site will be more fair with them and it will grow and grow. Capitalism creates. It also destroys.

/Very poignant quote from Malcolm Reynolds.

Yep, I wonder how many people were complaining about Sears mail order service hurting local general stores back in the day? Or Montgomery Ward? They offered a wide variety of products that you could shop from a catalog and have them delivered to your house usually for cheaper than what the local stores charged.

I wonder how many things you could buy from Sears or Montgomery Ward. Let's see. You said "general store." Sears and Montgomery Ward didn't sell the things that "general stores" sold. General line of merchandise. Yeah. You're completely right. Why were my grandparents going to the grocery when they could have just ordered food from Sears!? A General Store is a store for general things.


Do you sell on Amazon? Do you understand the inventory system? Or the shipping system? I mean both sides of them, not just the idiot "I don't give good ratings unless you pleasure me orally," side of things.
If you don't understand jack about the thing you're talking about, and not asking questions about it to receive further information to broaden your ideas about how things work: STFU

If you hate middlemen stop using them. Prepare to live like an Amish person.

Enormous-Schwanstucker:
Best Buy was and still is famous for this. I find it on their website, it says it's at the particular store closest to me so off I go to satisfy my urge for instant gratification.

Arrive at said store, talk to the drone who looks it up and says they don't have it. I ask them why their site shows it as in stock and how is it a company of this size and complexity can afford to do business like this. He goes off on some odd tangent about how no one really has the ability to manage inventory in real time....enough.


Hey companies:

function SellItem(itemid)
{
RunSQL("UPDATE Inventory SET qtyOnHand = qtyOnHand - 1 WHERE ItemID = " + itemid)
}

It's not that farking hard.

/Yeah, I know, it should be a parameterized stored procedure.

Amazon gets me all the sh*t I want, and it does it cheap, and it doesn't give me any sh*t if I have a problem.

When an actual store can do that, I'll shop at that store. Until then, cry me a river, go bankrupt, and start a different kind of business.

I've lost so many jobs I can't count. No one wrote an article about me. I can't be bothered to cry over a couple of huge corporate shopping stores going out of business.

Nexzus: Enormous-Schwanstucker:
Best Buy was and still is famous for this. I find it on their website, it says it's at the particular store closest to me so off I go to satisfy my urge for instant gratification.

Arrive at said store, talk to the drone who looks it up and says they don't have it. I ask them why their site shows it as in stock and how is it a company of this size and complexity can afford to do business like this. He goes off on some odd tangent about how no one really has the ability to manage inventory in real time....enough.


Hey companies:

function SellItem(itemid)
{
RunSQL("UPDATE Inventory SET qtyOnHand = qtyOnHand - 1 WHERE ItemID = " + itemid)
}

It's not that farking hard.

/Yeah, I know, it should be a parameterized stored procedure.

Bless you my son.

I recall someone else at BB mentioning their inventory system is atrocious but they won't spend the absurd amounts of $$ to fix it, i.e. it was designed/built before web based inventory systems became prevalent. Either way it's a crap excuse for a company of that size.

Enormous-Schwanstucker:

I recall someone else at BB mentioning their inventory system is atrocious but they won't spend the absurd amounts of $$ to fix it, i.e. it was designed/built before web based inventory systems became prevalent. Either way it's a crap excuse for a company of that size.

Which is stupid. Bad inventory tracking costs you lots and lots of money.

Walmarts probably spent more on inventory tracking and logistics then on employees over the years.

My sister has.....(wait for it).....a used bookstore.
While she DOES worry about perhaps having picked a losing line of business (she's been in business for ~15 years), she does a LOT of business through Amazon.

I should know, I'm the guy that she has fill up his Impreza 3 to 4 times per year at the box place for her shipping needs.

TyrantII: Enormous-Schwanstucker:

I recall someone else at BB mentioning their inventory system is atrocious but they won't spend the absurd amounts of $$ to fix it, i.e. it was designed/built before web based inventory systems became prevalent. Either way it's a crap excuse for a company of that size.

Which is stupid. Bad inventory tracking costs you lots and lots of money.

Walmarts probably spent more on inventory tracking and logistics then on employees over the years.

Right. I don't want to get into a long discussion about BB's faults as I don't have that kind of time.

But, and I think it's part and parcel of their inability to see the trend, management from the head down was lazy, incompetent, blind and unable to accept the fact competitors would destroy them. The inventory issues are creeping along, draining them slowly perhaps. They have other, bigger issues to worry about. The example I originally mentioned is what's so utterly maddening about them. I want to like them but I just can't.

I would not doubt that WalNutz spends a ton more on overall inventory mgmt than employees.

I make good money through Amazon. In my case the one losing out would be the shopping center because I don't rent a thousand square foot shop, and I think my Amazon expenses probably paid the wages of at least two people.

Oh, and selling a product you bought wholesale THAT AMAZON CAN GO BUY WHOLE SALE isn't a great move. Even if Amazon doesn't go out and buy a load some other jerkoff can say "Hey, I can buy that product wholesale too!" and that dick undercuts you. And then some dick undercuts him.

/Diversified
//Over 5000 active listings in the Amazon warehouse.
///And I bought a lot of something so far below wholesale Amazon won't be able to undercut me.