I used to go to a local book store, until they stopped stocking any new science fiction. Then they went out of business and I was forced to buy books at Amazon as there was no other book store to go to.
We didn’t have a local book store. We had Border’s, Barnes and Noble, and a couple of used book shops. I frequented used book shops for the majority of my childhood and teenaged years. Then they all closed and it was just The Big B’s. And then Border’s went and it was just Barnes and Noble. I’m not convinced that this was all Amazon’s fault. I’m actually inclined to believe that Border’s and B&N both forced out the book stores and then got their crap pushed in by Amazon.
I get pretty much all my books from myanonymous, mobilise and the library
Who the absolute hell is doing this? I’ve had very few packages stolen in my decades of experience. Maybe, 1 or 2 out of hundreds?..
That s not very few imo. I ve had zero out of hundreds
I mean, I’ve been getting packages a long time. I am not saying it’s happened for sure… or hasn’t for sure. But if it did it wasn’t memorable
Yeah this is such a strawman argument lol. There’s lots to hate about Amazon as a company, but to act like it’s actually an inconvenient service to use is fucking stupid. And Amazon didn’t put all the small businesses out of business, Target, Walmart, and friends had already done that. At this point it’s just Amazon vs the giant retail corps, and frankly I couldnt care less who wins that battle, except that I’d love to see the final outcome be mutual annihilation (not that that’s likely)
Same. And the thing with Amazon is most of the shit I buy on there, I can’t really buy local. Computer shit especially. Used to be, we had a Fry’s that was about 2 hours away. So, far enough that it required planning and usually would wait for the weekend, which usually meant amazon would be faster anyway.
edit: just to be clear, I wish that amazon didn’t have as much utility as it does because they’re a shit company, but I kinda feel like this is the norm with just about every corp these days.
Plus you just mark it as not delivered and they’ll send you another.
To be fair, the delivery really is handy if you’re shopping for something niche enough that it isn’t sold locally, or if you don’t have a car and are trying to buy something not sold within walking distance/within easy access to transit if available, or which is too heavy to carry without a vehicle. There’s definitely a point here about local stores not being able to compete or with Amazon’s monopolistic business practices though. The ideal thing I suppose would be some sort of website that local stores could sign up with to let people order stuff from to be delivered by the store or by a service the store uses, run as a non-profiting venture just at breakeven to avoid a motive to exploit stores that use it and have less individual power, combined with some kind of law against averaging shipping costs into the base costs of products and making shipping seem free, so as to ensure that local items are generally cheaper due to less needed transportation. In such a scenario, the central online shopping area wouldn’t end up as a competitor to smaller local stores since it wouldn’t actually sell anything itself, customers would be encouraged to buy items that take less transportation and thus fewer carbon emissions, and the convenience of having an online space in which almost everything for sale can be found and delivered can be preserved.
Such a system could very much exist in a decentralized manner with blockchain, it’s just a matter of time until somebody builds it. All stores could have constant visibility into the shipping/logistics network capacity, lead times, etc and list their items with those prices baked in. Importantly, a single party like Amazon can’t dominate the market. Importantly the entire system could be administered by the participants in that system (stores and consumers) instead of some third-party siphoning off value from the interactions between the two (rent-seeking leads to enshittification).
Examples of things you could do:
- You could get a discount for choosing a slower shipping option that only used “un-booked” capacity in the shipping chain.
- Different couriers could compete for different parts of the shipping/logistics network (so you could have a package routed via DHL internationally and have last-mile delivery completed by a local bike messenger company). Consumers could have some choice in how routing for their packages was done, and eco-friendly routing methods could be incentivized by however the system is administered.
- You could actually trust product reviews to be honest since there’s a built-in reputation system and you don’t have the same incentives Amazon has to allow fake products and fake reviews to proliferate.
- Because you, as a consumer, can get insight into the whole supply chain, you can make more educated choices about the environmental/social/etc impacts of the products you buy. A whole ecosystem of apps would exist to help assign ratings to products and you could pick which one you liked.
The problem in this scenario is that the biggest player will still have an opportunity to dominate. Proof of work blockchain? Well, Amazon just has to outspend all the others—which they can handily do, or run computation on AWS. Similar with staking, except worse because more money = more direct influence.
Our local stores, as discussed in other comments, can’t even offer shipping or workable websites. And we expect them to self administer part of that blockchain? They are just going to pay Amazon to do it.
And big data companies like Amazon would love to peer into the blockchain and see the throughput for each of these competitors and discover patterns. Edit: and they already do that for vendors selling on Amazon, which is where all these Amazon-branded products come from.
That’s probably the biggest turn off to the MBA-types; it would require sharing information, even if obfuscated.
The problem in this scenario is that the biggest player will still have an opportunity to dominate. Proof of work blockchain? Well, Amazon just has to outspend all the others—which they can handily do, or run computation on AWS. Similar with staking, except worse because more money = more direct influence.
Not necessarily, it greatly depends on the incentives the system is setup with and how distribution of the token supply goes. And if you use PoW, PoS, DAG, or other systems. If what you are saying were true, Bitcoin mining for example would be entirely dominated by Amazon or some other major player, but that’s not the case. It’s a lot more complicated than just more money = dominance of the system. With Blockchain, we can have the participants in the system vote on how the system is administered in a more democratic and transparent way than amazon reviews or central banks or name your existing structure. It’s just a matter of how it’s all setup from the jump and how those incentives shape behavior in that system. Just like capitalism’s starting parameters and current legal environment (like concepts around the shareholder corporation) encourage the formation of monopolies, consolidation of power, and “externalizing” costs like destroying the environment to make 10c more per unit.
Our local stores, as discussed in other comments, can’t even offer shipping or workable websites. And we expect them to self administer part of that blockchain? They are just going to pay Amazon to do it.
One benefit of Amazon, eBay, etc is that companies producing goods no longer have to administer their own website, storage, or logistics chain. Amazon has resulted in massive efficiency gains both economically and environmentally (depending on where you draw the box of course) for these kinds of businesses. I don’t expect small companies to be developing the blockchain, just using it as a turnkey system like they currently use Amazon, Facebook, and other tools in their tech stack. They would however be able to vote on governance decisions like for example what fees exist in what categories or what rules shipping suppliers would have to abide by or how much to incentivize greener shipping methods etc. Consumers could also vote. It all depends on how you structure the system.
And big data companies like Amazon would love to peer into the blockchain and see the throughput for each of these competitors and discover patterns. Edit: and they already do that for vendors selling on Amazon, which is where all these Amazon-branded products come from.
Ok sure. This evens the playing field by giving all parties access to this information instead of it being monopolized by Amazon et al. One of the great ineffiencies of capitalism is the siloing if information. Company A needs to compete with Company B which needs to Compete with company C yet none of them know what the others is doing or how the market is responding. And really the only way to test some of this information is to bring a product to market and potentially waste millions of dollars and countless environmental resources building a product there is no demand for or which there would be demand for if Company B hadn’t also come out with a very similar bug slightly better product at the same time. You could also add some privacy and obfuscation layers, for example, I don’t think consumers want everybody on the blockchain knowing what brand of sex toy they prefer.
Sucks that my packages keep getting stolen
And that’s why in other countries, delivery services aren’t allowed to drop a package at the door unless you’ve explicitely told them to do so
Not true here in Sweden, tho. I work in parcel delivery and I’m instructed to leave at the door (or next to the mailbox if it doesn’t fit), at least if it’s Class A or Express. Class B get one delivery attempt and then sent to service point if unsuccessful.
Although I don’t do all types of parcels.
Are there even thieves in Sweden ?
Sweden has changed a bit in the last decade. Especially bigger cities. Luckily I’m in a small one.
I am also from Sweden, I have always been called (or texted) and asked (if I am not home) if it is OK to leave it outside. Some call me before hand to check if I am home before trying to deliver it even. You can (most of the time) choose if you are OK with them leaving it outside if you aren’t home otherwise they will not do that unless you say it is OK through text or a call. But maybe only the delivery companies I have picked have this kind of policy. I never pick a class for my packages so maybe I always get b class? What kind get A class?
Calling every recipient sounds like your delivery person has quite a bit lower daily volumes than me to deal with. Or you always order Express. Class B has the lowest priority; the same as a regular postcard would have.
Amazon totally drops packages outside in Ireland
Here in Romania that is unheard of. The courier will personally hand it to the recipient. If you are not home, you have the option to redirect it to a different address, courier HQ or some local stores that they have contract with. And even so, they ask for a verification code you get via sms in the morning. It’s very unlikely to lose a package.
Sounds like a better system. Here in Ireland, the trucks park with two wheels on the footpath and the flashers on, blocking one lane of traffic on a two lane road (completely fucking pedestrians and cyclists, and making cars have to be driven out into the opposing lane of traffic) while the driver fucks your package up against the door and they leave without ringing the bell (you’ll get an email or text, though).
We don’t use Amazon unless we, in the over 40 year old person usage of the word literal, literally cannot find something we literally need. When we extremely reluctantly do though, this is how it goes.
Up until a few months ago amazon didn’t have free delivery here, it was about 6-11€ for shipping, so the deals had to be really good to make it worth it. But since then, they added free delivery for orders over 49€, so I expect ppl to start using amazon more often.
The way couriers deliver the packages is the same for both amazon and the local online stores tho.
That just sounds tedious. I’ve never had a package stolen in hundreds of deliveries left outside.
Congratulations. You’re the exception to the rule.
Nothing tedious really. If you work from home you just go out for 2 mins to tell the courier the code and get your package. If you are in the office, you redirect the package to a store on your way home, tell them the code and get your package. Either way, it takes 5 min tops to make sure the recipient is the only person that can pick up the package.
For me Amazon delivers to my doorstep, listens and acts on complaints if undelivered or product is faulty, arrange replacement for free, allow me to use stuffs for a month and then return no questions asked, and is way more cost effective.
Say whatever about their business practices, they beat local stores in every possible way and it’s not even close.
For me as a customer, local stores doesn’t make any possible sense.
I don’t know about everywhere, but in many places the last point is kinda irrelevant since the Amazon lockers exist. I think there is one at most QuikTrips, even.
Functionally it’s the same thing though. From my own experience they are less common than PO boxes but that depends on the neighborhood.
The last point is that the one of the advantages of shopping from home disappears, since you still need to get to either P.O. Box or Amazon box or whatever. You could as well go to the store to begin with.
If I had a store that sold everything in the world two blocks away, I wouldn’t need Amazon, that’s an excellent point. Unfortunately, in the real world, there’s just a 7-11 with a big yellow box in front.
I am not arguing with that, I am simply explaining the idea behind the OP, which apparently was missed.
My anxiety ridden ass loves Amazon. My house is in a private enough area that I’ve never had a package stolen, but I live near a distribution center, so I can often get same-day delivery.
Europe:
- ‘Local’ stores were/are often ridiculously overpriced, had a very limited range, and it’s not like we’re talking about independent stores either. Many of those were killed by the unfair practices of large corporate chains who would sell at a loss. Before amazon killed chain mall businesses, the mall killed independent businesses on the high street.
- Packages are delivered to me personally. If I’m not there, they don’t deliver and are forced to try another time.
- No need for a PO box, as small independent stores and grocery stores often have a side hussle as a pick-up point. You go to pick-up your parcel and buy something in their store or do your groceries.
- Amazon prime is entirely unnecessary. You simply have to wait a bit longer.
- You can find independent sellers on amazon, then if their product is good, you buy from them directly next time around.
- Thanks to amazon, ebay, etc. it’s become far easier to buy second hand products. In the past you’d have to go to a second hand market, garage sales or visit twenty vintage/antique stores to find what you needed.
Amazon is evil though. So, yeah.
But there are perfectly rational reasons to use amazon.
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You can find independent sellers on amazon, then if their product is good, you buy from them directly next time around.
That’s not true, you may or may not get what you ordered because they have a “close enough” rule.
Then their product isn’t good, so you don’t buy from them next round? Doesn’t make it false.
No, Amazon sends whatever they feel like sending, not that the small business is bad. The small business probably doesn’t even know it’s happening.
So, if I understand it correct, when you order from a third party through Amazon, the third party never gets the order but Amazon sends something else instead? That wouldn’t be legal in Europe.
It happened to me a lot, enough for me to go through the manufacturer if at all possible.
Edit: This also isn’t new: https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/brhow4/124-the-magic-store
What’s happening is to save space Amazon stores all items of the same likeness in bulk containers. The worker who fills the order just picks up one from the container. This is why buying memory cards (micro SD and so on) is such a crapshoot these days on Amazon. They aren’t necessarily shipping you what the independent seller shipped them. They’re shipping you one from a bulk container with the contents that many independent sellers shipped them.
Thats not a rule, but what they do have is a process that enables dickheads to ship cheap/substandard crap for an item that used to be highly rated thanks to the original seller.
Same here in the US Midwest. 90% of these fabled amazing local businesses are incredibly overpriced and often run by assholes who treat you like shit, treat their employees even worse, and often don’t know their products any better than a Walmart employee. Also often incredibly right wing, which of course connects to them treating their employees like shit again.
If I’m going to support bad people and bad business I’d rather do it in a way that benefits me.
Yeah if you live in like, Germany or France
More like Europe: sorry we don’t ship there lol. Oh we do? Hope you like paying twice the price for shipping that takes two weeks if you’re lucky
Spot on. The OP doesn’t need to make up reasons Amazon are shit and should be avoided. There are plenty of legitimate reasons
My post office: we don’t do them Amazon packages 😡😠😡😠😡😠😡
Online shopping used to mean lower prices and a bit of a wait.
Nowadays it’s: more expensive because of shipping, delivery not doing their job or even stealing your shit, which leads to you having to pick it up at a place further from your house than the store that sells it.
Over here they are supposed to deliver it to you in person but half the time (if not more) they’ll just leave a “you weren’t home note” even though you took the day off and then drop it off at a pickup point.
Downside is that i can’t stop online shopping because the stores never carry what i need.
Yeah cool hot take. Let me guess “capitalism bad” lmao tool
What else can you expect on Lemmy. The entire community is /r/capitalismbad. This one is literally an edgelord post.
I don’t know if I can do it anymore guys… ive been trying but nah.
Reddit sucks for corporate dystopian reasons, and tbh Lemmy sucks kind of worse: “wow look how shit people still are when they have options”.
Maybe the internet really is dead and I should stop wasting my time on this fucking device.
Amazon Lock boxes are like PO boxes but free, you just order with one as a destination and you put a code in and it unlocks a locker with your item in it
I don’t like Amazon but I mean this does pretty much defeat porch piracy
Depends on what I need tbh. Comics? Got three locals, and if they’re out of whatever back issue I need than mycomicshop, then ebay, then amazon if they are the only ones with it in stock. Books? Local bookstores or direct from publishers, then same pattern with the comics if need be. Records? Local shops or discogs. But electronics or general “life” shit, my “locals” are best buy and walmart, fuck them too I might as well order from amazon at that point.
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Never had anything stolen. Guess living in a European village is nice after all.
