Contributor
Even if it's on HD's website with free shipping? All things considered, I'd rather deal with HD's website than Ebay even if the price is the same.Originally Posted by Brian Nguyen
(As it happens, the second-biggest HD in the country is exactly one mile from my house. When I was redoing my bathrooms, I ordered the toilets online for store pickup...saved me having to pull the buggers off the shelf and schlep them halfway across the store to the registers.)
Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
"Design"? Possibly. "Intelligent"? Sure doesn't look like it from this angle.
We used to be hunter gatherers. Now we're shopper borrowers.
The three most important words in the English language: "Front Towards Enemy".
The world makes a lot more sense when you remember that Butthead was the smart one.
You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much ammo.
Contributor
More to the point, the return policy/procedure is the same as "real" Amazon. The only difference I've noted is that the items are typically shipping from West Nowhere, Idaho, rather than the Amazon warehouse 50 miles away.
Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
"Design"? Possibly. "Intelligent"? Sure doesn't look like it from this angle.
We used to be hunter gatherers. Now we're shopper borrowers.
The three most important words in the English language: "Front Towards Enemy".
The world makes a lot more sense when you remember that Butthead was the smart one.
You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much ammo.
Contributor
EBay, CL, Amazon, HD...are all the same. You have to check and compare prices. If you don't you will pay to much. We had to buy a new washer at Lowe's and while the guy was figuring the price I pulled up the price from another website and he met the price.
EBay also has a lot of good stuff. I got a Bluetooth amplifier for a low price. I buy lots of things there for stuff that is difficult to get other places but also search for lower prices. If you pay too much for an item, there is only one person to blame.
Contributor
Amazon or their merchants, or both, are pretty fast and loose with my trust on prices.
I bought a brand of iron tablets because I could not find non-blister pack iron locally. Wonderful.
They were seventeen bucks for two or three order cycles, then crept to nearly $21. I looked on Amazon for another vendor, and there it was for $17, but a different brand with the same ingredients.
The next time I was ready to buy, that second brand was now $21. And the original brand was $17. That about 24 percent manipulation.
You have to watch Amazon and their sellers every step.
You don’t think Jeff Bezos is worth a brazillion dollars because he’s handsome, do you?
Contributor
This is perhaps the major reason I buy from Amazon. In twenty years or so in using Amazon, I've had a couple of problems with a product purchased from Amazon. Every time, Amazon stepped up and took care of the problem.
One time, I got a note that my shipment was delivered to my front door but when I got home, the package was gone. I searched the front of homes on parallel streets with the same house number and nothing. Eventually, I reported the lost package to Amazon. They immediately shipped me a replacement. And this was for a product that was almost $400. This was an Amazon product, not a MarketPlace shipper.
Another time, they shipped me a product that was close to what I ordered but not exactly what I ordered. They offered to have me return it or they would give me a 20% discount. For various reasons, I took the discount. But their approach was extremely fair. This was for a Marketplace shipper.
I trust Amazon to be fair in taking care of problems with shipments.
Mike
Last edited by Mike Henderson; 11-01-2018 at 8:24 PM. Reason: Spelling
Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.
Contributor
I have heard, and no one has disputed, that Amazon has a pricing algorithm that adjusts prices based on how well an item sells. So if the brand you were buying was a best seller the price would be adjusted up to maximize profit until sales dropped off then the price would be reduced. Sounds like that was what was happening in your case. Nothing sinister just consumer capitalism at work. Yes you have to watch Amazon and their sellers. That said my experience with Amazon matches Mike's. Any time i have had a problem with something from Amazon or their sellers they have stepped up and made it right to my satisfaction. I don't think they guarantee the lowest price. I also agree with Larry, I've used Lowe's price match guarantee a couple of times just by showing a better price to the clerk on my phone. If it's a bricks and mortar store advertising a better price they even beat it by 10%. Many other stores have a similar policy you just need to use it to your advantage. If you want the best price you need to put the effort in to get it.
Moderator
For Amazon, they do indeed adjust prices; sometimes up for something popular, but I've also seen things in my "wish list" suddenly become attractive financially when they have been on that list for a bit. For that reason, I'm not hesitant at all with sticking things on my wish list while I'm researching this and that and occasionally it pays offer nicely. Sometimes it pays off even better than nicely!
I'm not clear if they are doing this for Marketplace sellers, however, but it does apply for sure to things sold and shipped by Amazon directly.
--
The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
[OP]
Member
Somewhat similar...
I got my 2019 Medicare yesterday. The insurance agent told me that she pushes a particular Supplemental G plan because it is the cheapest, and all companies plans are exactly the same; so nothing matters but price. But some of her customers insist on more expensive companies. She is bewildered why they do that.
Contributor
One good thing about ebay is the availability of cheap carbs, and replacement parts for small equipment. I needed a new carb today for a two man auger that we probably haven't used in 15 years. A Tecumsah parts place had it for $89 plus ridiculous shipping. I ordered one off ebay for 25 bucks that included replacement hoses, primer, and a few other parts with free shipping.
Member
Call me an eBay poster boy (or man, given my old age).
I have shopped or sold on eBay for 18 years plus, and have always been happy. Like shopping anywhere else (Amazon, online sites or local vendors), you need to do your homework. You don't get a plumber or an electrician hired without first asking or checking, do you?
Same thing with eBay. If you know what you do, you will get great deals there, and their Paypal protection is among the best. By using Paypal, my credit info. is protected when I deal with strangers, better than dealing with gas stations, one of which stole my info. to buy plane tickets and smokes!
Camera accessories, woodworking consumables, etc. Hard to beat the free shipping deals...esp. since I don't have Amazon Prime.
Simon
Member
Thanks for the reminder, which also reminds me how archaic the rule is.
Simon
Moderator
There is a very good and concrete reason for the prohibition of links to auctions and other online selling resources...to allow them would pretty much make the forum get inundated with posts merely to sell stuff elsewhere, including a huge influx of folks posting merely for profit. We don't permit commercial sales posting for the same reason. That's not what SMC is about. Non of the forums that I help moderate permit this; it's not just Sawmill Creek.
Jim
Forum Moderator
Contributor
There are simple ways to work with the rules. If one wants to lead people to an ebay auction just put the item number in the post. It is a simple endeavor.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Member
One prominent woodworking forum allows ebay, amazon and whatnot links to be posted directly without restrictions. That site has never been inundated with sales posts. People there always share great Amazon deals or other time-sensitive vendor links...as a public service. You click and get done...instead of: go to Amazon, enter product name or whatever #, find or select a supplier (if there is more than one), blah blah blah. Oh well, only to find that that is not something you want or need to buy! That's why unless it's a direct link, I never bother to waste time.
It is fine to me if you want to ban any sharing of sales, auctions, online selling resources, etc. But you are not actually banning them because you still allow people to access the resources just not through their direct links. As Jim suggested, you use the ebay # to get around it, for example. You are not banning anything... you are just creating inconvenience. That is why I call that rule archaic.
Simon
Last edited by Simon MacGowen; 11-21-2018 at 12:25 PM.
Contributor
My question is, is moderating that explicit kind of activity really any harder than playing whack-a-mole with Ebay links?
Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
"Design"? Possibly. "Intelligent"? Sure doesn't look like it from this angle.
We used to be hunter gatherers. Now we're shopper borrowers.
The three most important words in the English language: "Front Towards Enemy".
The world makes a lot more sense when you remember that Butthead was the smart one.
You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much ammo.
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