It’s almost like the writing on the wall was trying to tell us something! Amazon is a bloated poorly self-regulated market with a low barrier to entry that prioritizes convenience over quality, while obfuscating the truth of the seller you do business with.
Not only that, but the seller you do business with isn’t necessarily the one supplying your product. Items are binned together based on their barcode, all sellers’ items end up in the same bin, so legit sellers end up delivering counterfeits and counterfeiters end up selling legit products.
Not always, some warehouses (like the one I used to be at) stow products based off size. For example, could have RAM, ball point pens, phone cases, chocolate bars and everything else that fits into a small pull out cubby on a shelf shoved into one space.
So the stower scans the item, then scans the space on the shelf space they think they can fit it in. The Picker who bundles orders together is given the task to find the RAM you ordered. They are told it’s in X aisle in X cubby. They have to dig through the most random garbage that is shoved into this space because the stower before is given like 2 minutes per item to find space.
Sometimes just to keep their efficiency numbers up the stower will scan the item, scan the space, and never put the item on the shelf bc space was limited. So that item ends up in an adjacent space that they eventually found room for the item and the picker is unaware so they may just have scanned whatever item was closest they could get away with and kept it moving so they don’t get backed up. It was a mess of a way to do things.
You’re talking about physical bins whereas the comment above I beleive meant database bins. There’s a legit item in aisle x bin x while there’s a counterfeit item in aisle y bin y. By binning them together in the database, the pickers aren’t sent to x/x just because it matches the seller. Instead, they’re sent to whichever is closest on their route.
I sincerely can’t figure out how to use Amazon anymore and I’m very tech literate. Top that off with their labor practices literally being criminal and you have a spicy pizza pie.
It takes a bit of effort to avoid amazon, and it does cost a bit more in money and convenience, but it is possible to not buy from them.
(It’s virtually impossible not to use their web services though unless you are a member of an uncontacted tribe in the, you guessed it, Amazon jungle).
It takes a bit of effort to avoid amazon, and it does cost a bit more in money and convenience, but it is possible to not buy from them.
Ha, here in Austria the government has effectively made it impossible for small vendors to sell their stuff. Amazon is pretty much all that’s left.
What did the government do to cause that?
It’s a new packaging law. Every non-Austrian merchant who wants to ship goods to Austria has to have a local notary acting as a representative who has to register the packaging used for shipments with the local authorities and is personally held liable for this. There are local notaries that offer this service for foreign merchants for about €800 per year. However, Austria is such a small market that this most likely eats up all of the revenue from Austrian customers for small merchants, so most just stopped shipping to the country. Of course, large merchants like Amazon easily can handle that fee.
That would go against the EU rules about Free Movement of people and goods (because it treats sellers from other countries differently from austrian sellers).
Maybe it only applies to sellers from outside the EU?!
It also affects merchants from inside the EU. People here are pretty sure that it does violate Free Movement, but since those proceedings for violations can take a few years, for now we’re stuck with it.
In 2025 the EU wants to introduce a similar system for the whole Union, but unified (so one representative for the whole EU). When that comes, the Austrian system will probably be disbanded, and since the EU is significant enough of a trading partner, the whole issue will probably be fixed. However, until then we’re stuck with a law-enforced Amazon monopoly.
Wow, that sucks…
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I can’t figure out how they facilitate fraud and violate consumer laws, en mass, and nothing’s been done about it… I mean, apart from the blatant capitalist oligarchies we live in.
I second the other commenter just stop using it. I haven’t order anything from Amazon for the better half of a decade. There’s no product worth buying that can’t be found off Amazon.
You have no duty to reward poor practices with your business.
Amazon turned out really weird. I feel like the idea of Amazon should be consolidating reputable retailers together, but they decided to open the floodgates to random people and now it’s little better than wish.com. Maybe they should split the site up and push all the random sellers onto a different platform.
I trust nothing on there anymore, it is very difficult to wade through the crap. All I want is a 3m HDMI 2.1 cable and I don’t believe what I’m getting.
It’s like chinavasion but with better marketing.
I’ve always bought cables from Monoprice first and Amazon second.
Have you had any issues, I’m seeing ridiculously long cables that I didn’t think we’re commercially available like 15m 48gbps HDMI which I thought was above the length maximum
There are optical HDMI cables with much longer maximum lengths than passive copper cables. I assume the electrical - optical conversion is done in the plug itself.
That is unbelievable, I never knew this. I can’t believe there is a terminal in the jack allowing for the conversion it’s really impressive.
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I prefer fleaBay these days. I mostly know what I’m getting whether it be someone’s personal item or a mass produced product. I feel like I have better control. Not a lot, but more. I also use B&H for tech stuff.
Bought some plant stuff for the wifes bday and the company name on Amazon was XXXtenacion…wtf does that even mean? Why xxx? I don’t know, but there are thousands of these ai generated/poorly translated brandings going on.
I love how you people go full on crazy when these stories come out.
Yeah, it is definitely just a step away from wish 🙄
For a lot of it its a couple of steps away from ali express atleast. So much so that most of it is just ali express but 10 times more expensive with next day delivery.
Hey man I’ve had quality knockoffs from Wish. Wish is great if it’s not much and you wanna gamble a little.
But, so is Amazon, now. Better return policy, but you pay full price so the gamble is way worse.
I stopped buying electronics on Amazon after getting bricks instead of a GPU for my PC and they treated me like shit when I went to return it. I filed a complaint with the state about the fraud and their unwillingness to correct it. Complaint didn’t do shit but I was pissed. Now the only stuff I buy on Amazon is random household items and stuff for the kids that’s under 100 bucks.
I use B&H for new tech stuff now. Sometimes the Bay of E for used.
B&H seems to be the best bet since Newegg went down the drain. I’d always gone to them for camera gear and never had issues. I’ll be going to them for electronics from now on.
Just be aware of their return policy, it’s not quite as no-questions as Amazon usually is. But it’s serviceable.
But it isn’t an unreasonable policy or anything I think. They’ve also price matched their own price for me after a week or two which seemed very customer oriented. No complaints and I’ve used them for a few years now.
Yeah theyve been around for a long time for media stuff specifically, will have to check it out for electronics in general.
They are like the anti Amazon in terms of shipping for religious reasons, given their observance of shabbos they don’t ship on Saturdays at all. Good to know that their warehouse staff has a weekend day off to rest.
What happened to new egg?
Pretty sure they got bought out by some Chinese company with terrible customer service
Their customer service wasn’t great in the past.
There was a time when it most definitely was.
Ever heard of MicroCenter? There’s only a few but if you live nearish one, go check them out. It’s like a toy store for tech nerds.
I am aware of them, but am nowhere near one unfortunately. Not much locally. The nearest thing they’ve had like that was Fry’s Electronics. Could buy anything there, but maybe not the best price. They’re gone now too.
Don’t use B & H. They have had numerous discrimination lawsuits filed against them and don’t seem to be changing their behavior. It’s just a different kind of evil than Amazon.
B&H
what’s the full name?
that is the full name lol, just look up that.
edit: technically the url is bhphotovideo.com but asking what b&h means is like asking what HP means. it may technically mean something, but no one needs to know it.
Wasn’t HP branded Hewlett Packard for ages ? Unless you’re talking about HP sauce which name is a complete mystery
I believe HP Sauce is House of Parliament.
I thought HP Sauce referred to the Harry Potter franchise, which is a book about a UK orphaned teenager living with oppressive stepparents discovering the secret ingredient to making a delicious dipping sauce.
Yer a wizard in the kitchen, Harry.
Probably Hawlett Packard and you are right, but no one says anything other HP these days.
yup, was looking for the url. thanks. wouldn’t have guessed that it included “photo video”.
I have a microcenter. I only go there for PV
I only buy random cheap shit I can’t find anywhere else. Nothing of substance.
Just got a new watch. Best Buy. Why risk some bullshit knockoff or return from them? Amazon is trash. Basically the American ali express and all the negatives with it
Microcenter is my go to. I live about 45 minutes from one but any PC parts that are expensive I get there, I also open in store to check for GPUs that were returned to the store to make sure someone didn’t swap out with a cheaper part. I don’t build too often so I don’t make my way over there too often.
Is buying returned products a comming thing? Does not the store check that what you returned is what is actually supposed to be before giving you your money back?
I’ve definitely got a few things at Microcenter that were obvious repackages. I bought a cpu once to find the pins covered in thermal paste. Clearly someone made a bad choice and just returned it. I believe for the most part their returned items are sold at a discount after a review but people repackage things well and some get away with returning something as unopened. If I’m spending 150 or more I just open in store to just in case I find something odd I can return it and they never question it because I never left.
I’ve been getting some PC peripherals from GameStop’s site lately since Amazon’s lack of reliability has me unwilling to trust them for electronics
I didn’t realize how many issues there were with Amazon, I’ve never had a problem, guess I’ve been lucky. Unfortunately, while there is finally a microcenter being built in Charlotte, it’s not going to be open for a few years. In the meantime, what I can’t get at eBay is still easy to get at Amazon, and return it if it’s a fake.
Edit: nevermind, microcenter in Charlotte is slated to open by early 2024!!
The state AGs are slow on complaints but next time reach for the CFPB, they don’t mess around and you’ll get a call from a human (from Amazon) in a short amount of time.
I spent hours on hold with a company (not Amazon) and they kept giving me the run around. After filing a complaint I got a call back in less than 2 days by someone who immediately fixed the issue.
Appreciate the advice I didn’t think about the CFPB.
One thing I noticed, about a third of the time they have lower prices for Legos compared to the official Lego site. I buy a bunch of Legos for my kids and been wondering about this. Are they very clever frauds or do they just have a better logistics system?
Fraudulent parts on Amazon is a mix clever and just plain dumb I got bricks instead of a GPU. For work I’ve gotten a handful of hard to notice frauds. We got some Samsung SSDs the older sata drives not NVMe. One was a different shade of black and looked altered. It had the guts of a USB drive with a usb to sata homebrew conversion. That one Amazon took back no questions but it was a company purchase so they probably treat those differently.
For Legos if they were frauds I would imagine it would be noticeable. It’s probably a discount because of the volume they purchase.
If you buy legos often I’ve had some good luck going to goodwill stores and getting them super cheap. It’s not going to be a set. Usually it’s mixed pieces in a vacuum sealed bag or bin if there are a lot.
If you’re building systems, I would assume you’re the kind of person that knows how they work.
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The system tells you what CPU it has on boot.
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The BIOS tells you what CPU you have.
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MemTest86 would have told you what CPU you had when you tested it after assembling your system.
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Windows tells you what you have in Settings > About and Task Manager.
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Apps like CPU-Z have been downloaded a billion times and tell you what CPU you have.
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Geekbench would have told you what CPU you have and how it performs.
The article mentions someone paying a bunch for a specific CPU back in April, but then never bothered actually checking it until recently… What the CPU had written on it is meaningless. I couldn’t even tell you what my current CPU looked like before I installed it. It could have said Pentium 2 or 486SX or Core i-13. What mattered was that it physically fit, the system booted, and my software said “yup, this is what you paid for.”
The issue is if it never occurred to you that you might have been scammed you might not ever think to look.
I built my first computer last year, with all NiB internals, my main concerns when assembling it was does it work. If it underperformed (due to a bootleg part) I might not have been able to appreciate due to a lack of reference point.
This kind of practice is perfect for targeting the person using PC part picker to build a computer without an indepth knowledge or a relative buying it as a gift for someone else.
Would it not be possible to fake most of those by spoofing the model the CPU reports, like what happens with GPUs?
With GPUs you can do things like dump its BIOS, alter the identification string, and then re-flash the card.
I’ve modified a lot of GPU BIOSes to tweak GPU and memory clock timings or enable Mac support.
CPUs aren’t that easy to modify. I am not aware of any consumer tools that can simply re-write CPU’s internal code.
Regardless, the first time you run a benchmark and it shows that your CPU is really X and not Y, you will know something is wrong.
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Amazon always shit the bed, been waiting for my books for school for a week now.
This reminds me of the black market IC thing that caused so much chaos about 15 years ago.
