Mildly Infuriating @lemmy.world ArchRecord @lemm.ee 1mo ago

Amazon Artificially Discounting Items $0.01 Below the Free Shipping Limit

Amazon gives non-Prime members free shipping at $35 or more of eligible items. Instead of simply letting users get the product with free shipping, they've added a discount that prices it exactly one cent below the $35 limit, while only subsidizing the price with $3.38, which is about half of what they'll then charge you for shipping.

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Stop using Amazon
- I've switched to eBay. The delivery time is often the same and the returns are ok too
  
  A few years ago I mused that we might see the day when eBay becomes a more trustworthy platform to purchase on than Amazon. I'm not sure when exactly the streams crossed but I think we are past it now
  
  That happened years ago. Better search and more trustworthy sellers since products aren't co-mingled. No way is some seller with years of positive reviews going to send you broken junk and not try to make it right.
  
  I agree.
  
  Amazon is difficult to find what you want if you are searching for a specific brand or item. It shows you many options.
  
  To me it seems like Amazon wants to sell you something as long as the make a sale. Whether it is what you actually wanted is a distant second.
  
  Hm, my experiences with e-Bay have been pretty bad (hard to return items or get customer support involved when something is wrong). I've had better luck with just random mid-sized buisnesses or directly ordering from the manufacturer.
  
  I been going to ebay more recently. What I do is try to decipher the Amazon reviews and then go to ebay, even though I have Prime. My headlamp led was less expensive on ebay by 50%!
  
  I wish I could do more shopping there, but eBay in Canada is extremely expensive which has lead to it being kind of a ghost town compared to the US. $20-$50 shipping fees, even on tiny items, is common.
  
  So I've started to use AliExpress more often. Literally the exact same item on Amazon but without the markup - sometimes even half the price. It's not a great solution but the online shopping selection here in Canada is awful.
  
  Just gotta avoid Amazon drop shippers. Thousands of feedback + free expedited shipping + free returns = maybe a drop shipper.
  
  No, avoid alllll of amazon
  
  Correct but eBay is full of shippers who drop ship from Amazon. You don’t want to go on eBay to accidentally end up ordering from Amazon.
  
  And Amazon is full or drop shippers from AliExpress and Temu.
  
  Oh sorry I may have misunderstood!
  
  You have to offer free returns for top rated seller status. It puts you higher up in searches.
  
  Ok but a common indicator of a drop shipper is all of the items I listed not just free returns.
  
  I've found that a lot of stuff listed on Amazon is about the price of shipping higher than it is on eBay I guess to account for the free Prime shipping. If you don't have Prime, there really isn't much reason to not use eBay since you'd be getting doubly screwed without the free shipping on Amazon.
- Start using Amazon, but in an elaborate drop shipping scam where you sell a $.25 item for $38 and have Amazon pay you $3.99 to ship it to yourself as a proxy.
  
  Nahh their workers still get exploited (even more than the average laborer)
  
  Amazon will probably get future tax benifits in Luxembourg because of that loss caused by you.
- Unironically buy from AliExpress; Amazon is mostly an overpriced proxy to AliExpress nowadays.
  
  Sadly I can say the same thing for my country's Bol.com :'-(
- It's too convenient. Order something Sunday night, I'll definitely have it by Tuesday afternoon if not earlier. I always wait until I have enough items I need over $50 before I place an order anyway.
  
  In my area I can order something popular at midnight and receive it by 10am. If you're in a major metro area, they can usually do next day, same day, and overnight on a lot of items.
  
  Sure but you don't need it. Yes it's nice. But once I canceled prime I just order less junk I don't need. It was like an addiction. Just browse oh that looks cool.
- Temu or aliexpress
  
  90% procent of products on Amazon are from AliExpress dropshippers anyway
  
  Exactly, just skip bezos pockets
  
  Yes, I try to buy things second hand but if it's not possible to get it that way I usually resort to one of the local stores or AliExpress.

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