Draedron,

Never had a package stolen. Amazon either gives the package to me directly, to a neighbour or lets me pick it up at the post office which luckily rarely happens

Hyperreality,

Europe:

  1. '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.
  2. Packages are delivered to me personally. If I'm not there, they don't deliver and are forced to try another time.
  3. 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.
  4. Amazon prime is entirely unnecessary. You simply have to wait a bit longer.
  5. You can find independent sellers on amazon, then if their product is good, you buy from them directly next time around.
  6. 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.

miss_brainfart,
@miss_brainfart@lemmy.ml avatar

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

JudahBenHur,

Amazon totally drops packages outside in Ireland

fatalError,

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.

JudahBenHur,

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.

fatalError,

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.

atlasraven31,

My neighborhood stores have huge markups and bad customer service. I don’t love Amazon but they are a better alternative for most things.

SkepticalButOpenMinded,

People should check again. After I decided to avoid Amazon, I’m surprised by how many things are cheaper and/or better quality at my local stores. I think Amazons reputation for lowest prices is less true every year.

RootBeerGuy,
@RootBeerGuy@discuss.tchncs.de avatar

How about both arguments are true. You just have to price check constantly and you will find some stores are cheaper and some are pricier than Amazon.

SkepticalButOpenMinded,

Yes, sometimes Amazon is cheaper. But one reason I quit amazon was because, even when it’s cheaper, I got so much counterfeit and super low quality disposable junk.

Seriously, take another look at your local stores. I suspect many people aren’t and are just making assumptions. I was surprised to find my local pet store offers free delivery, and literally everything at my local mom and pop hardware store is cheaper and better quality.

Che_Donkey,
@Che_Donkey@lemmy.ml avatar

Try using them as a reference guide instead of buying from them. I find what I’m looking for rhen loom up the products own website. A couple extra steps but it’s not like I’m out hunting and gathering, I’m in air conditioning and chair or taking a huge dump.

MrSqueezles,

I’m sure most people here don’t remember when power strips and HDMI cables were $40 and coin batteries were like $15 each pre inflation because stores wanted to make money on them. We could only read, listen to, and watch what our local stores decided to stock and most things didn’t have reviews. If we needed a new power adapter for that one device with a special shaped connector, too bad. It’s literally impossible to buy it.

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