Mail order has historically been a large part of US consumer buying. This is due to the number of people that lived in remote rural areas for most of this countries history. Access to goods was severely restricted due to that problem. And didn’t really start changing much until post WW2 and the growth of urbanization. Mailing a cheap catalog to everyone was the best way to show off your goods and get necessary goods to those who wanted them and would have no access otherwise.
Amazon is merely the latest in a very long line of those businesses that developed that marketing stratagem. And since I live in one of those remote areas, Amazon does provide me with easy, fast, and generally competitive priced goods that I would simply never be able to access without making a 600 mile round trip to get. But if you live a large dense city, there is little need for Amazon. But then, people order uber eats or whatever it’s called to get supper when they could cook something to eat cheaper instead.
I could spend hours googling for items from small and possibly sketchy websites and wait times than can stretch to several weeks or more, and sometimes I do out of boredom, but time is money as they say, and I do have other things to do.
As someone else who lives in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere, I use Amazon for stuff I can’t find locally. Our local (and family owned) grocery & hardware stores are not much more expensive, so I tend to buy essentials there and save Amazon as a last resort. Amazon’s pricing isn’t anything special, and being able to talk to a knowledgeable shop owner is more than worth the extra few cents in price.
I seldom need to talk to a shop owner unless I want to talk about the fishing or weather. The price difference between items in local stores and amazon is generally measured in whole dollars. And I always balance the cost to buy on line vs the cost of gas money, (when the nearest real grocery store is a 100 mile round trip and still is limited in choice and availability and the local one sells milk, some bread, a few canned goods and such), also gets considered. Amazon almost always wins on price if I can wait the week it takes to get an item.
This next week I need to pull and test some ice cube relays in my tractor. I hope the blower fans stopped working because of a bad relay. If not, I will need to pull to roof off the cab to get at the blower motors. I already know I will need to order any parts. I could have the local John Deere dealer get them for me, but the price will be outrageous. The relays should be available from amazon, not sure about the blower motors though.
Amazon was really great when it started out, you’d find what you were looking for, at correct/very good prices, fast shipping and good service if something was lost or broken. The whole experience was top notch.
But that was over ten years ago.
I did stop using it when it was still very good but all the abuse popped up on media.
Same here. Never ordered anything off Amazon. Not sure about the U.S., but I’ve never had trouble finding anything in other places, so I never had to resort to Amazon. Maybe certain things are harder to get in the U.S. except on Amazon? Some kind of monopoly thing?
Now granted, I don’t live in America, but I have never even considered using Amazon, and I don’t understand why anyone would…
Mail order has historically been a large part of US consumer buying. This is due to the number of people that lived in remote rural areas for most of this countries history. Access to goods was severely restricted due to that problem. And didn’t really start changing much until post WW2 and the growth of urbanization. Mailing a cheap catalog to everyone was the best way to show off your goods and get necessary goods to those who wanted them and would have no access otherwise.
Amazon is merely the latest in a very long line of those businesses that developed that marketing stratagem. And since I live in one of those remote areas, Amazon does provide me with easy, fast, and generally competitive priced goods that I would simply never be able to access without making a 600 mile round trip to get. But if you live a large dense city, there is little need for Amazon. But then, people order uber eats or whatever it’s called to get supper when they could cook something to eat cheaper instead.
I could spend hours googling for items from small and possibly sketchy websites and wait times than can stretch to several weeks or more, and sometimes I do out of boredom, but time is money as they say, and I do have other things to do.
As someone else who lives in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere, I use Amazon for stuff I can’t find locally. Our local (and family owned) grocery & hardware stores are not much more expensive, so I tend to buy essentials there and save Amazon as a last resort. Amazon’s pricing isn’t anything special, and being able to talk to a knowledgeable shop owner is more than worth the extra few cents in price.
I seldom need to talk to a shop owner unless I want to talk about the fishing or weather. The price difference between items in local stores and amazon is generally measured in whole dollars. And I always balance the cost to buy on line vs the cost of gas money, (when the nearest real grocery store is a 100 mile round trip and still is limited in choice and availability and the local one sells milk, some bread, a few canned goods and such), also gets considered. Amazon almost always wins on price if I can wait the week it takes to get an item.
This next week I need to pull and test some ice cube relays in my tractor. I hope the blower fans stopped working because of a bad relay. If not, I will need to pull to roof off the cab to get at the blower motors. I already know I will need to order any parts. I could have the local John Deere dealer get them for me, but the price will be outrageous. The relays should be available from amazon, not sure about the blower motors though.
Amazon was really great when it started out, you’d find what you were looking for, at correct/very good prices, fast shipping and good service if something was lost or broken. The whole experience was top notch.
But that was over ten years ago.
I did stop using it when it was still very good but all the abuse popped up on media.
I’m in the EU BTW.
Same here. Never ordered anything off Amazon. Not sure about the U.S., but I’ve never had trouble finding anything in other places, so I never had to resort to Amazon. Maybe certain things are harder to get in the U.S. except on Amazon? Some kind of monopoly thing?