Nice little Amazon game!

[Beneteau381]

Yesterday was looking for some hammer stale wedges, wanted them quick so first stop Amazon, they were 2.80 ish for a pack of 5 draper but I would have to pay for postage. Not wanting anything else I looked in Ebay. 3.80 ish inc postage so I said yes. Today the Amazon driver pitchs up with them! UH! It said gift on the slip. So I phoned Amazon up, they were bought with a gift card and were sent to me. I was concerned that someone knew I was looking for wedges and had bought them for me. After some investigation it was concluded that some one is making a low margin by using prime to buy stuff off Amazon and send to their punters off Ebay!

 

[Rum Run]

I've had the same thing with 3d printer resin. Which annoyed me a lot because I deliberately didn't buy from Amazon due to not liking their business model

 

[Martin_J]

That's answered the question as to how the small JR-HM032A that I ordered from eBay last week arrived the next day as a gift from Amazon! Thank you.

 

[Martin_J]

Same as Rum Run, I had deliberately not ordered from Amazon.

 

[MoodySabre]

I worked that out last year when Amazon delivered an Ebay purchase. The margin was small but the ebay seller had sold 17,000 of them!

 

[MoodySabre]

I've had the same thing with 3d printer resin. Which annoyed me a lot because I deliberately didn't buy from Amazon due to not liking their business model

But you have to admire someone who is abusing their business model.

 

[pvb]

But you have to admire someone who is abusing their business model.

What's wrong with Amazon's business model? Quality products. Reasonable prices. Lightning-fast delivery. Hassle-free returns. Excellent warranty support.

 

[JumbleDuck]

What's wrong with Amazon's business model? Quality products. Reasonable prices. Lightning-fast delivery. Hassle-free returns. Excellent warranty support.

From the consumer's point of view it's excellent (I placed 230 orders with them last year) but from the suppliers' point of view, and the employees' point of view it's pretty brutal.

 

[lustyd]

I worked that out last year when Amazon delivered an Ebay purchase. The margin was small but the ebay seller had sold 17,000 of them!

The margin might be small if they're ordering with their own money. Unlikely though. Welcome to the world of laundering.

 

[pvb]

but from the .. employees' point of view it's pretty brutal.

So how do they manage to recruit and keep so many thousands of employees?

Compensation and benefits

 

[Ravi]

What's wrong with Amazon's business model?

Do you work every day on a flexible contract where you travel to work only to be told, when you get there, that you are not required and that you will get zero pay that day - despite having just paid your transport to and from work?

Maybe if you are lucky, you will get a call before you set off for work that day so you don't have to pay your bus fare. Yay! Saved the bus fare! Now, where do I get the money to eat?

What happens if there is no work tomorrow, or the next day, or the next day, etc? How do I pay the rent?

Maybe I can tell the landlord that is the "Amazon business model"


Do you wear a GPS tracker at work that monitors the amount of time that you spend in the toilet? If you take too long for a sh1t, is your pay deducted? Or does your employer give you the respect to trust that you are not embezzling them from over- indulgent bowel movements.

In fact, does your employer monitor ALL you movements all day? Do you get called into an HR meeting so that you can explain why you were stationary' for 3 minutes in front of a single shelf in the warehouse. Do you constantly have to prove that you are not a thief.?

Do you get weighed on your way in and out of work - just to ensure that you have not stolen anything?

You ask, 'What is wrong with the Amazon business model'?

 

[burgundyben]

I don't use Amazon for the reason that its created the richest man on earth. I prefer to support businesses and individuals that bring forth a fairer distribution of wealth.

It may be flawed, but it is my view.

 

[lustyd]

Microsoft made the previous richest man on earth. Bill turned out to be probably the best philanthropist we’ve ever seen and seems capable of consistently predicting the next big problem including covid. I admit that Jeff is possibly not turning out as well but wealthy founders are not a good reason to avoid a business.

 

[MoodySabre]

The margin might be small if they're ordering with their own money. Unlikely though. Welcome to the world of laundering.

That wasnt the case for me. It was a small item say £5 plus £2 postage on Amazon but £6.20 post free on eBay. The same branded item. So I bought the eBay one and it arrived from Amazon. The seller made £1.20 less Amazon’s %. Do that kind of deal thousands of times and you can make an income out of your Prime.

 

[lustyd]

That wasnt the case for me. It was a small item say £5 plus £2 postage on Amazon but £6.20 post free on eBay. The same branded item. So I bought the eBay one and it arrived from Amazon. The seller made £1.20 less Amazon’s %. Do that kind of deal thousands of times and you can make an income out of your Prime.

How do you know what payment method your ebay seller used to buy your goods from Amazon? All you know is that you paid them with (assume) legitimately earned money, and that you received goods ordered through Amazon. The Ebay seller then has your legitimate money in their account, and you have the goods. There are many, many ways they could have paid for those goods with Amazon which would appear legitimate. You also have no way of knowing how many Amazon accounts they have. It's entirely possible that they bought a pre-pay Amazon voucher at Tesco with money they earned selling drugs, opened a new account, then ordered your stuff. Pre-pay voucher can be swapped for prepay credit card, and drug money easily swapped for any other illigitimate source of income including stolen cards.
While there are some legitimate sales on Ebay, the platform is almost designed with these kinds of crimes in mind.

 

[Beneteau381]

That wasnt the case for me. It was a small item say £5 plus £2 postage on Amazon but £6.20 post free on eBay. The same branded item. So I bought the eBay one and it arrived from Amazon. The seller made £1.20 less Amazon’s %. Do that kind of deal thousands of times and you can make an income out of your Prime.

The girl at Amazon recognised this as well, talking to her supervisor before confirming. Also interesting is that Amazon Logistics are now delivering at any time day or night. I got talking to one of them after he bashed my wall in the snow. Romanian in a battered 2015 Tranny with lo profile BMW allies on. Amazon used to use the Post Office but looks like they have ditched them.

 

[Beneteau381]

How do you know what payment method your ebay seller used to buy your goods from Amazon? All you know is that you paid them with (assume) legitimately earned money, and that you received goods ordered through Amazon. The Ebay seller then has your legitimate money in their account, and you have the goods. There are many, many ways they could have paid for those goods with Amazon which would appear legitimate. You also have no way of knowing how many Amazon accounts they have. It's entirely possible that they bought a pre-pay Amazon voucher at Tesco with money they earned selling drugs, opened a new account, then ordered your stuff. Pre-pay voucher can be swapped for prepay credit card, and drug money easily swapped for any other illigitimate source of income including stolen cards.
While there are some legitimate sales on Ebay, the platform is almost designed with these kinds of crimes in mind.

The Amazon girl confirmed that it had been paid for with a gift voucher, as you say, I bet there is more to this than meets the eye.

 

[MoodySabre]

How do you know what payment method your ebay seller used to buy your goods from Amazon? All you know is that you paid them with (assume) legitimately earned money, and that you received goods ordered through Amazon. The Ebay seller then has your legitimate money in their account, and you have the goods. There are many, many ways they could have paid for those goods with Amazon which would appear legitimate. You also have no way of knowing how many Amazon accounts they have. It's entirely possible that they bought a pre-pay Amazon voucher at Tesco with money they earned selling drugs, opened a new account, then ordered your stuff. Pre-pay voucher can be swapped for prepay credit card, and drug money easily swapped for any other illigitimate source of income including stolen cards.
While there are some legitimate sales on Ebay, the platform is almost designed with these kinds of crimes in mind.

Fair enough - I don't know.

 

[JumbleDuck]

So how do they manage to recruit and keep so many thousands of employees?

Compensation and benefits

It is no coincidence that Amazon's Scottish distribution centre is in one of the most deprived and high-unemployment regions of the country. Desperate people are less picky. Even so ...

 

[Beneteau381]

Hello,

I'm really sorry for any confusion caused by receiving your purchased product in Amazon packaging.

Please let me explain that we use Amazon as a fulfillment service for some of our products, for the top-rated professional services that they offer. Therefore some of our items are shipped in Amazon boxes.

I hope that our product and fast shipping met your expectations.

Best Regards
Francis