10 things Amazon won’t tell you

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by Daithi

Market Watch just published an article titled "10 things Amazon won’t tell you". I wonder if Apple provided an assist in writing this article.

All these are psychological and sales techniques. Really old stuff. Bezzos and team are just using them in a very smart way.

I'm an educated customer. If I don't like a book or do not need something, I don't buy it. Of course, each person is different.

Read Cialdini, and you'll see. By the way, you can find the ebook at Amazon, for a nice price, hahahaha ...

[JSWolf]

That is one heck of a stupid article.

[Lynx-lynx]

Well it seems as obvious as the '10 things' are in this article it's gotten people to talk about Amazon ..... and isn't that marketing and promotion itself?????

BTW, Amazon leave me cold ..... they don't have a dedicated Aus site - instead Australians are expected to buy their Amazon products in USD unaware of the exchange rate that will be used because the amount is advertised, calculated and paid for in USD on the screen and at some later time that is invisible to the consumer the amount is converted by an undisplayed exchange rate into Aus $.

It is the Aus $ rate that then shows on your credit card bill.

As a business practice that sucks.

[BelleZora]

Silly article. There are a few things Barnes & Noble won't tell you, either. After buying the Nook with glowlight, the first B&N books I purchased were two by Craig Rice. I opened them in Calibre and was amazed to read in the megadata that they were free from ManyBooks.Net. B&N added DRM and a price tag. An educational experience.

I've added a few hundred Kindle books to Calibre without ever seeing anything similar. Also many Kindle books do not have DRM, unlike the Sony store or B&N, including books by traditionally published authors such as Lee Goldberg, Julie Smith, Paul Levine, even one by Dashiell Hammett. Most of my epubs come from Amazon - thanks to Calibre.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by BelleZora

Silly article. There are a few things Barnes & Noble won't tell you, either. After buying the Nook with glowlight, the first B&N books I purchased were two by Craig Rice. I opened them in Calibre and was amazed to read in the megadata that they were free from ManyBooks.Net. B&N added DRM and a price tag. An educational experience.

That may not have been the fault of B&N. It could have been that someone downloaded them from ManyBooks and put them up at B&N via PubIt. People do stuff like this at Amazon too.

[SteveEisenberg]

Another thing Amazon won't tell you is how many Kindles they sell.

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

It's fine to be concerned about the conditions where the products we comsume are made, but it isn't just one company. If anyone is concerned about the conditions where Kindles are made, then take a look at how many products you buy are made in worse conditions.

I agree with comparing to other products and services. But I believe in comparing like to like.

Take warehouse conditions. The Allentown Morning Call exposé discussed this with Amazon workers who had worked in other area warehouses, and they said that Amazon's conditions were the worst. I was interested to read, in the OP article, that a follow-up article said conditions had improved. I'd like to read that. Can anyone find that link?

I will be looking to see whether Amazon's warehouse workers are now Amazon's employees, as the earlier article said they mostly worked for subcontractors without benefits. This was not the local norm, as I recall.

[DiapDealer]

The "working conditions" at Amazon warehouses is a big 'ol Red Herring, ya ask me. Unless people are complaining about getting conked on the head (or slipped a mickey) and waking up manacled to a forklift wearing a hair tunic with a big "A" on it ... I don't want to hear it. No one's being shanghaied here. Eyes wide open. No one accepts a job (no one who wants any sympathy from me, that is) without knowing what their wages are, what their benefits are (or are not) and a decent idea of what's going to be expected from them. Take the job or don't; and if conditions are truly terrible (and I'm not counting the discovery of mysterious drops of salty moisture on your body and/or your first experience with tired muscles, here) ... then ask the overseer very nicely for the key to your manacles so you can quit.

[plib]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

The "working conditions" at Amazon warehouses is a big 'ol Red Herring, ya ask me. Unless people are complaining about getting conked on the head (or slipped a mickey) and waking up manacled to a forklift wearing a hair tunic with a big "A" on it ... I don't want to hear it. No one's being shanghaied here. Eyes wide open. No one accepts a job (no one who wants any sympathy from me, that is) without knowing what their wages are, what their benefits are (or are not) and a decent idea of what's going to be expected from them. Take the job or don't; and if conditions are truly terrible (and I'm not counting the discovery of mysterious drops of salty moisture on your body and/or your first experience with tired muscles, here) ... then ask the overseer very nicely for the key to your manacles so you can quit.

Yup. Because God knows there is a surplus of jobs in America right now, and no corporation would ever take advantage of someone who is unemployed and desperate to feed his family.

[speakingtohe]

I buy some things from Amazon US that I can't buy in Canada. I pay extra shipping, exchange, duty etc.

I can't fault Amazon, as most if not all of these extra charges, go to other places like the Canadian government or outside retailers.

Overall I am happy to get these items and pay what I must. If the item costs more than I am willing to pay I don't buy it.

Usually the buyer is in charge of what they buy and how much they spend, not the seller.

Helen

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by plib

Yup. Because God knows there is a surplus of jobs in America right now, and no corporation would ever take advantage of someone who is unemployed and desperate to feed his family.

Sorry. Call me callous, call me what you will; but unless they are breaking labor laws... I just don't care. And unless they're breaking laws, then the worst anyone can say is that it's a sucky job. And "sucky job" doesn't equal "horrible working conditions." It just means it sucks to work there. Big difference.

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Sorry. Call me callous

The only namecalling I do on this site is to call someone a pirate, and it's mostly after they already admitted it.

Here's the latest follow-up article I can find on the warehouse conditions:

Amazon workers cool after company took heat for hot warehouse

Larry Wiersch, chief executive officer of Cetronia Ambulance Corps, said he does not expect that Amazon will need ambulances and paramedics in its parking lot this year.

[DiapDealer]

I remember reading the "hot warehouse" articles. I wasn't impressed. I'd be curious to see a study on just how many commercial warehouses (housing non-perishable items) are air-conditioned. I still feel this whole thing was blown waaay out of proportion.

Nobody has to believe me (I realize it's the internet), but most of my life has been spent working on factory floors, loading docks and in warehouses. None of which had air-conditioning (except in the offices). None. Sweating profusely all day and having to keep hydrated in the summer is fairly routine for a big chunk of America's workforce. *shrugs*

[RDaneel54]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I remember reading the "hot warehouse" articles. I wasn't impressed. I'd be curious to see a study on just how many commercial warehouses (housing non-perishable items) are air-conditioned. I still feel this whole thing was blown waaay out of proportion.

Nobody has to believe me (I realize it's the internet), but most of my life has been spent working on factory floors, loading docks and in warehouses. None of which had air-conditioning (except in the offices). None. Sweating profusely all day and having to keep hydrated in the summer is fairly routine for a big chunk of America's workforce. *shrugs*

Yup. Been there, done that, got paid.

[pidgeon92]

Originally Posted by RDaneel54

Yup. Been there, done that, got paid.

Amen. I've worked in some very hot (and cold) environments.

[Vic333]

9. “Our recommendations leave shoppers flummoxed.”

I think Amazon's recommendations are the best I've ever seen from any site. All kinds of things come up that I love.