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Comment by alangibson | Hacker News Reader

I wonder if theres a business idea in here. Set up a site that looks better than Amazon (not hard) and only list reputable listings on Amazon. Collect affiliate revenue.

Basically just filter out the crap and profit

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FakeSpot kind of does this. Their browser extension can hide Amazon listings directly on Amazon which fall below a certain trustworthiness threshold.

That is basically what WireCutter is, among many others.

They are all content marketing. I'm thinking of essentially an alternate storefront that is a garbage filter.

I've been less trusting of WireCutter reviews lately. Still see so many of these strange brands listed when I go in to read a review, combined with no real long term testing. Lack of long term testing makes me not trust Consumer Reports as much either.

I still use their reviews as a reference point, but for a lot of things I don't really go for their top selections.

"We used this brand new hybrid truck for two weeks, and it's great!"

Yeah, I'm not sure what to do with that information.

If you’re buying something that Lee Valley sells, and you typically go for the higher-end rather than the budget pick, you can basically skip the Wirecutter guide and just buy whatever Lee Valley stocks. (Not much in the way of electronics, but lots of tools and home stuff.) Extra benefit if you’re Canadian; lots of Wirecutter stuff isn’t available in Canada, and Lee Valley is Canadian. The Lee Valley curation is incredible, probably the best of any store I’m aware of.

They deserve an award. They even have product descriptions with use cases not intended by the vendor of the product.

It would violate their terms-of-service and they'd unplug you in a heartbeat - or after you'd sold a million dollar of stuff, and they'd keep your affiliate cut

Right? I had the same idea when I read this. If you're serious about it, reach out to my email in profile. I tried you at your @landshark.io email but it bounced back to me.

I've also mulled different iterations of this idea, specifically with some kind of "on-the-ground" verification of sellers / quality. I lived and worked in China for 8 years, with a small spell of that time in manufacturing QC. I know the country well and speak fluently. Feel free to reach out, email in profile, and GP is also welcome to get in touch if you read this!

The issue is that the listing URLs are shifty and reference different things over time, and the listings can be hijacked.

A URL is tied to an ASIN, so those don't change.

But the listing can get hijacked. There's an opportunity for improvement. Take down a listing when creative suddenly changes, for example.

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