Hacker News Reader

Comment by Derbasti | Hacker News Reader

I disagree on all counts.

I quit using Amazon a few years ago. For almost all goods, there are other German online retailers that are as convenient, for the same or better prices. Having to sign up for them is a small price to pay for not having to deal with Amazon's "search" function. Plus, many stores implement account-less Paypal/GPay/APay checkout.

The only thing I use Amazon for these days, is weird Alibaba imports that are not available from reputable stores. But even there, Ebay or Alibaba itself are usually more convenient.

View on HN

> For almost all goods, there are other German online retailers that are as convenient, for the same or better prices

My experience is totally opposite. I use Idealo to compare different prices for any purchase over €50, and 90% of the time it shows that Amazon has the best offer.

The seller may not always be Amazon, often it's someone else, but if something goes wrong I'd rather deal with Amazon's 24/7 support than a small shop. Amazon's support has helped me resolve my issues in just 5 minutes or less multiple times, and with small shops — I encountered a few of them that only reply to one email per week, they simply aren't competitive.

Email? You should've called, or sent a letter to them... Who answers to emails anyhow... </sarcasm>

You're right! Next time I'll try faxing them instead /s

As I said elsewhere, the problem with German retailers is when something goes wrong, and you need to deal with the German customer service. They think customer is worth nothing and are really rude when you discuss with them. Amazon just says ok, send it back (for free, show this QR code in the shop around the corner), here's your money.

In a chat.

In many languages if needed.

I'm trying to quit Amazon as well. Any German online retailers in particular that you can recommend?

I came across this list which seems like a good place to start: https://codeberg.org/phranck/Amazon-Alternativen

Not a retailer, but Geizhals is pretty nice for several product categories, best filter system I've seen thus far.

I guess you just have more patience with internet search (I find hunting down a specific product on a variety of 3rd party sites far slower and more frustrating than Amazon's search), expensive and slow shipping, and the frustration of oftentimes entering your various details agaaaain into another retailer's online system.

It's odd to argue that, despite all of this relative challenges being pretty objective, you find this approach "as convenient".

(And I never said Amazon is cheaper, although as noted elsewhere, it's often very competitive.)

Reply on news.ycombinator.com