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Old 12-19-2018, 07:02 AM   #81
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i too have a love hate relationship with amazon. it is nice to be able to easily browse a variety of products from your desk/home - for example, i wanted a pair of cheap sunglasses to keep at my desk at work and it was too easy to go and find them on amazon.

however, as a consumer it feels a little better about spending money at local stores to keep my neighbors employed and some of these stores contribute to making our community a little better, although amazon has announced plans to open up warehouses in alberta.
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Old 12-19-2018, 07:14 AM   #82
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I think automation or Industry 4.0 is a big unknown to people so we really don't know what to expect. Throw in a little AI and yes there are concerns.

But I think for the most part our lives in 1st world countries will get better. In 3rd world countries on the other hand....
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Old 12-19-2018, 07:15 AM   #83
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i too have a love hate relationship with amazon. it is nice to be able to easily browse a variety of products from your desk/home - for example, i wanted a pair of cheap sunglasses to keep at my desk at work and it was too easy to go and find them on amazon.

however, as a consumer it feels a little better about spending money at local stores to keep my neighbors employed and some of these stores contribute to making our community a little better, although amazon has announced plans to open up warehouses in alberta.
This.

My favourite store at the mall in my hometown is closing. This is the last week. While personally I'm annoyed as I loved the browse there and talk sports (it sells licensed sports merchandise) I grew up with the manager and he'll be left looking for new work over Christmas with 3 kids at home.

Why? Amazon is easier. Why pay full price for a jersey when I can get a counterfeit created jersey for like $30 online?

It's easy to say 'shop local'. It really hits home when it affects you and people you know.

... now, where do I get Flames stuff for my rec room?
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Old 12-19-2018, 07:20 AM   #84
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This.

My favourite store at the mall in my hometown is closing. This is the last week. While personally I'm annoyed as I loved the browse there and talk sports (it sells licensed sports merchandise) I grew up with the manager and he'll be left looking for new work over Christmas with 3 kids at home.

Why? Amazon is easier. Why pay full price for a jersey when I can get a counterfeit created jersey for like $30 online?

It's easy to say 'shop local'. It really hits home when it affects you and people you know.

... now, where do I get Flames stuff for my rec room?
I actually visited a new sports memorabilia store in the mall the other day and surprisingly they had very good prices and selection. It was honestly one of the better stores in the mall.

Under Armour and Nike store on the other hand had crappy selection, terrible pricing (20% above their own website at times), and basically nothing that people in the Manitoba market want beyond shoes. Really strange.
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Old 12-19-2018, 08:53 AM   #85
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Do you have anything to backup these claims?

I don't know that Bezos and Amazon are the anti-christ that you are claiming.

They did raise their wages to 15/hour across the board:
https://www.npr.org/2018/10/02/65359...ncluding-temps

This article gives an objective take that indicates Amazon is generally a decent place to work:
https://www.businessinsider.com/what...-amazon-2018-2
As an alternative, here is another link from Business Insider that talks about warehouse workers peeing in bottles because they don't have time to go to the bathroom and keep their numbers up.

https://www.businessinsider.com/amaz...bottles-2018-4

And in all fairness, the minimum wage increase is a pretty recent development, so I'm not sure that would outweigh years of poor treatment of workers that has been widely circulated.
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Old 12-19-2018, 10:15 AM   #86
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As an alternative, here is another link from Business Insider that talks about warehouse workers peeing in bottles because they don't have time to go to the bathroom and keep their numbers up.

https://www.businessinsider.com/amaz...bottles-2018-4

And in all fairness, the minimum wage increase is a pretty recent development, so I'm not sure that would outweigh years of poor treatment of workers that has been widely circulated.
The point of the last post suggested that Amazon is treating their employees worse and worse as they grow, but I'd argue that they've heard some of that criticism and are trying to improve. Other examples are they are moving away from the flex drivers to fostering Amazon branded delivery companies that pay workers regular wages and benefits.
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Old 12-19-2018, 01:37 PM   #87
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Originally Posted by Maritime Q-Scout View Post
This.

My favourite store at the mall in my hometown is closing. This is the last week. While personally I'm annoyed as I loved the browse there and talk sports (it sells licensed sports merchandise) I grew up with the manager and he'll be left looking for new work over Christmas with 3 kids at home.

Why? Amazon is easier. Why pay full price for a jersey when I can get a counterfeit created jersey for like $30 online?

It's easy to say 'shop local'. It really hits home when it affects you and people you know.

... now, where do I get Flames stuff for my rec room?
feels like I'm walking into a trap here.... but you could buy this stuff on Amazon.
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Old 12-19-2018, 03:06 PM   #88
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Do you have anything to backup these claims?

I don't know that Bezos and Amazon are the anti-christ that you are claiming.

They did raise their wages to 15/hour across the board:
https://www.npr.org/2018/10/02/65359...ncluding-temps

This article gives an objective take that indicates Amazon is generally a decent place to work:
https://www.businessinsider.com/what...-amazon-2018-2
You're joking right? There are countless stories of the poor conditions working at Amazon. I'm not talking about office workers. There are countless stories of of the awful conditions at Amazon. Stories of people getting hurt at work and getting sent home without pay, having workers comp cut short. Stories of people passing out and their coworkers being unable to help them because they are timed to the minute. Not having enough time to take breaks and urinating in bottles. Stories of people crying at their desks. Deducting points from workers if they call in sick even with a doctors note. Six points are grounds for firing. A system set up to have everyone tell on each other over every little thing. There's a story now about a woman hurt on the job, sent home without pay and is now homeless living in her car in the Amazon parking lot so she can at least attempt to work. She injured due to faulty equipment. They offered her $3000 and a non disclosure.

7 people have died in Amazon warehouses since 2013 and ambulances have been called to Amazon warehouses somewhere around 700 times between 2015 and 2018.

Wow so they raised the minimum wage to what it is in Seattle. Amazing.

By all accounts Costco treats its employees quite well. It really doesn't take much.

Just treat them like human beings. Amazon has the money to do it easily.

Amazon and its executives are exactly what I think they are. Probably much much worse.
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Old 12-19-2018, 03:22 PM   #89
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Do you have anything to backup these claims?

I don't know that Bezos and Amazon are the anti-christ that you are claiming.

They did raise their wages to 15/hour across the board:
https://www.npr.org/2018/10/02/65359...ncluding-temps

This article gives an objective take that indicates Amazon is generally a decent place to work:
https://www.businessinsider.com/what...-amazon-2018-2
They raised their wages to $15/hour after Bernie Sanders led a campaign calling for Amazon to do so. Throughout the campaign the poor working conditions at amazon were being exposed. I give credit to Bezos for making that change, and am hopeful that conditions will continue to improve but let’s not pretend amazon facilities are considered great places to work overall.
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Old 12-19-2018, 05:04 PM   #90
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I'm surprised this Amazon employee treatment is new to so many in this thread, I thought it was common knowledge.

If you have Netflix, Hassan Minaj did a great episode on it. Best part being the wage hike that nfotiu is referencing. It was devious as hell. They basically got rid of structured bonuses and some other thing when they increased to $15/hr that meant employees actually took home less money.

"Amazon's is the only company in the world that will give you a raise and make you pay for it". I laughed at that.
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Old 12-19-2018, 05:06 PM   #91
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Although, nfotiu is from Virginia so there may be some excitement and bias on his part.

I mean ask people in Seattle what they think of Amazon and it's going to be glowing, as being a head office location for a company that looks like it could literally own America one day is going to provide sunshine and rainbows in your region despite what's happening anywhere else.
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Old 12-20-2018, 08:33 PM   #92
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I think the main issue between Amazon vs. Walmart is that Walmart was the first to actually create a monopsony.

Walmart basically told their suppliers that they will not sell their product unless they priced it as low as possible. Hence why Walmart can offer such low prices. I don't believe Amazon can do this as they are not the sole buyer of anything and have considerable competition, at least in the US.
Amazon does this to vendors as well. They aren't the sole buyer of items but they drive so much business you can't just ignore them. You can however give Amazon your products and sell via their marketplace and pay them a fee per sale (and for the warehouse space) if you want to avoid it but you still have to price competively or lose the buy box which basically crushes your sales.

Then of course you have to pay for ads to show up at the top of their search or lose that to your competitor.
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Old 12-20-2018, 09:00 PM   #93
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I hate returning stuff to Amazon. Paying for shipping back is often as much as the item itself.

Definately plays a factor in me buying items (ie clothing, things I'm on the fence on)
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Old 12-20-2018, 09:02 PM   #94
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Uhhhh I've returned items to amazon, never paid for it. I sent three things back today actually, Do you have prime?
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Old 12-20-2018, 09:08 PM   #95
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Amazon does this to vendors as well. They aren't the sole buyer of items but they drive so much business you can't just ignore them. You can however give Amazon your products and sell via their marketplace and pay them a fee per sale (and for the warehouse space) if you want to avoid it but you still have to price competively or lose the buy box which basically crushes your sales.

Then of course you have to pay for ads to show up at the top of their search or lose that to your competitor.
It's even worse. You should also watch that special by Hassan Minaj on Netflix, it covers all this stuff and how cutthroat they are.

You lose either way as a retailer with Amazon. A) You compete directly, they crush you due to their customer base

or B) you join amazon as a seller, (and this one is where it's straight for the throat) they track all your sales on their own site, then after a few months they purchase the same items as you're selling, undercut you, put you out of business and now they've basically used your business sales as free market study on how many they should be selling and for how much, and you're gone.
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Old 12-20-2018, 09:23 PM   #96
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I hate returning stuff to Amazon. Paying for shipping back is often as much as the item itself.

Definately plays a factor in me buying items (ie clothing, things I'm on the fence on)
Really? All my returns were a breeze. Print off the label, tape back up the package, and drop it off at the post office.
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Old 12-21-2018, 07:38 AM   #97
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Really? All my returns were a breeze. Print off the label, tape back up the package, and drop it off at the post office.
Same here.

Never had to pay for a single return.

One of the big reasons I like the service.
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Old 12-21-2018, 07:55 AM   #98
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For returns, when asked "Why are you returning this?" there are a number of different responses. Some will want you to pay for the return shipping, and for others it is complimentary.

Obviously you don't want to say that something was defective when it wasn't, but toggling between a few similar responses like "item no longer needed" and "item incompatible or not useful" might yield a difference in the return shipping, and both could be completely honest responses.

I believe that it also varies by item sometimes as well, but I have never paid for a return, and I have also never lied on the reason why. Just found the free-est of the semi-vague responses.
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Old 12-21-2018, 08:01 AM   #99
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^^ Correct. If you say "no longer needed" you have to pay for return shipping in most cases. If you say that the item was not satisfactory, the return shipping is pre-paid by Amazon.
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Old 12-26-2018, 02:07 PM   #100
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Really good article about working for Amazon.

I Used to Write for Sports Illustrated. Now I Deliver Packages for Amazon.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/ar...amazon/578986/
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