Amazon

[AdironRider]

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/break...59930.html?l=1

While this article definitely has a bent towards its effect on the stock price, I think the overall theme is interesting. Personally, the only reason Ive ever bought anything online was because it was tax free, otherwise Im apt to support the local guy with knowledge, availability, local support etc. Any benefit for ease of shopping is negated to me by the occaisional fuckup (product not what you thought it would be, etc) thats really noones fault but part of buying things sight unseen.

What say you? If you now pay sales tax on online purchases, whats the motivation to continue making purchases online?

[Flyoverland Captive]

I'm in the middle of nowhere, and work at home. I buy almost everything online, except food and booze; it's so much more convenient.

[Brock Landers]

The sales tax paid is offset by something being brought to my doorstep for me. I barely have to put clothes on. Or its delivered to a kindle in a millisecond.

For stuff that Id want to try on or I dont really know what it is...Ill go out and try it on and buy it. And still pay 6.25%. If the tax is going to be ridiculous, Ill get it delivered to NH and pick it up on the way to the Mountain.

The key to Amazon is how it can leverage its scale- basically what its been doing the last couple years- into higher profits in the future. P/E is so compressed because additional investments and costs are eating into earnings. Not sure the exact timetable but at some point this scale is going to bring in huge profits. At least thats the plan

[MontuckyFried]

I'm in the middle of nowhere, and work at home. I buy almost everything online, except food and booze; it's so much more convenient.

Same here. I'm 164 miles from Bozeman, 128 miles from Billings, and 105 miles from Great Falls. Those are my closest [decent] options for shopping. Thus, my Amazon Prime subscription (with it's free 2-day shipping) has been worth every penny. No tax advantage either way since I'm in MT, but even if we did have to pay sales tax, it'd still be totally worth it for the convenience. They make returns super easy, too.

Some things are definitely worth the money to support the local guy, especially if you require their expertise or delivery/set-up (like large appliances), but for most little things, Amazon is my go-to place.

[ACH]

Prime member here, and I live and work in a rural location.
I can't even calculate the amount of money I've saved by not having to drive somewhere to, shop, and or purchase the items that have came directly to my door. Not to mention the time saved, that I can reallocate to more important shit, like skiing, etc...
Granted, it's not for everything or everyone, but it works pretty good for me.

[bagtagley]

What say you? If you now pay sales tax on online purchases, whats the motivation to continue making purchases online?

Garbage disposal shit the bed for good last weekend. Replacement was at my door on Tuesday evening. It took longer to call around and get prices than it did to order it (much cheaper) online.

I live in the sticks, but work in town. If the price is competitive, I'll go local. Otherwise, it's not worth the cost to me in free time that I don't really have.

[Hugh Conway]

AMZN delivers me 50 sanding discs for $16. The "local knowledge wants" $25 for lesser quality. Similar for other consumables. Many of the books I look at are odd items so it's online mostly for them.


One thing they, imo, really need to work on now is their product search/organisation scheme. For items like sandpaper or fishing lures it sucks. Buttplugs too.

[flatlander#2]

I've ordered shit with Prime that I just don't feel like going to get, I think I've ordered dog food on there. I think Amazon is easily on the way to global domination. How can they not truthfully. There is no way a retail location can compete and given the shit service you get at most places, just so much easier.

That said I only buy my bike gear from my local shop. My ski apparel is pro deal.

[smmokan]

Garbage disposal shit the bed for good last weekend. Replacement was at my door on Tuesday evening. It took longer to call around and get prices than it did to order it (much cheaper) online.
I live in the sticks, but work in town. If the price is competitive, I'll go local. Otherwise, it's not worth the cost to me in free time that I don't really have.

This about sums it up for me too, and I don't even live in the sticks. If I think of something we need for the house- say, new lights for the patio- I can go online via the computer or my iPhone and order what I want right away. Two days later (in some cases, the next day), I have what I ordered at my door. Even if I only have to drive 10 minutes to the nearest Lowe's or HD, in most cases it's that much easier.

I'm a Prime member, and because of it I go to Amazon first for 75% of my purchases. It's also nice for the free movies and books too... one of the best deals out there.

[Obstruction]

Not to mention that Amazon makes shit available that is nearly impossible to source elsewhere. A hinge on one of our kitchen cabinets broke after a dozen years (the corner double door contraption) and I pulled the thing off found the numbers and a manufacturer on it. In five minutes google to amazon to done for less than $5 shipped. At my house five days later. Maybe some inde kitchen hardware web site might have had it but am I going to put my card info into their site?

Any way I live near way too many stores and I still buy all kind of shit from Amazon, including food once in while. My wife fears that I'm helping to bring about the downfall of the local retail economy. I look at like the way great-great-granddad used the Sears catalog.

[Yanos]

One of the few online retailers still offering free shipping to us Alaskans. I am not sure if it is embarrassing or impressive how much I order from them.

I bought a 50lb snowmachine track through Amazon... free shipping!

[bagtagley]

I bought a 50lb snowmachine track through Amazon... free shipping!

Nice. We ordered a baby crib on a Tuesday evening, and it was delivered by the time I got home from work the next day.

It doesn't hurt that their CS, on the rare occasions that you need it, is top notch. I feel dirty kissing Amazon's ass, but it just too damn easy.

[spindrift]

The bald dude is very uninformed and unthinking. Anthony touches on what matters. But there is more...

As they say, be careful what you ask for. As long as AMZN is gonna pay sales tax, they can put FCs anywhere. Like right outside every major metro in the USA. And they have a very efficient logistics pipeline. Think hours or minutes to a locker near you. Three hours to your door. The companies that demanded that AMZN pay sales tax will likely regret that in a big way.

And that is not even touching AWS as a line of business. Or really factoring in the full upside of the e-commerce platform business.

[iceman]

HUDGE fanboi here. Makes my life way simpler. Like just now, seeing this thread reminded me that my wife asked me to get her a car charger for her iphone. 30 seconds later it's on its way here, and it cost a buck-and-a-quarter! http://www.amazon.com/Cbus-Wireless-...ne+car+charger

I mean, driving to Radio Shack or whatever, paying ten times as much, fuck that.

[bean]

It's still cheaper with sales tax, and even if it were the same price I'll take having on my doorstep in two days rather than having to deal with going out of my way to go to a store, dealing with crowds, etc. Retail employees are mostly clueless, I can figure out what I need better without being "helped."

[Buke]

Amazon Prime = AWESOME. We get 3-4 packages a week from them. Whether it's diapers that come once a month automatically or baby food, or gifts or whatever else. 9 out of 10 times the price is better than going out and buying from a big box store but it's more convenient 10 out of 10 times.

The next big thing is Amazon Fresh. We don't use it but from an investor standpoint it's not about the groceries, it's about the distribution network. Once they get the delivery dialed and then scaled they will move into the realm of UPS and FedEx, which is has the potential to net them huge revenues.

[Danno]

Yet another regular user. It's awesome to have 30lb bags of dog food show up on your doorstep. Their search sucks donkey balls, but can't beat the convenience. I've gotten to the point that I won't order anything that isn't prime eligible, I want it and I want it in 2 days, dammit!

[mtskier]

I see Amazon as a better version of ebay. unknown sellers and buyers competing on price. amazon is the only one who actually makes any money.

does it bother anyone that you can't call Amazon on the phone?

do you care who the actual person/company is who ships the item.

Serious questions.

[bean]

I see Amazon as a better version of ebay. unknown sellers and buyers competing on price. amazon is the only one who actually makes any money.

does it bother anyone that you can't call Amazon on the phone?

do you care who the actual person/company is who ships the item.

Serious questions.

That's only in some situations. Amazon owns, stocks, and sells most of the stuff I buy. A smaller percentage is housed and sent by Amazon but "sold" by someone else. An even smaller percentage than that is what you described.

Amazon is taking over the world.

[Max Archer]

I guess I'm in the minority. I prefer going out and getting something when I need it, and knowing that I've got it in my hands when I've paid for it. Amazon means a nerve-wracking several-day wait with the extremely large chance that their OnTrac asshats will dump it on my doorstep when I'm not home and it'll get jacked, or the shipping dudes will decide to use my fragile whatever as a football in the warehouse and it'll show up destroyed. I buy small or cheap stuff, or stuff I can't get anywhere else from Amazon or other online retailers but it's a last resort. I wish they'd at least offer the option of USPS, since they're actually in touch with reality and will take your stuff back to the post office for pickup instead of putting it out where somebody's gonna take off with it.

[bean]

I guess I'm in the minority. I prefer going out and getting something when I need it, and knowing that I've got it in my hands when I've paid for it. Amazon means a nerve-wracking several-day wait with the extremely large chance that their OnTrac asshats will dump it on my doorstep when I'm not home and it'll get jacked, or the shipping dudes will decide to use my fragile whatever as a football in the warehouse and it'll show up destroyed. I buy small or cheap stuff, or stuff I can't get anywhere else from Amazon or other online retailers but it's a last resort. I wish they'd at least offer the option of USPS, since they're actually in touch with reality and will take your stuff back to the post office for pickup instead of putting it out where somebody's gonna take off with it.

Several days? You're doing it wrong. Join amazon prime, you'll have it within 48 hours.

Oh no, someone's going to steal my box of steel cut oats!

[stfu&gbtw]

I guess I'm in the minority. I prefer going out and getting something when I need it, and knowing that I've got it in my hands when I've paid for it. Amazon means a nerve-wracking several-day wait with the extremely large chance that their OnTrac asshats will dump it on my doorstep when I'm not home and it'll get jacked, or the shipping dudes will decide to use my fragile whatever as a football in the warehouse and it'll show up destroyed. I buy small or cheap stuff, or stuff I can't get anywhere else from Amazon or other online retailers but it's a last resort. I wish they'd at least offer the option of USPS, since they're actually in touch with reality and will take your stuff back to the post office for pickup instead of putting it out where somebody's gonna take off with it.

I use Amazon for about 90% of my non-food shopping over the last 3 years or so - the number of times my package is lost or broken is outnumbered by the the times I'd go to a store and they don't have what I need by at least 10-1. And the prime membership means several days is 2, or 1 if I'm willing to spring for the extra $4.

[grapedrink]

I see Amazon as a better version of ebay. unknown sellers and buyers competing on price. amazon is the only one who actually makes any money.

does it bother anyone that you can't call Amazon on the phone?

do you care who the actual person/company is who ships the item.

Serious questions.

no? and if you need to call amazon there's a customer support page where you enter your phone number and they call you back immediately. and their customer service is great.

[bean]

The one time I got something from amazon that didn't work (cheapo analog/digital tv converter a few years back when that transition was happening), they sent me a new one and said to just toss the old one.

I've never had anything lost/stolen/broken from Amazon and I live in a pretty shitty neighborhood.

[stfu&gbtw]

no? and if you need to call amazon there's a customer support page where you enter your phone number and they call you back immediately. and their customer service is great.

Who the hell wants to talk to Pradeep on the phone anyway. Chat support is where it's at.