Why do we put up with Amazon?

[@lilbitretro6377]

I feel like charging a fee to act as a fulfillment service, failing to fulfill the item as expected, and then charging you another fee for "return or cancellation" should be an illegal practice. They are the fulfillment service. The onus is on them to ensure that the package makes it to the customer. I feel like that's a potential class action lawsuit against Amazon.

[@suijinnoname6412]

It should be. Kind of like getting charged a late fee by credit card companies when the fault is theirs for not processing it on time even though they received the payment on time. Yes, that actually happened.

[@jasoncarto]

You don't know how difficult that really is. I work in the very process that makes that happen and I can tell you from experience, it's not easy. The biggest problem isn't the process itself, it's people. People and their ways of not giving a shit. It's made even worse because amazon has embraced the idea of identity politics where your efforts in work are always undermined by your victim points. People with high victim points but low competence are often put in positions of authority, and let me tell you, it's a trickle down effect. This is mostly the US as far as I can tell but it's a global company.

[@Derrikbulginheadin]

The problem is actually consumerism and the "two-day" shipping. Amazon workers and drivers cannot stop to pee or take a meal because they get penalized for not getting their quota of packages in on the exact day. It is not in their interest to check if an item is correct before sending it, because that uses time. If your package arrives to you even just one day late (which in most situations, who cares), be mindful that someone probably got fired.

[@jasoncarto]

@@Derrikbulginheadin I work at Amazon I have never heard of this. Do you have a source?

[@Derrikbulginheadin]

@@jasoncarto No offense, but if you work at Amazon and have never heard of it, you must have only just started or been living under a rock. Lawsuits have been filed; These stories and others like it are all over the place. If you've avoided this kind of treatment, great, hopefully it continues for you. Your supervisors must be decent people. www.businessinsider.com/amazon-drivers-say-peeing-in-bottles-common-despite-company-denials-2021-3 time.com/5629233/amazon-warehouse-employee-treatment-robots/ www.cnbc.com/2020/10/14/amazon-resumes-policy-that-dings-workers-for-taking-too-many-breaks.html

[@caleballen1330]

The new Amazon ad of a guy rocking his baby to sleep while scrolling through Amazon is quite unsettling, it made me realise just how big a part of your life they want to be.

[@synthraofficial5366]

Right, like spend time with your child. At least wait until your done! Don't let shopping replace your kid.

[@fearlesswindows]

Link?

[@PartisanGamer]

Recommend reading: Platform Capitalism by Nick Srniceck

[@MassiveJetGrind]

Did you see the 'South Park' Amazon episode?

[@firestorm517]

Every Time I saw that advert i also felt a bit uneasy too

[@Horse_In_A_Bookcase]

He's a prime example

[@arco718]

That's a funny joke

[@aakashsinha9641]

Oh you

[@TRXtushar1]

I see what you did there 😂

[@mariokarter13]

Most online stores have free shipping if your order is above a certain dollar amount. Use that shopping cart they give you and only checkout when you're above the threshold. You'll get free shipping, slow down your impulse buying, and not send a dime to Amazon.

[@save15ormoreonyourcarinsur98]

Groovy joke baby

[@d1arkblue]

"What does success in this role look like?" I love that. Kind of a spin on asking "what are the expectations of this role". I am totally stealing that for my next interview.

[@sohaibarif2835]

I fear it is or will become a generic question. Heard it many times.

[@user-tg3jl1mt4e]

I feel like it would make a really good question for interviewers to ask potential employees.

[@FunkyJeff22]

@@sohaibarif2835 It already is.

[@helplmchoking]

It's definitely a good one. I usually phrase it as 'when we sit down 1 year from now to discuss how that first year has been, what would you consider as successful?'. Same thing but with a hint of wanting/expecting regular discussions around improvement as well as a subtle shift in tone from a question about the role to a question about the future as though we already work together. I don't dig the corporate kool-aid vibe of most interview tips or whatever, but it's good to have some good things to use. Also asking things around 'what are you personally measured on?/what are the goals in the next 12 months for you?' is always great, same with 'what are the goals/outcomes this team works towards'. Lil bit less generic and kinda gets you a bigger picture of how the company and person think and operate as well as showing some interest in that (whether you actually care or not)

[@OotoriKyouya]

Everytime I hear a Teams notification from this video, I keep thinking it is my boss pinging me on my work laptop

[@vvocal]

pebis

[@user-mr4os2tl9f]

i love how when you order anything with prime they give you a box like 10x bigger than the product

[@imperiumcommentingnetwork4677]

yup. Once got a box smaller than a pencil case and they shipped that in a tv sized box.

[@haloharry97]

I just think of it as a bonus. You get free shipping with free box and packaging

[@youdontknowme5969]

order an SD card . . . arrives in a box larger than a full-size tower gaming PC 🤣

[@luismier8148]

Also when you select the option to have everything shipped in one box so everything can arrive on the same day when your home. And then just decide to ignore it and ship everything in deferent boxes. Thanks amazon......

[@johnnystene8339]

I've heard they do it so it can fill up the truck to stop packages from bouncing around. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me (what happens when they're halfway through deliveries for the day and a bunch of them are gone?) but that's what I've been told.

[@wasupwitdat1mofiki94]

I'm with you guys when it comes to buying from Amazon. I do what Luke does, find the item and buy from somewhere else. The only reason I have kept my Prime account is because I stream a lot of Prime content on my TV because I don't have cable TV.

[@whatwewant494]

I think having Prime for the video content is the only defensible use of Prime.

[@TheTechnoBoyTobi]

Had a tiny laugh here :D 10:40 - Luke .exe shuts down 10:59 - Luke .exe has restarted after an unexpected error

[@gibby3350]

Yo he didn’t even blink like what the hell! 😂

[@hashemx1ify]

😂😂😂 he froze for the full 20 seconds

[@Arcin321]

He completely zoned out I think lol

[@TheSlayerV1]

Bro he really did just freeze in place

[@TheTechnoBoyTobi]

Maybe he was updating and then restarted on his own after that. :P

[@DaileyWoodworks]

Your philosophy of “the CEO isn’t the boss but everyone is his boss” is a great nugget of wisdom. It’s a great mindset that I need to apply to my business.

[@noeperard8843]

that reminds me of the shop I found for bike parts in France ( LeCyclo) and they provide a consumer help for free ( answering question, directting you to cheaper alternatives, making sure your parts fits together), and even having a fidelity system that actually makes them cheaper than Amazon. some online shops really deserve the love.

[@TheFalconerNZ]

8:41 Wow "Being COE of the company everyone is my boss and being at the service of customer and staff because if they leave l lose my job", now that is the way to be a COE as customers will be happy and come back for more and staff will be dedicated to the company and do a good job. Hats of to you Linus - outstanding philosophy.

[@Kellayyy208]

As someone who has worked in an amazon warehouse the pissing in bottles is a bit overblown they actually give you a clear plastic bottle you can piss into when they hire you so it seems to be fair game.

[@wades623]

And that is supposed to make it better? I have worked for them before but it was before it got like it is now but I wouldn't go back.

[@Kellayyy208]

@@wades623 *Sarcasm*

[@mercy9487]

Oh brub on our warehouse, they just gave us a PISSING DESIGNATED CORNER with a bunch of buckets. There were rumours of a piss stealin goblin because those buckets sometimes magically dissapeared and returned empty.

[@autisticgod3338]

@@wades623 woosh...

[@ericevans2342]

I love this conversation. The more I learn about Amazon, the less I like the company. I used prime for years without much thought about the company's business practices or political meddling. For whatever reason, this year I've finally begun to wake up to just how terrible Amazon is (from their anti-competitive practices to their awful track record with employees and all manner of other shady BS). I'm currently in the process of de-Amazoning my life.

[@danieldavis3035]

Well, on the flip side, they're an American company and not located overseas. Despite their practices, no one has to work for them or is forced to use them. It's just like Walmart. It's convenient, so people will continue to use them.

[@jimsmith7326]

@@danieldavis3035 It's also just like Apple. They're a despicable company, but yet people continue to buy Iphones and Macs. So this discussion is pretty much pointless.

[@Lambda_Ovine]

Luke is %100 right. The competition has gotten better with their pricing and if you aren't a compulsive buyer, you can just pay shipping or be patient with other online retailers and get a better deal than with Amazon. So, just google the product you want to buy and hit on the shopping tab. You might even find a second hand product at a great price in good conditions, but don't count on it because people seem to be stupid and think all they own is a collectors item or something. So, if you don't care about amazon music or amazon streaming service, you can get away without using Amazon.

[@grafando]

Just bought a gaming laptop that I obviously wanted to get here ASAP, and Amazon's estimated arrival date was the 28th for the free shipping!! I bought it through Best Buy instead, SAME PRICE, free shipping and it came the 23rd!! I ordered on the 20th by the way. I was shocked.

[@Native8KGamer]

Amazon cancelled my 3080 order without notifying me at all. Just straight up canceled something that was supposed to be sent out weeks ago.

[@Anas-ux9vi]

That sucks. Aren't GPU's even more overpriced than they were before on Amazon anyways?

[@Native8KGamer]

@@Anas-ux9vi it was actually priced at MSRP. Which I should've known was too good to be true

[@Anas-ux9vi]

@@Native8KGamer Man, that just sucks even more.

[@szaszm_]

I've been trying to buy a CPU for two weeks now, from Amazon. It's still not even dispatched, despite showing available stock when I ordered and it's fulfilled by amazon.

[@dmo848]

Outside sellers do that, highly doubt it was amazon

[@washinours]

It's crazy how they're advertising their store so much it basically became a meme yet they simply can't drop their amazon page. That's corpo power for ya

[@mba4677]

corpo? its we the people buying from amz

[@Kae_S]

@@mba4677 well there’s no other option here tbh.. here 2 corporations hold 90% of the market in digital electronics (Germany)

[@EdgarHernandez-xj5mx]

@@Kae_S sounds like there’s 10% there you can use

[@Kae_S]

@@EdgarHernandez-xj5mx those 10 % cost almost double from the 90% n being jobless atm , I don’t think I can afford that

[@nickolaskunz5735]

@@Kae_S you probably can. it just means an awful lot of sacrifice.

[@DderwenWyllt]

I bought a 3070 on Amazon, and it got absolutely destroyed in shipping, I literally watched the driver drop it in front of me, although it must have been dropped on bashed way many times beforehand to be in the state it arrived. Amazon wasn't the courier, they used a third party courier that is famous in the UK as a company that can only guarantee they'll destroy every package they handle, I was lucky I initially refused the delivery, the driver was hesitant and decided to open it in front of me to prove it wasn't broken, which to their honest surprise it was annihilated although probably before he even picked it up since the metal backplate was split into multiple pieces as if it were dropped off a damn skyscraper. Amazon eventually refunded after a very long argument with a chatbot, and I bought the 3070 again, but this time directly from the seller's website, unfortunately they used the same courier even though I paid extra to avoid them (but there was a delivery strike, so I do not fault the seller) but the box was drenched in water which was crazy since it was during a nationwide heatwave and drought.... The seller couldn't have been more apologetic and polite, luckily they had insured the delivery, so the delivery company paid them the cost of the card, but what blew me away was they upgraded me to a 3070Ti and sent me a box of chocolates, both through a private courier, I will never buy a single part through a different retailer, they have won a lifelong customer.

[@pcase74]

Lemon juice is really good for removing plastic and metallic smells in water bottles btw!!!

[@aaronrdaniels]

Not a tip we asked for, but the helpful tip we all need.

[@Crlarl]

Why not just use citric acid? Edit: Yes, I know citric acid is in lemon juice, what I meant was citric acid powder, commonly used in detergents.

[@raghavarora6658]

The Amazon workers peeing in bottles thank you for the amazing tip.

[@FoolOfATuque]

@@Crlarl because lemon juice is citric acid and most people have RealLemon in their fridge. Citric acid would work as well. Any food safe acid that will strip the passivation layer from the stainless steel is going to do the job.

[@suspecm6316]

The true Linus Tech(?) Tips are always in the comments

[@ParadoxalDream]

I do the same as Luke, with Best Buy Market Place too. Used BB to shop for a new toaster, but ordered it through a small vendor's own website since he was offering free shipping and BB did not. The owner of the shop even emailed me personally to thank me for encouraging his business during 'these difficult times', and told me to message him any questions or inquiries I would have. An A+ service that Best Buy would've never given me.

[@PA551ON]

Can we talk about how Linus is donating $20,000 of the money he made off his April Fools OnlyFans gag to Louis Rossman's Right to Repair initiative?

[@FluorescentGreen5]

"i simp for right to repair"

[@jamesharris9523]

Legend.

[@akkico]

@Emmit G yes

[@Bustermachine]

Maybe

[@CatnamedMittens]

No we can't.

[@dodderss]

Reason I use Amazon for LTT stuff is that its a lot cheaper to deliver to the UK because of all the shipping and taxes.

[@Martinspire]

Wait, you don't pay the import taxes via amazon? So what did it cost to ship some LTT product to you? Because on every order I did, I have to pay lots of import cost (20% of total or something)

[@dodderss]

@@Martinspire You pay some but it’s much less than buying directly. also shipping is about 2 times cheaper

[@Ocastia]

Wait do you order over amazon.uk or amazon.ca? Because saving import taxes was my first thought when Linus showed that amazon has ltt water bottles. Good damn import taxes, every youtuber ships his merch from America or canada, Wich seemingly are the only two countries whiteout great import rules for Europe, i can order from Japan, France, China, Australia and Taiwan, whiteout paying more than a few bucks in taxes, but nooo as soon as it comes from America i suddenly have to pay 15€ import taxes for my 20€ T-shirt.

[@suppar8066]

Its at the point that i even thought about getting in contact with lmg to build up a distribution in europe xD

[@Uryendel]

@@Ocastia Depends on the country, but most of EU country doesn't apply tax on package worth less than 25-30€, also a lot of air mail is not open by custom so you pay nothing (just avoid transporter, you will always pay taxes (which is normal) and fee from the transporter that are often more expensive than the vat)

[@kajyakuzonik9130]

Luckily in my country (Finland) we have plenty of alternatives to Amazon... it's only when I can't find a really specific object (mostly an obscure, vintage book) anywhere else (ebay included) that I resort to Amazon... and the closest one atm. is in Germany (and I'm fine with that.)

[@gibby3350]

I try my best to avoid Amazon at all costs. I think Luke put it in the best way, “Vote with your Wallet.”

[@James_Bee]

Doesn't work with large businesses that have monopolies. It's a nice thought.

[@MillerIndustriesInc]

@@James_Bee Amazon's not a monopoly though...

[@mavfan1]

Yep, don't buy from companies dumb enough to sell their stuff on Amazon.

[@La_sagne]

@@mavfan1 you mean like LMG?

[@upinsmokeproductions6471]

Same. I go to the vendor sites as often as possible

[@werewolf1e]

As someone outside the US, I buy on Amazon because it's the most reliable way to buy things internationally with warranty. I can get stuff from Aliexpress cheaper, but returning stuff there is impractical. In my coutry local commerce is usually more expensive than amazon (including taxes) and often denies returns.

[@RetiredRhetoricalWarhorse]

"Amazon search is fantastic!" Do we live in parallel universes, Luke? Like seriously, what??

[@gibby3350]

No, he does have a good point. I usually shop for things on Amazon because there are a massive range of products available in addition to more consumer reviews. But then when it comes to ordering the product, I do an additional search to find were else I could find the product. For instance, I order most of my tech direct from the manufacture or through Best Buy.

[@RetiredRhetoricalWarhorse]

@@gibby3350 ...and Best Buy is in any shape or form ethically, environmentally or qualitatively better than Amazon?

[@MN-jw7mm]

@@RetiredRhetoricalWarhorse They haven't yet had to apologize that their employees are overworked to the point of peeing in bottles. Also, why does it have to be those three things? What if you just want things to be cheaper and fairer priced so you're willing to support competition in the market place. No matter how good a company is for the consumer, they're better when other companies are competing for said consumer.

[@RetiredRhetoricalWarhorse]

@@MN-jw7mm I think you've gone with the first headline you've read and nothing else because that ain't what happened... at all. I can agree with the second half of your post though.

[@JamesSmith-sw3nk]

Newegg search is 1000x's better than Amazon search. I am amazed how bad Amazon search is given the size of their company.

[@makara4615]

Love that Luke is doing this and that it got at least a spot on WAN. I pretty much do the same at this point, with some minor exceptions like fittings for my 3D printer (I just can't find any elsewhere in my area).

[@Nozarash1]

Got prime while I was a student 5years ago. Stopped being a student 4years ago but aslong as I don't cancel it I still only pay £35 a year instead of £70 🤣

[@AngryApple]

na man, its only active for 3 years or so, after that you can renew your student plan

[@DizzyBusy]

Shhhhh not so loud

[@pocketlint82]

I did that for a while. Eventually it just changed to the full price a few years after I graduated. Enjoy it as long as it gets overlooked

[@GeFlixes]

Ah right. That may still be a thing, because they never once asked me for recertification after the first sign-up as student. Let's see how that works out after the "watching really expensive Zoom meetings" part of my life is over. (EDIT: Amazon also doesn't care that I have a Amazon Business account to the same door WHILE being a student - which is the truth but looks weird at first glance). Meanwhile, Spotify needed to do a re-certification of Student status every single year. Which takes literally 2 minutes, but still...

[@--Paws--]

1:40 He does the same thing I do; having to work in retail, you can get familiar with SKU's and the specific details of an item.

[@adamarends]

I have been Amazon-free for almost two years. Purchased 1 Christmas present in a pinch... Target (I am from the land of Target) and local stores has been more than enough for me.

[@infinitematches9053]

Target is SO much more expensive than anywhere else.

[@adamarends]

@@infinitematches9053 I have tracked my purchased and compared equivalent products and yes some items are more expensive but marginally. Further, not confronted with so many options means I am making informed decisions and saving money by purchasing in the basis of need not marketed to... if that makes sense?

[@nickolaskunz5735]

I like buying in store myself. I find it so much nicer than waiting for a package.

[@duelingfattiesgaming2130]

@@spaghettiupseti9990 not really. Pay for Target is pretty crap compared to Amazon and honestly they do some of the same things people cry about Amazon does. It's odd.

[@TheRogueWolf]

I only ever order from Amazon if it's something I can't get at a nearby brick-and-mortar store (or shipped by a regular retailer). This happens about once or twice a year.

[@allanw]

And I haven't been to a brick and mortar store for 5 years other than getting groceries, thanks to Amazon

[@nicolasgiuristante]

As a Canadian, the fact I pay more on the official LTT store ($37.98 USD -> $47.40 CAD atm with shipping VS $39.99 CAD free shipping on Amazon) KNOWING LTT increased the price on Amazon is wild.

[@pileofstuff]

Canadian shipping is stupid expensive. Makes it really hard for sellers who don;t do enough volume to get a volume discount from UPS/Fedex/Purolator, etc.

[@TheCobruhAlienat0r]

I work at Amazon doing vendor returns, so likely the department where your bottles are. For some reason they just let it pile up to a crazy amount before they bring people over to process it. It's not a department that is staffed everyday. Night shift doesn't even work that department. Like there have been times where the information sheet on the cart will say that it was due to go out weeks, even months prior to us even starting on it.

[@JonnoHR31]

You should order a book from Honest Abe and see if you receive an order to send one to them haha

[@La_sagne]

Haha, that'd be a great experiment ;D

[@nickwallette6201]

Then return it.

[@mariokarter13]

He just described drop shipping without using the term drop shipping. "Drop shipping is a form of retail business wherein the seller accepts customer orders but does not keep goods sold in stock. Instead, in a form of supply chain management, it transfers the orders and their shipment details to either the manufacturer, a wholesaler, another retailer, or a fulfillment house, which then ships the goods directly to the customer."

[@SuperS05]

It sucks that they used that name. Abebooks is actually a really good alternative to amazon that I've used since before Amazon was big.

[@robhulluk]

@@SuperS05 Abebooks is owned by Amazon, they bought it in 2008. Bookdepository is also now owned by Amazon, they also used to be a good alternative.

[@Jfa-letsgo]

You still Need to shop around to find the best price

[@Corgieg]

Smaller vendors feeling more personal is so true. I love shopping with Sweetwater for that reason!

[@nickwallette6201]

Man, if shipping to my neck of the woods didn't cost an arm and a leg... Sweetwater is pretty great. They just understandably only use first-class shipping companies, which gouge the crap out of my region.

[@freezingCode]

And free candy. :)

[@hadis5160]

Bought a microcontroller board for school a few years ago and it arrived like a few days later than it was supposed to. Got a full refund for it and I'm wondering now if the company selling it got any money for it.

[@pebos1234567890]

No

[@mmonkeyman1403]

Amazon pays for inventory when it arrives at their Fulfillment center. The failure to recieve your item in their quoted time is their own fault, not the company whos product you've purchased.

[@Jehty_]

@@mmonkeyman1403 Linus claims otherwise in this video. Are you a seller on Amazon?

[@mmonkeyman1403]

@@Jehty_ not a seller, I just know how the process works. If its fulfilled by Amazon and they don't deliver it to you in time, you'll get some type of refund, not necessarily the total price of your item. 3rd party sellers on Amazon is a whole different thing.

[@Jehty_]

@@mmonkeyman1403 yes, the customer gets a refund. But you said that Amazon would pay that refund. Linus said that the seller/manufacturer would pay the refund. So who is wrong?

[@ferinzz]

EXACTLY :D As someone outside their shipping area their reviews are still a great way for me to decide on what to buy or not. I look for products, then I search for them by code and a lot of times it's at Amazon and I just read reviews and buy elsewhere.

[@jaken005]

You should team up with other floatplane merch stores and set up multple warehouses (one in the us and one in europe to start with) so you can offer more comptitie shipping options.

[@voiceofreason9258]

@LMG Clips - I had a book of my own on Amazon and found it being sold as used, yet my sales status through my publisher showed that I had 0 sales at the time. I found out that some publishers try to make the book look popular by posting it as "used" but it is actually a posting for new. I wasn't happy with my publisher when I found this out, because I felt that it was deceptive. It also made me question if my book was being sold without me receiving royalties.

[@PaulLemars01]

There are three reasons why I shop almost exclusively on Amazon and it has nothing to do with price. In fact a lot of the time Amazon is more expensive. Reason one is financial security. I placed my bank information with Amazon six years ago. That was the last time my debit card information was transmitted across the Internet. Paypal was a decade ago. I feel every time a person sends those numbers to a retailer there's an element of financial risk. Reason two is the return policy. About a month ago I bought a toaster and it lasted precisely one slice of toast. I put it back in it's box, took it over to my local Amazon distribution store and it was returned. No interrogation, and no inspection. I was in and out in under two minutes. Reason three is centralized tracking. Enough said. I haven't been in a department or specialty store since before the beginning of the pandemic. Like it or not Amazon is here to stay. They won. As far as labor conditions are concerned yes, Amazon is shitty. And so is Walmart and all the other price driven corporations. Until the people of this country stop voting against their own interests and embrace unionized labor and demand decent working practices and conditions I have no sympathy with them.

[@D123-f9k]

I worked at an Amzon fulfillment center briefly. My money is on the bottle getting mixed up there. That being said, I was there during peak and my warehouse was decent to work at.

[@D3lor34n]

In Germany Amazon tries to forbid workers from wearing FFP2 masks during a pandemic, because there are labour laws that would grant employees additional breaks from work when wearing those for prolonged periods of time. Just lovely.

[@joeyguitar2056]

Well masks don't even do anything for covid anyway so they're spot on for not wasting money on the extra breaks and shit

[@whatwewant494]

I quit Amazon a few years ago and I haven't missed it at all. I'm similar to Luke in that I don't buy a lot online, and when I need to buy something my first step is to find a physical store that sells the item. Not only can I look at and touch potential purchases, but the employees (especially for speciality goods like electronics components) are super helpful and can suggest things that you haven't thought of. On multiple occasions I've had employees help me trouble shoot issues and suggest alternatives. You don't get that anywhere else, and certainly not from Amazon.

[@robotfuture9297]

I was having trouble with non-amazon deliveries going missing, so I started ordering everything from Amazon because they seem to have actually solved the delivery issues. I'm going to try to order using normal shipping methods again, but I'm not hopeful.

[@fmango]

In the US or Canada perhaps. In Germany it's terrible.

[@barbawillow8904]

My father congratulated once because Amazon delivered him a package in Sunday. He said: Whoah, what a great service! And I replied him: "Not really; that means this person needs to work even on Sundays to reach a salary that could be near enough to something decent. Go imagine how motivated is he to do right his job". People that today congratulate because parcels work on Sunday are going to suffer tomorrow when they will have to work on Sunday too. Celebrate and promote the jobs people do are everyday more precarious isn't going to bring us nothing good. Everybody wants things cheap and fast; but nobody wants to pay the future bill of that.

[@underdog9785]

I'd love to move away from amazon but local stores suck when it comes to having issues. I had to argue with the local computer store multiple times when the ram I purchased was faulty before they gave me a refund. With amazon? Easy as 1-2-3. Amazon does quite a lot of nonsense but as a consumer, until local shops understand the value of quality customer service, I am gonna continue to use amazon because of how hassle free they are.

[@MultiSneakerLover]

Fax ppl say support local but local businesses are strait trash lol

[@brucewayne3892]

I like the idea of small businesses. But in practice, they usually has worse return policies, limited stocks and variety, and if their service is bad you have no recourse. All this for a higher price and less convenience

[@vh8542]

I've been talking to my wife recently about wanting to severely limit our purchases through Amazon. The way they treat their employee's is not anything I want to support.

[@ImAfraidBruce]

The answer to the question at the end is yes - absolutely. They often don't even have it shipped to them first. I have ordered items on eBay multiple times only to have them show up having been shipped from Amazon. I go check Amazon and sure enough, the particular item sells for a few dollars cheaper thru Amazon than what I paid on eBay.

[@CFU]

I have been off Amazon since COVID started... was super easy... until Christmas.... Caved then which I know is the worst time, but I still feel great about the rest of the year. Even used a free trial for Borat 2 :D.

[@calethalttv1724]

De-Amazoning was really tough to get used to, when i loved in the UK i never used it at first but then my film streaming site lovefilm got bought by amazon, so i started using amazon video, soon i realised my Prime sub also gave me free shipping and thats when it started, EVERYTHING was amazon and life was just so convenient, broken cable? Amazon, headphones? Amazon, playstation stuff? Amazon. then i moved to Sweden where they didn't have Amazon and everything is like an hours drive and delivery is to a warehouse not your address but you get used to it, now Amazon is in Sweden i still dont use it, i know the stores i need for everything and like Luke says the "smaller" stores are grateful for the business.

[@dumbotterlover2558]

I literally only kept prime for the Grand Tour and because my wife shops alot, but the lack of convenience in buying stuff might make it easier on my wallet. Also, if you're considering working for AWS, it's a stepping stone, don't expect to stay with them long term because you will eventually be attacked internally to get rid of you.

[@nickolaskunz5735]

I get a month subscription when ever a new grand tour or their other shows pop up.

[@RatorLP]

Wanted to buy some new model trains last months. Manufacturers MSRP (in their own shop) is 13400yen (abour 150 canadian rubles). Amazon wanted minimum 28700yen (330 Canadian) PLUS SHIPPING for the exact same item. So yeah...

[@DarthCody700]

Linus's face when Luke said he finds the products on Amazon then buys them elsewhere said, "Thats kinda stupid, but I'm not going to say anything, and I admire the principal behind it."

[@ThumberBulls6]

Wait, isn't that what everyone else does? I could find the same thing cheaper on other sites or local stores lol.

[@navidmehdi6]

i do the same thing but for games and movies 😜

[@casedistorted]

@@ThumberBulls6 if we even had local stores that sold anything where I live.

[@calvinjonesyoutube]

I do the exact same thing. Amazon is a great as a free product directory.

[@easyluckable]

@@ThumberBulls6 sometime most things I buy from Amazon are always cheaper than other retailers.

[@Gordin508]

In Germany i had the opposite experience with Amazon when it came to invoices. When we ordered from third-party vendors on amazon, we were barely getting any invoices unless we explicitly asked for them by contacting the vendor.

[@darylclarino5439]

whenever i hear the teams ping in wan show, i check if someone chatted me on msft teams xD

[@TheThirdeYe1337]

I dropped Amazon earlier this year after being a member for over 20 years and out of the blue, flagged my account for leaving "suspicious reviews" and banned me from writing any new reviews and deleted all of my old ones. All of my reviews were honest, unbiased and I was never paid by or received free products from a company. I tried emailing multiple times and was just told that my random ban stood and wouldn't tell me why. I used to order stuff there all the time and had prime, prime music, etc. I'm sure I was a drop in the bucket but I have been able to find a majority of what I want elsewhere.

[@KTSpeedruns]

I’ve been cutting out Amazon and I don’t miss it. I only use it as a last resort. Prime is really just an excuse to buy more from Amazon to get your money’s worth. I love that Linus thinks about his performance as reflected by how well the rest of the company is doing, not his own compensation. Most other CEOs would do whatever they can to line their own pockets and nothing else.

[@trollwayy5981]

I like prime video

[@jjOnceAgain]

Just to be clear: If you order mor than 2-3 packages a month, Amazon Prime is worth it. If you get a student discount, you'd only have to order 12-15 packages a year to get your money's worth

[@RayaneROR2000]

I remember you guys talking a while ago how hard would it be to send LTT merch to europe because of logistics, getting a warehouse, etc... Would using Amazon be a solution for europeans buyers?

[@elijahvincent985]

My grandfather tried to purchase some vacation items from Amazon and was told he would get it on the advertised day, only to get an email on the day of intended arrival to claim "Oops, there's been an issue. It'll come on this day." Then that day came and went... Finally, papaw started tracking his package to see it arrive at his post office one day and moved up to Michigan the next! He called the Amazon hotline to complain and his order was swiftly (and justly) cancelled by threat of a lawsuit. He got all of his money back, but was so frustrated that the vacation goodies he intended to get my mamaw (his loving, super-sweet wife since 1967), my parents, me, my siblings, and my cousin were sold by terrible vendors... If this Amazon quality continues to decline, Bezos' prediction of Amazon going bankrupt will likely become real within the next decade.

[@gmscott9319]

I remember when Amazon Prime shipping was two-day. Ahh, those were the good-old days! Now, prime shipping takes 2-4 days and commonly up to a week.

[@Nunya1721]

Odd. I guess that very much depends on where you live. I still get very consistent 2-day shipping, and even often 1-day shipping. But I do live in a city

[@hzmeister9596]

16:00 they don't buy the item or even have it shipped to them. They just put your shipping info into amazon checkout. Tons of listings on ebay are algos that just ship from amazon.

[@W1ldTangent]

Honestly I rarely find anything is cheaper on Amazon, you can usually find it for less elsewhere even with shipping. And Amazon's search is a god-damned joke.

[@ZipplyZane]

As for what Luke talks about: I wouldn't be using Prime if I didn't (1) get it at half price due to qualifying for such (2) we didn't also use the video service. My housemate consumes a lot of online video content. Though I do say that I can't generally find anywhere that would let me get 2 day shipping without it costing a ton. All I would need to do is buy two things with 2 day shipping to get to the price I pay for Amazon Prime. And, since I have prime, I did set up some things to be automatically purchased that I always need--medicines and my dog's preferred dog food. I just make sure Amazon is cheaper than just going to the store. (And I also took the pandemic risk into account).

[@madmanmax120]

I never knew the water bottle guy had so much tech related content!

[@dexter2392]

I never knew the tech related guy had so much water bottle content

[@MarquesAllenJones]

interesting that this video just got suggested to me. I've been at my current address for 6 months. any time i have an amazon delivery that is delivered by amazon logistics, they just deliver it to someone else's address or throw the package in a nearby hallway. i contacted amazon support this past week when it happened again to try and maybe get a credit or partial refund or something. after chatting for like 15 minutes and getting no sense that they cared about their quality of service at all, they straight up canceled my prime and didn't initially refund me for the full 9 months left on the subscription stating that "i already used all my benefits". i had to press them on it and they finally refunded me the extra amount (even though they kept saying they couldn't refund any amount beyond the first one). it was a pain, not worth the time, and made me not want to give amazon any more money. going to see how long i can go without prime.

[@vash_dakari]

My main use for Amazon is price matching at Micro Center or Best Buy. As long as it's an item "fulfilled by Amazon" they'll match the price. If I can get something at a brick & mortar, I'll go there. Edit: Honest Abe's sounds like a business front for a money laundering racket.

[@JeskidoYT]

And target and office depot, staples. Those are the only physical stores in North america that price match amazon.

[@Qardo]

@@JeskidoYT Wal-Mart used to until some asshole bought a PS3 for 100 bucks. As someone put up a bogus sell page. Sooo...Wal-Mart has a major beef with Amazon. Still, to this day.

[@JeskidoYT]

@@Qardo they banned price match policy a bit after the recession i believe

[@SurgStriker]

I still buy through amazon, despite knowing how bad they treat employees-because i know it's pretty common everywhere. Even when i applied to fedex (or maybe it was UPS? they are basically the same at an operational level) and got a tour of the facility during their first step of hiring it was made pretty clear it was a bad place to work. You had to come in every day, but no guarantees how many hours you will get-if any. The workload changes, but you have to go in to find out. They openly admitted you might go in, have a half hour of work, then be sent home with only being paid for time worked. The pay wasn't very good, and the requirements were high (like the complaints about amazon, you have high quotas to meet per hour and they don't hesitate to write up or fire employees who don't make it), and they pretty openly admitted to all of this, because it's just industry standard. UPS used to be better with full time jobs regardless of slow times, but they too decided to save a ton of money by just going all part time for the package processors and put high requirements on them to keep the hours they work extra low. So...not using amazon because you think they treat people bad, then using fedex or ups because 'ignorance is bliss' is kind of pointless.

[@matthewtrebs9738]

Idrc about amazon as a shipping company, but as a retailer and as a tech company. I can live with 2 day shipping and horrible work. I dont like reatailers in general and especially online because i feel like the service they offer is trivial enough that they shouldnt be rewarded. Yeah i can find products on amazon, or on any search engine ever. It contributes minor conveniences to society at most and, at its worst, actively hinders the free market. Fuck em, i dont need amazon prime to get paper towels in 2 days or some bullshit. Ill go literally anywhere else. Thats also why i hate facebook and love tesla. Facebook is only in the business of ads. Meanwhile, tesla is reducing carbon emissions, preventing accidents, saving people hours of commute every week, getting us to mars, like holy shit

[@Lukeb53]

The compensation thing you were talking about with Amazon for late deliveries basically where a package arrives late you can contact customer support and they'll give you a $5 credit on your amazon account to compensate for the late delivery

[@tetri90]

Any time I hear about Amazon now I can't stop thinking about Bo Burnham's Bezos song ! XD

[@BunzJackson]

I do exactly the same thing Luke described, searching on Amazon and buying elsewhere. Most online shopping sites do free shipping these days, and like he said if you really need the thing in 2 days for some reason you can just pay a bit extra the one time.

[@-JG-339]

i think you should go investigate into that abs book store. might be an interesting video

[@bassic6959]

i have never bought something from amazon and i dont intent to, it seems very convenient but i just like supporting other stores and i dont typically buy a lot of stuff online anyway. i really like the small businesses that i do deal with online anyway, for example i ordered the parts for building a keyboard that i designed and i needed a lot of advice on some parts and stuff and the vendors normally will have a really nice discord that you can go to and chat with them and ask questions

[@mak0bac0]

Having to restrict oneself from using amazon is so weird to me. I guess I just don't shop online enough. I may end up using amazon once or twice a year in general.

[@lyianx]

Is it weird though? Amazon is effectively the digital version of Wal-Mart. Here in the states, aLOT of people shop at wal-mart for the same reason tons of people use Amazon. Convenience. When you can get everything (or most everything) you need from one place (or one stop) people find it harder to justify taking the effort to go somewhere else. I realize driving from store to store is more effort than going from website to website, but the effort comes from having to find those sites, then ultimately, make a new account just for that site, entering in all your information, then placing the order, paying shipping on each, then keeping track of each of those orders, and dealing with the shipping boxes they all come in. It just takes time and ultimately, not *too* much, but people in mass will make rather grand justifications in order to gain convenience for themselves. Also, there are some vendors that only sell though Amazon, and dont have their own store page.

[@IroAppe]

There are very good comparison platforms that do an even better job than Amazon in deciding what you want to buy by having a great filtering, sorting and display system to give you all the information quickly that you need, and they also tell you where it‘s cheapest, how long the delivery is and also have a rating system for the traders. They might even have a price alarm and track the past price history. In Germany we have such a platform called idealo. That way you don‘t restrict yourself to only one platform, while still having the advantages of getting the product even cheaper. And if Amazon has it with the cheapest price, it‘s also in there and I‘ll also order it on Amazon then.

[@nicolaim4275]

Amazon's service in Denmark is so horrible that I haven't used anything they've made in almost ten years now. They might be big in the states, but I concur that considering it a personal sacrifice not to use their services seems like a different world.

[@sweetmelon3365]

same. never ordered anything off amazon ever. did receive 2 amazon boxes in 4 yrs tho. our shipping charges are really high so the local buissness are still happy

[@deeginge671]

15:54 I've bought items that seem to be part of a similar scheme through the Walmart app, specifically to avoid going through Amazon, only to receive a package that was shipped by Amazon.

[@jasonjtg21]

It was great to hear you say that you are here to be of service to your employees and to the customer. So many owners or CEO’s have that backwards.

[@KylesGameRoom]

As a former amazon employee, I haven't seen pee bottles. But I got fired for time off-task because I had to poop. I hear drivers have it worse.

[@data1.078]

Interesting how they always talk about “family” but basically treat their workers like a communist force but with capitalism perks of easy firing. I have a deep hatred for these companies and delusional greedy people like Jeff Bezos.

[@Numbnuts007]

Okay I actually share my Amazon account with my family, they pay me like five a month to split it up between my brother myself and my parents. So it's not bad, plus we get prime video so 🤷. They are still the evil empire though and they should be broken up.

[@hop-skip-ouch8798]

Same here. Although the prime video feels like going through a bargain bin.

[@iamperplexed4695]

So, you believe they are evil but you still give them money?

[@CosmicValkyrie]

@@iamperplexed4695 That's normal.

[@hectamus_]

@@iamperplexed4695 this is a bad take. “You are critical of society yet you live in the society”. We are all oppressors at the end of the day. Pretty sure some of the clothes or products you have bought or used were made by a worker in a poorer place on the Earth who is getting exploited by the non-existent fair labor laws of their country. Yet you still have or use those products. There is merit to “vote with your wallet”, but we also have to demand change by laws and by demanding change directly from these exploitive and monopolized megacorporations.

[@iamperplexed4695]

@@hectamus_ No, its very simple, only equivocation makes it complex. If I find out a company is 'evil' like the OP stated, I won't use it. Anybody can make that choice, it just depends on how willing you are to pay for that choice.

[@DTC2_Blue]

0:12 Prime Shipping isn't guaranteed for us Canadians - read the fine print. My orders from groceries to appliances, software to hardware only take 12 hrs to max 4 days to arrive to Toronto, ON. The average is 2-days. So I don't need nor want Prime Shipping. Nor do I need or want all the perks it comes with.

[@thefirehawk1495]

I don't buy a lot of stuff from Amazon because a lot of stuff is more expensive than if I buy directly without Amazon as intermediary. I don't like getting ripped off. I know it may be more convenient to get ripped off but I prefer not. A lot of people genuinely don't have a lot of choice tho, so I fully understand that they use Amazon

[@warcrafthumanlord]

The thing with lower product cost but higher shipping cost is mainly due to countries such as mine taxing the product only and not the delivery. So if you have a 100$ product, it is beneficial to split it into shipping and say it's 50$ product and 50$ shipping because then the customer will only pay 30% import tax (more or less depending on where you live) on the first 50$ and not on a 100, therefore saving 15$ and the company that sells the product still gets their 100$. Also there are countries that regulate the minimum tax worth, so if it is 100$ no tax, it's worth selling a product that costs 120$ for 99$ and charging 21$ shipping.

[@Novur]

10:37 Mad World playing quietly in Luke's background

[@kingr1799]

Often with that 3rd party re-shipping scam, they don't even bother shipping it to themselves, they'll just ship it directly to you from Amazon. My mom bought something from a Walmart 3rd party store and they literally just bought it on Amazon cheaper and shipped it directly from Amazon to her. It came in full Amazon packaging and when she looked it up on Amazon, she found out it was something like $5-10 cheaper on Amazon.

[@Monsuco]

It feels like this entire talk was just a subliminal way to push water bottles on us.

[@dirtydirtmcgogurt]

I have amazon prime, and ordered a mini itx motherboard 2 days ago. On amazon, board was $140 (not marketplace or whatever)... right before I ordered, I googled the motherboard, and newegg had it for $125. Not a crazy amount, but significant enough. And I also would have expected it to be Amazon coming out as cheaper. With that said, every other component was much cheaper on Amazon. All other parts (besides GPU... which is currently unavailable... idk if yall heard about this... but anyway), were bought from da Bezos.

[@sfdjk]

i am trying to avoid amazon and go to local stores but it is hard during lockdown...

[@denverbasshead]

Yea that was the point of the lockdowns dude. Destroy the economy

[@ezekoren]

I'm from Latin America. When I go to the US on vacation, I most often don't have any physical address to send stuff bought online, but Amazon has these free of charge pickup lockers that make it possible for me to receive a package anyway. I don't necessarily want to support their business, but sometimes there's no other option...

[@mcunner]

South Africa is putting laws in place to limit online shopping. If you buy more than 3 times you'll have to register as a business and pay business taxes so online isn't really an option anymore for us.

[@Kellayyy208]

Wow dude that's actually crazy.

[@podkriznikaljaz]

This sounds idiotic. What's the reason behind this? Especially in these times where you should avoid going out to buy things that can be easily bought on the internet

[@Kellayyy208]

@@podkriznikaljaz Right?

[@ChiisaiRamen]

@@podkriznikaljaz I mean, it's South Africa, that country's government has always been idiotic. You can look up the nutty shit their government has done

[@midoribushi5331]

wow that is such radical bs. Damn....Sorry you guys have to go thru that.

[@BamaShanks]

I still like Amazon. I've never worked there, but I've worked for a lot of shitty places I still support. Most places care more about being the most efficient and making the most money over their employees feelings. That isn't really anything new. Not that it's right, but I don't have the time to research every company, where their products come from, looking up employee reviews, etc. before I order something.

[@Mondo_Monchi]

I don’t buy anything from amazon, I use Walmart’s & Targets drive-up options. Usually just ship to store and pick it up while I’m there. I vote with my wallet and buy local/small business any chance I get

[@HMarcBower]

Am I the only one that is confused by your preference for the "local/small businesses" of Walmart and Target?

[@suijinnoname6412]

@@HMarcBower I didn't get that either.

[@Mondo_Monchi]

@@HMarcBower “Any chance I get” implies I only buy from Big Box Stores when absolutely necessary. I will default to any small stores around me before I give in

[@Mondo_Monchi]

@@suijinnoname6412 “Any chance I get” implies I default to smaller stores first. I only buy things from Big Box Stores when absolutely necessary.

[@HMarcBower]

@@Mondo_Monchi I misunderstood what you meant then. My apologies :)

[@kevinmach730]

I went through a period of heavy Amazon use in the past and I don't understand people who want to dial it back, and act like there are no other options. Many big box stores (in the US, at least) are offering close to 2-day shipping for free. It may not be guaranteed, but let's face it, neither is Amazon. Best Buy, Home Depot, BBB, I don't pay shipping charges on any of that stuff. Hell, Best Buy will often get my stuff there same day and usually next day and no charge. I really just use Amazon now for super obscure or specific items where I don't care that much about quality, typically in the under 25 dollar range. I'm not full on anti-Amazon (though they do annoy me at times), but I also don't like the idea of a single retailer getting all of the business all of the time.

[@julienblackman]

I actually found items on amazon with Linus face on them 😂 cups, cards.. not sold by ltt I presume so you might want to contact them so that they stop selling them (reminds me of a previous video btw 😂)

[@zaeroses1096]

I hate having to go through Amazon, but where I live specifically... there are basically two alternatives. And those two alternatives mark up products to cost more than 1.5x as much as on Amazon. There is no way to get things second-hand, no ebay, and international shipping? It will probably cost as much as the entire product itself.

[@bik3r230]

Amazon wants to be the only store you can buy from,amazon employees delivering items to you daily as daddy bezoz collects all your data

[@DestructoMutant]

I stopped using Uber Eats for a similar reason. Way to much overhead and shitty practices. Not only that my food was always fucked up or cold plus I have to tip. Now I just pick it up. I will probably stop my prime membership this year as Amazon has been pretty shitty lately and since the warehouse in my city had a covid outbreak the shipping times have been terrible.

[@BillyBobDingledorf]

Shaving cream. $13 dollars on Amazon. $1.50 at the grocery store. Yet for some reason, lots of good ratings on Amazon.

[@NoMoreHeroesAye]

Well after the fact but Linus is spot on about the book store thing but its even simpler than explained. These stores will find the Amazon price and then send the item direct from Amazon! It will arrive at your door with the Amazon packaging and the only way to work out if its from "Honest Abes" or whoever is that they will leave a comment on the label for the item.

[@jasoncarto]

I feel like "I live in Canada" seems to be what most problems boil down to.

[@FAB1150]

As a student I get prime for 19€/yr, so 1.5€/mo Even if I ordered one thing every 3 months I would pay more by not having prime... Here in Italy we also have next-day shipping, so it's way more convenient than anything else for me at this point. Now I only buy from them if orders are _sold_ by Amazon and if I need it quickly, if not I just support the smaller shops, for the same reasons you stated. If anything, I get my money's worth with Amazon music. The app looks like it came straight out of 2012 but for 1.5€/mo you can't really complain lol