519-646-2222Amazon Shopping Warning
Amazon shopping warning:
There are a number of reasons to use caution when shopping on Amazon – one is the ease of overspending, they have your credit card number and shipping details and with a single click can send you a variety of questionably priced goods.
The ease of use can be a spending trap for many consumers, and in our office we have seen many situations where people spend far more than they intended, and on stuff they really did not need.
Amazon uses thousands of vendors who offer the same product at a variety of prices that can have a variance of more than 50% – yet, Amazon does nothing to inform consumers that there are price options. When you search for a specific item they may only show one purchase option – after you log back in, minutes later, you may see another purchase option for the identical item that is significantly lower priced.
Amazon offers no easy solution to this easily identifiable issue, in fact they mask the prospect of getting the item at a lower price by not listing competitive purchase options. Apparently Amazon has over 310 million active users with over 9 million sellers and anticipated sales of about $750 billion per annum.
How many users challenge the pricing model, and what percentage of each sale does Amazon get paid? I have not researched the answers to these questions but they need to be asked.
Apparently, according to a Google search, the average purchase is $50 if we were to assume that 10% of Amazon users overpaid by 50% that would imply that Amazon effectively overcharges consumers by some $25 billion per annum, and growing.
Of course that is to say nothing about the low quality of many products sold that breakdown soon after being acquired, or the quantum of unneeded items purchased impulsively and charged to credit cards that also have a stake by charging interest on purchases.
Amazon also effectively tricks consumers into buying their “Prime” services, even sophisticated purchasers get caught of guard by the way the platform sneaks that into billing options at the point of purchase.
Amazon’s cancelation policies are also challenging, after you have purchased an item the status goes to “shipped” even before the loop on the credit card transaction is closed. The most likely reason is that only a relatively small (3%) percentage of people can be bothered to go to the trouble of returning items once received.
Caveat emptor when using online platforms – especially Amazon – shop local, support your own community.