On the other hand:

As Khan and I entered the sprawling Whole Foods three stories below Amazon Books, we noticed a tower of avocados. A sign bragged that, thanks to the Amazon merger, a single avocado now cost $1.49, down from $2.49. Khan cracked up. “This is peak myself,” she said. “This is hipster antitrust, right here.”

Source The Atlantic

Also, if you you were hardcore you'd have been shopping with Amazon back when you had to pay $8 to ship a single book and it took 7-10 days to get to you. I was and did, back when people swore the business would fail at any moment.

Amazon is in the business of taking orders and shipping things, now, as is Walmart and others (often from the same vendors). Any of them might have the better deal on a particular product, and whichever one that is can change by the minute as all their pricing algorithms fight each other.

They're still gutting the local stores of all types - they haven't lost their way.

In good news, I heard an ad on the radio now that Walmart.com is offering free 2 day shipping on any order over $35 WITHOUT a membership. Taking quite a few jabs at Amazon over the membership practice.

Amazon is about convenience, not price. I use Amazon only when I can't find a product local since it is usually more expensive.

Don't know if it was posted already but this guy for example shops at Walmart and resells it on Amazon using their fulfillment centers. Pretty smart!

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/02/28-y...on-amazon.html

The reason to go prime now isn't shipping - it is everything else (music, streaming tv, etc). The free shipping on most things is just a bonus. Plus they do this thing now where you can "slow ship" and get credit towards future purchases, if it isn't something you need ASAP. Walmart is scrambling to get a piece of the e-ship market still, but if they were dominant they'd not act much different. And picking Walmart over amazon sure as hell isn't helping anyone but Walmart.

Yep - it is the "click the button and forget about it" option, and it is pretty good at that for a lot of stuff. If you want the best price you can almost always find someone willing to sell something for less. Whether or not that someone will rip you off is on you, though.

My household is still a fan of Amazon (and Prime), primarily for the free shipping. Being in a smaller community, we do not have a lot of local retail options. And, not having a household vehicle, tracking things down from a brick-and-mortar store would involve (a) me getting on my bike and putting in 25 miles to still not find what I'm looking for, or (b) renting a vehicle and driving several hundred miles RT to a real city.

Yet I agree that Amazon is not great for cycling-specific items. I'll use them for bike electronics (like my poor Cygolite Hotshot that didn't survive yesterday's gravel ride) and, if the price is right, name-brand cycling clothing. The latter is usually cheaper through other vendors, though. For bike parts, I generally use UK vendors (Merlin, Wiggle), or ebay for my vintage/beater bikes.

I'll support local businesses when I can - particularly if the owners are not jerks and they have products that I want (as is the case with three of our local bike shops).

Target.com has been doing this for a while, and seems to have better prices on household goods than Amazon. I've been ordering dry goods, TP, kitty litter, etc. from them since the winter. They actually delivered two 35 lb. buckets of cat litter to my back door - for free.

I've disliked Whole Foods ever since they bought out the Boulder, CO based Wild Oats stores - and subsequently removed the bike racks from some of those locations, or moved them way to the back behind the dumpsters. I distinctly remember several times when I was followed by security around the parking lot and into the store at a Whole Foods location, and it gave me a bad feeling about the establishment. Perhaps their business has changed, but I will never know because I now live 90 miles from a Whole Foods.

I was thinking about that the other day - does Amazon even sell real books anymore? Back in the day, Amazon saved us college kids a ton on textbooks. Just like Newegg used to sell computer parts...

Have you seen their TV ad set to Anita Ward's 1970s chart topper "Ring My Bell"? Very catchy, especially if you grew up dancing to the song as a teen like I did. Wonder if she gets any royalties.

And definitely taking a jab as they mention no membership fee a couple of times in the ad.

Nope, but I don't watch much TV. Heard the ad a couple more times on the radio at lunch, though, seems they are really pushing this.

And she most definitely gets royalties.

For sure. It was on a lot this weekend. IIRC, something like "NO MEMBERSHIIP FEE" flashes on the screen two or three times.

They grew out of an online used book store.

They still have an excellent selection of books, although if I'm looking for something specific, I'll compare Amazon to Ebay prices.

But, somehow, Amazon shipping is slower than molasses (but, with good rates).

One thing I dislike about buying used items on Amazon is that the condition report is always a bit terse.

I know this is mostly rhetorical, but they are still the best game in town for paper books. I buy 5-10 nonfiction books a year for work, and finding a local bookstore that would carry what I need is a laughable proposition. And the books ship fast. I've tried Barnes and Noble a few times over the years, and they always suck bad - one way or another.

Used books are slower, but that's because the person with the books isn't as fast as one of Amazon's dehumanizing mega-warehouses.

For fiction, Amazon's recommendation algorithms are getting damned good. If you read a fair bit, this matters a lot, as hunting down new stuff gets harder and harder the more you read.

If it's any help, this is General Cycling Discussion, this is probably a Foo topic now and the OP was banned on the 2nd.

I like to buy sportswear on Amazon, it is cheaper than in local stores.