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bix6 • today at 12:43 PM • 2 replies • view on HN

I’m not interested in a million places, I’m interested in one that has everything with 1-2 day shipping included. Convenience is a major factor.


Replies

Gormo • today at 3:02 PM

Yeah, I'm with you. I also have a very specific set of requirements, including only buying from companies headquartered in the Seattle area that have at least one 'o' in their name. That narrows it down to Amazon and Costco for general merchandise. But I'm also considering adding a criterion that the vendor's logo needs to include a swoosh or arrow of some kind, which would eliminate Costco, at which point I'll be stuck only with Amazon.

I know people are going to chime in and say "the fact that all of your personal criteria align maximally with the strengths of one particular vendor doesn't represent an uncompetitive market, but to the contrary, represents an extremely competitive market in which all of the participants are distinguishing themselves by maximizing the value they offer to different market segments with diverse preferences."

But as a presumptuous narcissist, my expectation is that everyone in the market should be optimizing their business practices to satisfy my preferences in particular, rather than limiting my options by trying to appeal to anyone other than me.

wat10000 • today at 12:50 PM

How often do you buy stuff online? It’s not a factor for me. My last online purchase was water filters. Got them from Home Depot, easy peasy. Before that, I’m not sure, it’s been a few weeks at least.

In any case, there’s a big difference between “there’s no reasonable alternative” and “there are plenty of reasonable alternatives but I like Amazon more.”

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