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Comment by fnord77 | Hacker News Reader

> jEfF BeZoS Is aLwAyS LiStEnInG To yOu!!1!!!!111!

> As long as he gives me cheap same-day delivery, IDGAF.

for lower and lower quality of items, with less of a real selection (go look at electric kettles - there's 50 different brands - with weird names - but the kettles all almost look identical). Also the while prices creep up as any competition gets annihilated.

The high cost of cheap shipping

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This hits the nail on the head. I agree ebay and Amazon are also sometimes the only option for finding obscure stuff, but most of the world now buys most of the mundane stuff from them, and then we act surprised when they become international empires, richer than countries, and more powerful than most of them, and only getting bigger and bigger. Society is simply not equipped to deal with the cascading effects of consumerism and 'free' market, be it privacy, data mining, social security, or the environment.

What do you recommend instead?

More brands means higher likelihood of a used item however. Normally I'll just put in a max price or click the used link.

So the $29 kettle is $21. I've never bought a "used" item from Amazon that was unsatisfactory cause it was "used".

I've bought new items from Amazon that were clearly used that were unsatisfactory. So, maybe I received your item and you received mine.

Hamilton Beach stainless, 1.75 l. Now 5+ years old, used 7 days a week. It's a good kettle.

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