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Comment by chucksta | Hacker News Reader

I've gone out of my way to report this manipulation before, it amounted to "tough shit"

I hate Amazon but they are so convenient. So much like college I find myself doing the walk of shame . Is there something out there that's better?

For my part, my "it's so convenient" was comparing to online shopping c. 2003. These days, I can order from a lot of other online stores for the same price with the same delivery time - sometimes better.

take the money you pay yearly for prime, and set it into a "shipping budget"

each time you need to buy something online, find it on the manufacturer's site or some other direct distributor, pay the shipping costs, and deduct that cost from the 'shipping fund' if the item is actually available on amazon (not a knockoff or replacement)

after a year, you may be surprised (i was)

I quit prime many years ago (streaming experience was awful even before netflix was the only real alternative) I still get free shipping. and other stores offer worse service at higher prices, if they even have the needed item. I wish it weren't so, as everytime I order I feel like I just went down on Bezos.

for electronics I am happy there is a solution like geizhals.at (aka skinflint.co.uk), allthough even that often just leads back to ordering from amazon

We are lacking accountability here. I wonder if 'tough shit' is gonna hold up in court.

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