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Comment by j45 | Hacker News Reader

Mail order catalogs are dead. Long live mail order catalogs.

Physical locations have an opportunity to discover and create new meaning for customers in person

I find it nearly impossible to buy non-food items online. I would much rather go in person to inspect the quality. If I can't, I usually end up sending things back. More likely, I end up being dissatisfied with the product, since I don't want to bother with repackaging and sending it back. Youtube reviews are shilled nonsense most of the time, where they just unbox the item and look at it without even using it.

It's rare that brick and mortar stores actually have what I'm looking for in stock (exceptions include home improvement stores). They always offer to order it for me, though, as if that's a magic power.

Repackaging it is a literal strip of tape and throwing it in a drop box that’s likely less than two miles from your house.

The phenomenon that cracks me up, tho, is retail stores serving as points of return for Amazon! Kohls is so damn thirsty for foot traffic they’ll accept returns for a direct competitor!

CVS and Autozone I kind of get it. If you need a prescription or hemorrhoid cream or a car battery you’re probably not waiting on Amazon… but when literally everything in your store is also available on Amazon?

Tick tock, business model.

> Tick tock, business model.

With reputable retailers one doesn't have to worry about getting a fake item, unlike Amazon. And if one really wants a QOWXYZ brand product, it's half the price or less on AliExpress or Temu.

Amazon seems to be in a place where they're getting harder to trust every day, but way more expensive than the dubious direct from China sellers.

> QOWXYZ

LOL I’d love to be a fly on the wall during those discussions at Amazon about why the hell they are allowing those “brands” in their marketplace. I mean, does anyone actually think they are legit? But then again people must buy them and they must make money for Amazon. What a circus!

My current rule is I won’t buy anything with a mains electrical plug, anything Hugh value, or anything that can be easily counterfeited from Amazon. I just don’t trust them in the slightest to do anything but run a datacenter.

Another thing to be careful of is anything that could have adverse health effects if counterfeited, like food, supplements, cosmetics, safety equipment, cooking utensils, and so on. Which I guess leaves books as something relatively innocuous, even though those have also been counterfeited before.

I agree, but I don't know of any stores where I am able to really inspect a product. I end up wading through review after review and trying to see if people were troubleshooting the product for the use case I intended.

I don't know if there's a solution. Nearly every place online is inundated by advertisers trying to game the system, and they ooze further into the corners with each passing month.

I find it nearly impossible to find quality items in person. I have to order online to have a wide enough selection for most things to not be cheap junk. In person stores stock a bunch of items that aren't up to my expectations with the hopes that they'll sell. They end up increasing costs and lowering quality.

That's fine. Lots of folks buy the first one in store and the rest online..

Reviews can definitely vary - but your perspective is probably useful to other people seeking the kinds of reviews you do

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