this post was submitted on 22 Sep 2024
725 points (93.0% liked)

Technology

60123 readers
3672 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.

Our Rules

  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each another!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
L3s@lemmy.world
L3s@fry.gs
L4s@fry.gs
L4s@lemmy.world
enu@lemmy.world
725
Amazon's Monopoly of the tech industry is ruining the US economy (lemmy.world)
submitted 3 months ago by Buttflapper@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world
219 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I wanted to get printer photo paper for my printer, a Canon. I went to Walmart, They had nothing. Went to Target, they had one pack of photo paper and it was crazy expensive, so I went to micro center. That one was just as expensive. So finally I went back to Amazon, which I was trying to avoid, and saw the price 25 to 40% lower than anywhere I had been. Literally everything that I was looking for, I could find within seconds. Not even Best buy has even close to the amount of inventory or variety, even when you're shopping online....

Therefore, I think Amazon has a literal monopoly in the tech industry right now, you're literally forced to buy from them, because unless you have the money and financial fortitude to protest with your wallet, you're going to be buying from them. There's no other choice. They have so aggressively and dominantly taken over the supply chain market that no other tech company can currently compete with them in any aspect at all. You will be paying 40 to 50% more on everything by cutting out Amazon, and no one has the money for that anymore unless you're upper middle class or above

(page 2) 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] crashfrog@sopuli.xyz 11 points 3 months ago (1 children)

You’re listing all of the reasons it’s not a monopoly - you can go almost anywhere else and buy the same good.

Therefore, I think Amazon has a literal monopoly in the tech industry right now, you're literally forced to buy from them

You literally weren’t and literally aren’t, so they’re literally not.

They have so aggressively and dominantly taken over the supply chain market that no other tech company can currently compete with them in any aspect at all.

If nobody was in competition with them, they’d be raising their prices.

[–] SkyNTP@lemmy.ml 9 points 3 months ago

Here in Canada, I find the prices pretty neck and neck. Small items tend to be a bit cheaper at the stores, since there is very little overhead for them to carry small items compared to Amazon's picking and delivery logistics. Big items tend to be a bit cheaper on Amazon. For tech specifically, Best Buy price matches items, so it's not that bad... Memory express and CC sometimes have lower prices than Amazon too (see PCPartPicker).

The main reason to use Amazon is you can easily find some really obscure stuff. Then again, you can buy direct from manufacturer, like Vevor, for often cheaper.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 9 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Wait, your Canon printer needs a specific type of photo paper, not just generic photo paper that's been around for inkjet printers for a very long time now? Have printers really become that enshittified?

[–] Buttflapper@lemmy.world 7 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Canon printers specifically are designed to take Canon specific photo paper. Even the drivers on your Windows PC are programmed to understand what those photo papers are, and you have to match up to them. If you use some generic paper, the prints will never come out right.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] ryathal@sh.itjust.works 9 points 3 months ago

Amazon is a place where you have to deal with fake items and getting fraudulent returns shipped to you as new. Your reward for this is maybe a 5% discount.

[–] kersplomp@programming.dev 8 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (4 children)

Have you tried buying from aliexpress? It's the same products as on Amazon, but directly from the supplier. Imagine Amazon, but everything's 50% off.

Source: I'm cheap as heck and buy random trash from them

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] bitwolf@lemmy.one 7 points 3 months ago (4 children)

Walmart online is eating Amazon they don't have a monopoly

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] Valmond@lemmy.world 7 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Bought a RX 6400 for a little windoze game box, and shelled out around 30€ /35€ more at a conventional well known shop here, materiel dot net. Bought most of my stuff there over the years, nice people, etc.

But I couldn't just go get it, it "had to" be delivered, so I paid for that too (I guess you do the same on Amazon), high class delivery or so I thought. Ordered thursday, scheduled delivery "wednesday 8h-19h" so okay I WFH but man better be there every minute right?

Got a confirmation SMS/Text around 12, we're delivering your package today! (No more info).

Surprise, they didnt.

Suddenly it's scheduled "Thursday 8h-19h".

Grrr

I bet I would have gotten my card on saturday if I had used amazon (+30€ too...).

I mean are brick & mortar stores dead now for real maybe?

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] shoulderoforion@fedia.io 5 points 3 months ago

the money and time you spent traveling to three different stores outweighs the couple bucks more you would have spent at walmart. protip: next time try staples or office depot. also, taking a moral position means sacrifice, and often times that's financial.

load more comments
view more: ‹ prev next ›