I am not sure I would trust reviews either.

Everything is some sort of hustle. Companies pay for reviews. Reviewers often have no idea how to use the product. All you can really do is be ready to throw what you get in the trash if you don't like it.

> All you can really do is be ready to throw what you get in the trash if you don't like it.

Are you kidding? I buy from Amazon specifically because returns and refunds are so easy.

Yep. Most of the time for smaller items the seller doesn't even want me to send the item back. It's _almost_ no risk.

Not all third-party merchants have the same return policy.

At least in the UK, if you contact them and they don't resolve it, contact Amazon and you'll get a refund (and presumably they charge it back to the seller) under its 'A-Z Guarantee'.

That said, I've never bought higher value items from third parties via Amazon, so that may be a different experience. But I basically treat non-fulfilled by Amazon as eBay in terms of trust/expectations.

What reason do you put for the return? Because usually they end up charging a return shipping fee unless I drive to their hub.

Caveat emptor: if you process too many returns, Amazon will outright ban you from shopping there ever again. I know this might be anecdote, but it is true.

I'll hope and assume it's as a percentage of sales.

To be clear, I'm not 'taking advantage' like buying something I need to use once and then returning it out whatever - I just appreciate that if the item arrives broken, or not as described/fit for purpose that I can return it with minimal hassle.

I've bought products where I wonder if I am in some alternate reality. They are just so demonstrably awful and did not perform their basic function to the point of being borderline false description.

This is not a new phenomenon. About 25 years ago, I bought an airbed and a pump from Argos (UK), a popular bricks and mortar retailer. They had two pumps that worked with that airbed, and I bought the cheaper of the two.

But it just didn't work, because of something about the way the tube joined the body of the pump. It didn't look like a manufacturing variation, but a design flaw.

I returned the pump and paid more for the more expensive one, which worked fine.

The free multimeter from Harbor Freight is like that. One of the leads snapped off internally the first time I used it. I opened it up and it was held against pressure using a plastic weld which had failed immediately.

Harbor Freight is for single-use tools. I think everyone knows that by now.

I agree. Take everything with a grain of salt. In addition, I use Fakespot. It gives products a letter grade based on how "fake" their reviews are. Not perfect, but another data point.

The vendors are starting to combat fakespot by messaging "A" accounts and offering to give them off platform refunds for good reviews. It works because even when they message someone like me, I haven't figured out how to report it to Amazon. They don't seem to have a "report future fraud" feature.

Please don't just throw things in the trash if you do not like them. Return and buy back options are available. Additionally even if you do not like something it may still be worthwhile to donate. If all else fails at least try to recycle before throwing it in the trash.

Returned items are passed to an ecosystem of specialized companies. In most cases, the small minority of good stuff is resold and the chaff goes to landfill.

Before returns enter that ecosystem they may be stolen en route, placed back in an Amazon FC, resold on Amazon as new, returned by customer, stolen en route, placed back in an Amazon FC, resold on Amazon as new...

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20601200

I've been using reviewmeta.com to help with this. They even have a Chrome extension. I'm sure it's not perfect, but hopefully it helps.

That is true, of course. However, the reviews offer a valuable, though noisy, signal: one star reviews uncover design issues with a product.

A lack of one star reviews (like 100% five star reviews seen in some products) point to obvious manipulation and should also serve as a red flag.

I should have said: read the reviews and use your head (d'oh!)

Or stop buying from Amazon ;-)

You think other retailers don't have the same issues?

No they do not. For example, every single memory card I got from amazon was fake, even if I explicitly selected "Amazon" as seller. Meanwhile every single card I ordered from Newegg was original and high speed.

How many memory cards did you order that you can measure both? I know Amazon has a problem with counterfeits, but it's a bit hyperbolic to say all Amazon bad, all Newegg good. Anecdotally all the controllers I've bought from Game in the UK have been sold as "new" but actually open box and used, whereas every one I've bought from Amazon has been legit.

Is that a problem specific to the US?

I have ordered a few memory cards from Amazon by now in Europe, and I've never had issues with them. I don't think I have ever received a fake item from Amazon. Not where I've noticed it anyway.

Disclaimer: Work at Amazon Not sure? I built a new PC recently and didn't run into any problems with counterfeits when I got everything from there

Weird... I have ordered a dozen or so memory cards from Amazon and have never received a fake one.

How do you identity a memory card as fake? Did it function?

You use CrystalDiskMark to benchmark it. Visual inspection as well. Most real cards are made in China, knockoffs are made in Malaysia but its not always the case. Counterfeit will be 1/3rd of the speed of regular one and most likely much shorter shelf life since its pretty much old generation chips used.

I build custom video setups as hobby so I say overall probably I got over 150 cards from Amazon (at least half were fake) and some 100 from Newegg so far (last 3 years) and haven't had a single fake from Newegg. [mostly I use Sandisk and Lennar cards]

For many smaller items, I prefer the ease and convenience over price differences or occasional bad products. I know I'm not alone in this and it shows how much experience matters in purchasing.

My suggestion would be to reconsider local shops—even if they’re chains—as they’ve gotten much better at stocking good items these days. (Obviously this can’t apply for everything) Many stores have drive-up pickup and ship-to-store options, and have even gotten better about stocking good products on their shelves.

I have started to consider stores as “immediate delivery” over the two-ish day delivery of Amazon, and it has really helped me leave the Amazon machine. I never really needed all the impulse purchases from Amazon, and more standard purchases are far more convenient than any subscription or Dash purchase could ever be. And if the item is a dollar or two more? Oh, well; if I could upgrade my two-day shipping to “get it in 20 minutes” shipping for $2 more, then I’d probably do it.

You might have a different experience or a wider range of purchase history than me, but unsubscribing from Amazon Prime and driving to the store was a great choice for my shopping needs.