> Brand name helps with perception

That used to be true with Amazon. Not anymore, not for me. Now I have to decide if I trust and endless array of 3rd party sellers. It is often just easier to buy from a manufacturer’s website since I know I’m getting the real thing and it’s not expired or otherwise screwed up. Maybe I pay a few more bucks, but I’m ok with that for a lot of things. (Exception: books and used)

It's always interesting to me how people on HN almost universally have such poor experiences with Amazon. I've had over 200(!!!) orders from Amazon last year alone and didn't have any problems with any order. In fact when my guaranteed next day delivery was late by a day they just gave me a month of prime for free.

And every time I decide to buy directly from the manufacturer I get punished - bought a Lenovo laptop around September, laptop turned up with a broken screen. Took over 3 weeks to get Lenovo UK to replace it and it was an exercise in absolute frustration, I could write a small essay about it. I was so upset at myself for not buying it from Amazon - I know if I did and had the same problem I would literally have a replacement posted to me the following day without having to fill out a dozen forms and spend hours on the phone with customer support.

I also prefer to order direct, if possible. If I think I might need to return it, Amazon.com is the way to go (or Bol.com for local stuff). It's always a pain to return to the manufacturer, they're incentivized not to take back the return while a retailer is incentivized to take it back.

Amazon has just become an AliExpress reseller.

So many people are trying to get rich quick by buying aliexpress stock, selling it through Amazon. There's just so much crap on the website now

And being Chinese, most of it likely isn't even legal to sell without a genuine CE mark

Right, but if you knew to that level of specificity back then, search was just as good in most places. Now, selection was lower, somewhat obviously.

As then, though, if you are not specific or willing to lean on a name brand, search is effectively broken.