I wonder what the long term hit is to their brand? I have to think that's brought up because it happens all the time to declining brands and I don't see that digging them out of their problems. I tend to avoid those sites mentioned after being burned a few times. In the past, they were the first place I would check. It hurts when I see family members get burned.

Over time, probably huge. eBay started as a flea market, and so people knew what to expect. Amazon started as a reputable seller and has since turned into a flea market, so people compare against the quality guarantee that used to be there.

"Roebuck". I believe they were still putting their full name on printed labels as late as the 90s? It looks like they've tried to resurrect it as a clothing brand now.

I knew Sears was really done for when I went in there circa 2010 and they had a prominent computer with their "catalog", which was actually just searching Amazon. It's like these companies completely misunderstand what their value add is - I wasn't going to Sears because I was a "Sears customer" who only wanted to buy things from Sears, and they could hold onto me by letting me purchase Amazon items through them. Rather I went to Sears to see what Sears's selection was, and if they offered anything additional to what the HD/Lowes duopoly carried. They didn't really, and the rest is history.

The problem is the hit to the brand is over decades. You can do a few stupid things without a brand hit so long as you see the mistake and revert back.

Back in their day my Grandparents bought from Montgomery Wards or Sears Robeck (note they used the full name of both stores - odds are if you remember those stores at all is just by part of the name, or perhaps from a history book) They had a lot of stuff from those stores, and it was all good stuff, so they could confidently just buy it if the store sold it. In the final decades of Sears they often didn't have the best and so I had to think about quality (I don't remember Wards).

Amazon always mixed the best stuff with junk, but it was real - now who knows if it is real. Walmart used to be "made in the USA" (or made in Canada for stores in that country), but that policy is gone - they are still a step above dollar store, but only a small step: everyone knows you often get better quality elsewhere. Amazon mixed counterfeit with real not long after starting, while WalMart had "Made in the USA" for decades (made in Canada lasted a little longer).

There is a reason why some companies talk about the value of the brand. Coke needs to be very careful about losing trust (they almost lost it with "new coke" back in the 1980s - which my uncle says it was a way to introduce classic coke with HFCS instead of real sugar without losing the value of the brand - though he isn't in position to know what went on at Coke). My company often says we need to keep making high quality products to protect the value of our brand, we are well aware that we can rest on our brand reputation for a while, but bad quality has caught up to our competitors over decades and out market share shows is.

NewEgg killed themselves for me with their marketplace; I don't even bother looking at them ever anymore.

I don’t see the point tho. It’s not like Best Buy makes laptops so they bulk purchase and sell. What is the benefit of this drip shipping nonsense. No I won’t buy a sata cable from “ePC tech” just feels shady