Seller reviews are manipulated anyway. I once left a bad review of a seller regularly spamming me about my purchase months after I made it, and within a couple days (maybe faster) it was removed, replaced with someone else's review praising them for what I was complaining about. I have no trust in any ratings on Amazon, products or sellers.

I'd like to believe that all these bad practices will eventually result in their reputation going down and then losing significant market share.

However, I'm afraid our discussion here is far removed from the average consumer. I bet that the merchant info was made harder to find because so few people ever clicked it.

For most products I now prefer other sources where possible. However, the convenience still drives me there for many purchases. At the same time it anecdotally feels like I see more Amazon trucks come by my neighborhood. I'm sure most people fall into a spaces where they don't care enough and it's just too convenient to so in Amazon. Their great shipping and return logistics also make up for a lot. Their deliveries are so much faster and reliable than most competitors. I can order from a great vendor, but if they ship via FedEx it will take forever to get here and frequently the delivery date just changes to "pending" for weeks. This had never hairnet with Amazon. It might be fake, but I know when I get it and when it's ten stops away. If it's crap, I can drop it off without envelope or box next time I buy my groceries at Jeff's/Whole Foods.

It's shitty and maybe even offensive but so convenient.

> AFAIK you can't do that anymore

You can. But the correct link is somewhere on the right below the "add to cart" button and not the one in the "sold by [xyz]" info.