Shocked by Amazon pricing

[MJconfessions]

I seem to be living under a rock, because I thought Amazon was the go-to for cheap things. Maybe it was like a decade ago but I haven’t realised the shift?

My Amazon wish list is probably over £1k, for relatively basic/unbranded/nice to have home items.

It randomly dawned on me check TikTok shop - there’s literally the same items there for a fraction of the price. Generally everything is at least £10-20 cheaper with free delivery, some items have more of a discount. It’s shocking considering the same items on Amazon have 1000s of reviews so presumably people are paying the higher prices completely unaware.

Feel like I have been living under a rock. Is there anything else I’m missing out on?

This is exactly what I was meant but you articulated it far better than I did. I think a lot of these companies replicate the items on places like Amazon but can do it cheaper because they’re not being held to the same standards so they may in fact look identical but in reality the story is probably far different.

I use it for convenience I can order at 4 and get something by 8. I love amazon!

They're all just drop shipping sites for selling on shit from Ali baba

That’s odd, especially as it accepts payment methods like PayPal which should offer a layer of protection

Yes, exactly. @Hyperbowl I think you have it the wrong way around, your point of view is quite bizarre. It’s not that Amazon has high quality products and Temu (etc) produce a bootleg version to imitate Amazon with cheaper materials as you suggest.

It is that the item is sold on Temu initially and then resold on Amazon - it is the exact same quality, same measurements, same manufacturer, same materials. It’s not that Amazon has any specific requirements over and above that, they will sell the exact same thing with no further vetting.

Sadly I don’t think it was done through PayPal just through a normal debit card payment.

This..
Convenient but mostly has a markup on everything

Check that the seller is actually Amazon NOT fulfilled by Amazon (seller ships stock to an Amazon Warehouse & Amazon then sends out for them - they pay Amazon a fee for their service) or a 3rd Party Seller who ships their own orders.
These are not always genuine products/good quality. Can be fine but is a risk you take.

Also their return policy (3rd Party sellers) may be you have to return to China or Hong Kong - at your cost. They may say you will be refunded postage on receipt but in my view is not worth the hassle!
So I only buy from Amazon where Amazon are the seller & I am confident of being able to return without problem.

I only buy from 3rd Party Sellers if I am prepared to accept risk of not being able to return item. Though if is faulty I have been able to get refunds by talking to Amazon Customer Service.

So read item description carefully & check who you're actually buying from.

Also you can track Amazon prices on camelcamelcamel.com and see if is good value or not.

Sorry, I misunderstood what you meant. You mean third party sellers on Amazon and not directly sold and dispatched from Amazon I understand what you mean now. Not quite sure why that took me so long to make the connection but there we go, my mistake.

Back to your original question at hand. I think the same applies across the board to lots of sites such as EBay and Vinted and such like not just Amazon as a stand alone company. Scalpers and sellers with inflated prices are also rife on Ebay. Sellers just charge what they charge because a lot of people trust places like Amazon and EBay because they offer a high standard of protection when it comes to refunds of faulty products and no show deliveries so they will pay the higher price believing they’re getting quality. It’s misleading and Amazon need to have much tighter controls but that’s a separate story altogether.

Amazon used to be highly competitive for the products they sold and dispatched themselves years ago but I think they’re about on par and sometimes a bit more expensive than other shops these days. I find Argos particularly good for an array of products but wouldn’t personally buy anything from a third party seller that wasn’t well a known brand but that’s personal preference at the end of the day. You risk receiving a lot of tat otherwise. There is a lot of truth in the saying buy cheap, but twice.

Ultimately l just think sellers riding on the coat-tails of Amazon being a global giant is why they push the price up. You’re ultimately paying for financial security and the low hassle returns policies. Amazon will more often than not take responsibility for any orders that aren’t up to par because they can afford to do so.

Always worth checking prices elsewhere

My DD uses TikTok and Shein, delivery is ages and patchy and some stuff is rubbish, but she is generally satisfied with what she gets and it's cheaper than Amazon.

I use Amazon for the convenience, for it's fast delivery and ridiculously easy returns.

Amazon is reliable and has good customer service and protections. They are maintaining their deliveries when other couriers are struggling near us - I'm looking at you Evri. Often the same sellers are on eBay selling the very same products slightly cheaper than on Amazon. Customer service, etc are both good.

The crap search filters on Amazon drive me mad!

Was always Jeff’s plan. There is a reason he is worth more than $200bn.

I find Amazon very convenient and generally only buy brands anyway and check I'm getting the best price

They will replicate (ish) items from major brands so you'll have say a Phillips Bluetooth speaker, and then a random unbranded bluetooth speaker which is fairly similar in shape and features, but unlike say the difference between the "Acoustic Solutions" (£12) bluetooth speaker (random cheapest item in Argos catalogue) and Phillips (£50), it won't be that you'll get more basic sound quality and a less convenient charger and less of a warranty, you'll be risking potential electrical danger and the plastic used might be toxic.

The Amazon unbranded ones are generally priced similar to how you'd find cheap-but-not-dangerous products in the UK generally e.g. a random Amazon non brand bluetooth speaker is about £10.

But you can get the same item on AliExpress or similar for about £3.

It would be a mistake to assume the £10 Amazon speaker and £12 Argos speaker are of similar quality because of the price being similar. They are likely not.

We (consumers) are used to the idea that the £12 Argos speaker exist and are basically fine and do the same job as the £50 Phillips one, but might last less long/be less durable/be annoying to use or low quality.

What people are not used to is the fact that the speaker they pay £10 for is actually worth about £3 and could pose a serious hazard.

Thanks everyone. Totally agree that Amazon is super convenient, I order way too much from them just because I know I’ll get free and fast delivery! Their customer service is generally fuss free too. So there’s certainly benefits.

I did order a couple of bits from TikTok and Temu out of curiosity. I might keep this thread updated when items arrive if anyone is interested. I got a motion sensor bathroom bin, a personalised Santa gift sack and Christmas baubles. Exact same items were on Amazon for much more, we’ll see what happens. I made sure to pay using PayPal and under a different email address etc taking on board the feedback here.

This is interesting actually. I distinctly remember Amazon being the go-to for cheaper than the high street a decade ago.

They probably rode that popularity and have changed switched image to being reliable and dependable, and now essentially cost the same as the high street. Maybe this is the secret to their success!

@MJconfessions an awful lot of stuff on Amazon is not sold by Amazon these days as well. Lots
of other companies sell on Amazon as well as their own sites so as not to miss out. Oftrn multiple sellers selling the same thing, too.

I do the same

I haven’t realised that you can buy something from TikTok.
I was clearly living under a rock.
I use Amazon.

I have had stuff from TT and all been fine but Amazon often faster and TT sometimes uses Evri which is hopeless where I am
Yes TT usually significantly cheaper.
I just wish they would make delivery company obvious on listings - I think all sites should