The Dark Side of Amazon
I bet you thought this was going to be all about how bad Amazon is. Actually, I would like to say why Amazon is so great. Sorry to disappoint you if you were looking for something nasty to get you excited.
Amazon is great for customers because:
- They sell almost any product you could want to buy, except for really big things like houses or areas of land.
- You can read what other customers thought of the product.
- They have low prices on many products.
- You can often get free delivery.
Amazon is also great for affiliates because:
- No matter what niche you are in, if you are too lazy to look for a niche-specific affilite program, you can find related products on Amazon.
- Once a customer is on Amazon, they will often by other products and you will still get commission for that.
But wait...there are some bad things too
Yes, that's right, I am going to talk about some dark things as well. I know, these twists and turns are messing with your head. I'm not going to apologise. It keeps things interesting. It's why you read my stuff.
Amazon is bad for affiliates because:
- The cookie only lasts 24 hours, so if someone buys something 2 days after clicking your affiliate link, Amazon greedily keeps all the money.
- The commission rate is low when compared to something like ClickBank.
Amazon is bad for their exmployees because:
- Warehouse staff are treated like robots and given extremely difficult targets.
- They are pushed until they are stressed, which makes them ill.
- If they get ill too much, they lose their job.
- Delivery drivers are given impossible targets too, which may cause them to drive dangerously.
Amazon is also bad for customers because:
F***ing Amazon Prime, dammit! They trick you into buying it!
Only a few days ago I showed my mother that she had unknowleingly signed up for a year of Amazon Prime back at the start of the year. It must have happened in December when she ordered Christmas presents for the family. She must have got that first month for free and then the first payment happened in January. £79, the cheeky bastards!
She was able to get about £53 or something refunded, but that's not the point! This should never have happened in the first place!
It even happened to me recently. I accidently got the free month of Prime, but immediately realised and then cancelled it straight away.
But it makes me wonder, how many other people have been tricked like this? And how much Amazon's profits come from this deceptive behaviour?
Maybe his is why Amazon is able to keep its prices so low on so many products? They treat their staff like shit and they trick their customers into signing up to Prime.
But boycotting Amazon may not be the answer...
While it's tempting to think that avoiding Amazon would be a good reaction to this, it might not be.
Think about it (what a stupid thing to say, of course you are already thinking about it). If loads of people all stopped buying things from Amazon, their profits would drop, so their prices would increase and they would probably treat their staff even worse.
Delivery drivers might drive so dangerously they run pedestrians over. Warehouse workers might become so enraged that their workmates have been made redundant that they go insane and set fire to things. A manager might get tied to a chair...
But is this just the way businesses behave?
It's probably not beneficial to single out one company, when lots of companies probably behave like this too.
I mean, if we're going to boycott Amazon for behaving like evil overlords, people should avoid buying Apple products too. The workers that make Apple products do so in AWFUL conditions.
And by extension, would that also mean boycotting Wealthy Affiliate, since Kyle and Carson use Apple products?
And if rich companies like Amazon and Apple treat people like shit, what about less rich companies? Were the workers who built my laptop PC treated any better? Are the warehouse workers who dispatch my eBay orders treated any better?
What were the people who made the cheap clothes I wear treated like?
I have no idea.
Sorry, I never promised answers...
Anyway, take this big steaming turd I've placed on your lap and discuss it...
Recent Comments
31
The 2 reasons that you listed as being the negative ideal about Amazon - extremely low commission rates as an affiliate plus that 24-hour cookie rule is the reason why I have never liked the company.
Amazon - the typical big company that only looks at its bottom line dollar revenues it makes daily.
Yes, you've said it! Deep down, I know these things... but my "consumerism" or the "materialistic" part of me, sadly overtakes this concern from me. It's awful - I know! But at least, if this is the way I am going to live - I need to remember the work/conditions that I receive all my "things" - my "things" that I don't always need, but rather, just want. Thanks for the reminder :) It helps give insight for myself that I could always be more appreciative.
Like WA Marcus you have to navigate their labyrinth of rules and you should be OK without losing your status!
A great even handed review!
Big steaming turd...Yuk!
I wound up with a year of Amazon Prime. I can't do the free months anywhere because even writing it down, I remember when I get charged. WA also uses Amazon's Computing Services (is why all the avatars went into ghost mode a few weeks ago.)
I kept track of my Amazon Prime account and by the end of the year, found I paid $100 to save $37. It's just another consumer mouse trap because I simply didn't use it enough to benefit.
You can be sure I remembered it the next time around and didn't get charged another year.
Most big businesses have that, just as Marcus has indicated. They want you to think you're getting a bargain and you're not.
Ha! I'm happy there was a glitch with signing up when I first started. This is terrible! It's out now and more will find out, eventually kicking Amazon to the curb.
Yeah.. it really saddens me, if I think of it that how poor people are treated. Forget about big companies or even small enterprise. How do we treat the maid at home or the weeper on the Roads? We all are in one or the other guilty of it. :(
I wish people start treating others the way they want to be treated.
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All corporations have good and bad...
True