christopher r.

I wrote a review BELOW of my past experience with AMAZON.
Like others. I was hooked and was genuinely impressed with their service.
Unfortunately this has changed drastically. ALL AMAZONS DOING.

It's also important to know. I'm still with Amazon.
So no gripes or anything like that. I'm just not hooked or even happy anymore.
I am as a buyer. Just so disapointed with their new attitude towards their customers.
Every single change has been to benefit amazon.
"EVEN IF IT HURTS THE BUYER"
Amazon first."Profit" Buyer can go elsewhere if they don't like it attitude.

I will make it simple and just list the reasons.
1 - They remmoved the facility to see which seller will ship overseas. This is a nightmare now for overseas buyers OR sending gifts to family overseas.It also DIVERTS all buyers to Amazon themselves. Bypassing other cheaper sellers.
2 - Amazon seller charges. I do not sell there so no unhappy seller nonsence. Just a buyer.
Did you know they charge their up to 48% of a sale in fees. Seller provides item. Pays the postage. All vat plus all other costs out of the rest. 52%.
Think carefully about that.
IE. You are paying almost double for amazons greed. Shocking!

3 - They have removed or Basically Hidden or extremely difficult to find icons to purchase from other sellers.
Again forcefully diverting buyers to Amazons own items. I want to clearly see all offers from ALL sellers.To pick the best item or offer. That suits ME.Not Amazon.

4 - They have Increased their fees to all their sellers. By a HUGE MARGIN. 3-400% in some cases. Remember who pays these in the end.It's the buyer. YOU.

5 - Your wish list. This really was a wonderful item for buyers who like to save for later purchases and very enjoyable in the evening after work with a cup of tea and a quick browse for people like myself.Its no longer usable. Deliberately by amazon. They want you to go straight to their buy box and buy.It's still there. But its impossible to use. They put in a scrolling system that makes it unusable. Deliberately.

6 - The delivery times and the quality of items has Degraded to a shocking level.
I could not understand why they let this happen.so i asked a friend in the uk who sells on amazon. WHY?.
It seems their new warehouses that store items for some sellers. Now remove any feedback not praising amazon is REMOVED. Hence sellers can ship anything without worry of losing sales etc. I believe this does not effect private sellers who ship their own items.So if their feedback is good.It is genuine and safer to purchase from.
Shipping times my friend says. HIS OPINION ONLY PLEASE.
That Amazon have overstretched themselves with all these warehouses and can no longer keep control of everything. Items getting lost, broken and basically stuff anything into the package just to get it out of the warehouse.
That is not Amazons old policy of keep everything perfect for buyers.No quality, No care or worry of how buyers feel. Getting your childs christmas present with a sticker on the box.NO PACKAGING. Child collects xmas present from postman etc. This is just one example.

7- A simple one. You can no longer email amazon on 90% of issues as this facility has been remmoved. WHY? This is the age of email communication. Yet they remmoved it.Not everyone CAN or WANTS to talk through a phone or computer!

8 - Their PRIME service is a joke. Too many issues to write. But you can read all about this online. There is lots of horror stories to back up this statement.
You really should read some of them before paying for this service.

9 - Their catalogue. You can't find anything anymore.If you do. You really need to study it and try to find connnnections to other items and sellers. What your shown.IF you can get that far.IS what amazon want you to see.Not neseccarily what you want.
OR worse. Search for say example a book. You will see every book in the catalogue. Except the one you actually want.Or a million chinese items not even related to the item your searching for.ETC. ETC.

10 - This one is more of a question than a statement.
On most selling sites they have FORUMS.
Places on the site where BUYERS and sellers can go to see about problems, issues, price hikes and a host of different problems OR improvements on the site. This can be a great help to buyers. Asking sellers advice etc.
AMAZON deliberately BLOCK all buyers from seeing these forums.
WHY. Simple really.On the forums you can see ALL the different problems.
PRICE HIKES. Warehouse muck ups, sneaky site changes to benefit AMAZON.
Amazon seller fees,(They definately don't want buyers too see these) and Thousands of different issues on the site That they PREFER buyers didn't know about.On these forums you really do see what amazon thinks of buyers and their Take it or go away attitude about YOU. Their customers.
I only got to read them for about 90mins and even in that short time. What i read was an eye oppener.

There is dozens more issues that have risen in the last few years. I can't list them all.
But i left my original review on the bottom.
You can see. I loved amazon. I truly did appreciate it's service and customer care.
The change between both reviews is extreme and so disapointing.
I want my old amazon back.

OLD REVIEW
This review is based on my experience with amazon uk and may differ from others experience on the site.
In short
The good
1- You only have to give amazon your details, Credit card no.etc once.
After that everything is automatic.
2 - Their cusomer service is very efficent. Problems are sorted hassle free. They are Quick to reply to problems and any queries you might have.
3 - Prices are mostly Excellent, You get the odd item thats a bit overpriced, But in general if your looking for a Good price on anything, Amazon will Nearly always equal or better their competitors prices.
4 - Delivery is (Nearly always) very fast and Efficent. Although you may have to wait for some items. Items are well packed and Easy to open.(A bit over protected in some cases.ie a large box for a small item)If your an Enviromentalist then you might be a bit Concious of the fact that some items have far too much packaging, which is usually just thrown in the bin.
5 - They have on occasions some very good deals and sales.
6 - If you have a problem with any of their private sellers. They take responsibility for the order. They will sort any problems out if possible OR they will refund you for the item Themselves and then deal with the seller themselves without bothering you.
The Bad
1 - Their Quality of the item checking before shipping is not the best. I have personally been shipped a few very poor quality, damaged etc items. They will always sort it for you afterwards, refunds etc. But I would prefer if they put the extra effort into their quality checks in the first place, rather than have to go through the hassle of contacting them and having to complain.It's very Uncomfortable for buyers to do this. Especially if you have to do it a few times.
2 - As all amazon buyers know. Their shipping times on a small number of orders.Not always. 5-10% Can sometimes take days or even weeks for an item even to be dispatched. I don't care how well an item is packed if they are going to make me wait weeks for Simple orders.
3 - Some of the private sellers on amazon (90% are excellent)are not fit to sell online.
You may get the item cheap. But you will wait weeks to receive it and Some of the items you eventually receive are Really and truly not fit for anything but the bin. Horendous condition items. Their Largest dvd, games seller is liable to ship you any sort of rubbish just to fulfill their orders. They are also notorious for selling items they don't have in stock. This is a selling ploy to get every sale before every other seller can. Too keep all the business for themselves. Even if it means Upsetting any potential buyers. Buyers and service don't matter. All that matters is grabbing every sale and their profits. This is definately not the type of seller to be on a quality and supreme service site like Amazon.
4 - truthfully. You have to be carefull with their sales. Items are not always fairly priced.
You can purchase an item in a sale. Then find the same item 24hrs later in no sale at a much better price. This is misleading and unethical and not what i expect from amazon.
5 - Amazon Warehouse deals can be a bit of a gamble. Some of the items shipped are to say the least, poorly described.Or to be honest, Definately not as described. Avoid if possible. They don't actually give you much of a saving from the original price.So pay the bit extra and save on the returns hassle.
To Sum it all up
I personally find Amazon to be Excellent.As long as you understand beforehand that you may have to wait a bit for your items and avoid the few appalling private sellers.(As i said. 90% of them are excellent and provide an excellent service). You Can't beat the prices and service anywhere.
For Me.It is by far the best online shoppig site i have found online and i do a lot of my shopping online. 90% out of 100 for everything.

In Short
The Good
1- Fees are mostly a once off Lifetime Fee - Excellent
2 - You Still have the option to use paypal
3 - Site is easy to use and very easy to list items
4 - There is none of the DSR nonsense and FEAR of LOSING YOUR BUSINESS and livelyhood that ebay seem determined to implement on their site and to their loyal sellers?
5 - I personally have found the ebid Support team efficient, reasonable, fast(no 4 hour phone calls)and very polite.
6 - They have a very nice buddy points system that actually shows they care, appreciate and want to reward their loyal customers. You don't get a lot, but you do feel appreciated.
The Unfortunate Bad
1 - Ebid won't Advertise so it is very difficult to get new customers and high traffic
2 - The Existing customer base is very small, They are very loyal to each other and ebid. But very small Unfortunately.
Truthfully, There is not another bad thing I can say about Ebid.
I enjoy using the site and have generated a few sales there.
But most Importantly I feel like a Valuable and Appreciated Member. That to me personally means A Lot.
I would Recommend the site to anyone as an alternative to ebay.
But keep in mind, If you want to sell in volume. You have to Stick with ebay and their Soul Destroying, Nerve Wrecking Rules. Which is a pity.As once upon a time it was a Fun and Enjoyable place to spend a few Hours of your Free time.
Im not sure if this is allowed but Hopefully Sitejabber Won't Mind So
Heres a Link fo ebid
http://ie.ebid.net/buddy/*******