reesesWeb

I've used Amazon zShops/Marketplace for a while, at least since '99 or so. Up until very recently, I've had very good luck. I used it mostly for out-of-print books, but also occasionally for what appeared to be a good deal on a book I was going to buy anyway. "Hmm, $30 or $50, guess I'll take the $30!" Sure, you miss free shipping, but sometimes you have to be cheap.

Until now.

Let's just cover the fact that I order a lot of stuff from Amazon. My first order was in '97 or so, and I peaked at about 80 orders in 1999, trending down to about 30 so far this year, with an AOV of about $100-150.

Lots of stuff from Amazon. The concierge calls Mrs. Reeses the "package lady" because I go through a lot of books and am never here to sign.

A couple months ago, I ordered Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture, in hardcover, for about $35, less than the $50 Amazon price. Decent deal, new condition, etc.

A week or so later, really quickly, actually, I receive a paperback "chinese only" copy of the book. The text is in english, so it's still useful, and not really worth the hassle to track down.

Around the same time, I ordered another book. Looking at my open orders the other day to see what I'd be getting in the near future (to avoid double orders or buying the same thing at a b&n) I noticed a book that had supposedly shipped, hadn't arrived, and was very overdue.

Now, one of the problems with Amazon Marketplace sellers is that you have to do a lot of your problem resolution with the seller, rather than Amazon. You have to email them, accuse them, negotiate with them, etc. Only then, and only more than 30 days after the order, can you ask Amazon to refund your purchase.

They may or may not choose to refund your money, they may or may not choose to refund shipping, and they won't let you file more than three claims. Ever. Which sucks when you have a lot of orders in flight, and hit a bad run of flakes.

The thing that boggles my mind is that the seller of the most recent book has an incredible amount of horrendous feedback. A huge number of 1/5s (the minimum feedback score) with purchasers claiming that items were never shipped.

Amazon has done nothing in this case, and undoubtedly others, to filter out sellers such as these. At the very least, if a seller gets a certain low number of bad feedback entries in a brief time period, all of their listings should be suspended and removed from the site. It looks as if this has finally been done for this particular seller.

4 out of 5: "even though i never received the item, the seller was helpful and understanding and had no trouble pointing me in the direction of filing a claim. at least there was good communication"

The other amazing thing is the absolutely naivete or stupidity of the customers. 4/5 and you didn't receive the item?

5 out of 5: "My book was stolen enroute and the very fact that the seller was kind enough to tell me before I had to ask meant a lot. So although no book, I would go through this seller again."

Stolen? How would the seller know? You believed this BS?

1 out of 5: "Book never came. It is hard to believe that the postal service is so bad that 20% of florence-clark orders never arrive. Will not use again."

Indeed. Perhaps Amazon should list the most recent negative feedback on the "new and used" page for each seller's entry.

Or, I can do what I've already resolved to do, and no longer use Amazon Marketplace.

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