
Amazon’s share of the US e-commerce market is now 49% - base
https://techcrunch.com/2018/07/13/amazons-share-of-the-us-e-commerce-market-is-now-49-or-5-of-all-retail-spend/
======
rcar1046
Almost every Amazon thread on HN seems to devolve into stories of receiving
counterfeit goods. I order around 10 items per week on Amazon and have never
received anything counterfeit or suspect over a decade of shopping.

It takes very little effort to weed out bad actors imo. Perhaps this is a case
of the negative experiences only being shared? Or...I'm better at online
shopping. I'm guessing the former, but it gets tiring watching companies grow
from loved to hated once they reach such a critical mass.

Nobody likes to root for the favorite I suppose.

~~~
freehunter
I’m pretty sure I’ve left this exact same comment multiple times in the past.
Can’t believe people complain, what kind of research are you doing, I’m better
at hunting down real items and you’re bad at it, etc. I could not believe
people would fall for counterfeit items.

Until one day, I got one. Brand name product that I could buy at Walmart, tons
of 5 star reviews, sold by the real manufacturer, legit product page. But
still I got a fake item. Obviously fake. I sent it back, no problem, got a
real one in return. And then it happened again. And again. I buy probably 2-3
items per week on Amazon, and one item every month or two comes in a fake. SD
cards are particularly awful, but brand name cables are just as bad. I’ve
gotten fake bags and clothes too. I ordered a brand name, well reviewed shower
curtain, got what was obviously a display model for a retail store because it
was about 6” tall. Not a real shower curtain.

I’ve also had their terrible quality control go the other way: four times in
the past year I’ve bought one item and received one case of the item. Still
only charged for one, so it’s a win. But it’s a sign of awful quality control.
I ordered one 128GB USB drive and got a case of 6. I ordered one bag of
sunflower seeds and got a case of 12.

I used to leave comments just like you, telling everyone else that it’s their
fault they get counterfeit items from Amazon. And then it started happening to
me.

~~~
TheRealDunkirk
Amazon is hanging itself with its own rope here, and leaving the door wide
open to places like Wayfair. We need more focused, curated, and transparent
shopping sites. I am buying MORE tech from Best Buy these days, because
they've done the curation. No matter what the reviews say -- and they're
basically all useless, at this point -- BB isn't going to carry a turd that
has a high rate of return on their precious shelf space. And, if that _does_
happen, a physical return is even easier than repackaging something and
dropping it off at the UPS store. I hope others follow in the wake of the mess
that Amazon has allowed to fester, and capitalize on the opportunity to be
more trustworthy.

------
pnathan
Time and again I can't find what I'm looking for in brick and mortar, but it's
on Amazon. Original companies don't always have a direct sales arm.

I avoid buying gadgets from Amazon, but other than that... ::shrug:: They've
got it nailed. Worlds better than brick and mortar for non-boutique goods.

~~~
taurath
I went shopping for some cal king bedsheets last week. Bed Bath & Beyond had 1
set - the warmest sheets possible, in the middle of summer. Macys had 0.
Target had 0.

Then I went on amazon - the only sheets that were on prime with a good rating
were $60 sets of... dubious quality, and half the ratings seemed like they
were fake (almost all "recent" reviews were 1 stars). I ended up finding a
(much more expensive) specialized sheet co, but am waiting 2 weeks for the
delivery (4 day delivery cost $30!!).

It really kind of sucks, because I used to rely on Amazon for this sort of
stuff - I WANT to buy stuff on Prime but I might as well be shopping at a
street market half the time.

~~~
reaperducer
It was very weird reading your comment, because I went down the same rabbit
hole a few months ago. Nothing in BB&B, Target, or Macy's. Lots in Amazon, but
all looked fake. (3,500 thread count? How dumb do I look?)

Ended up getting them in a really weird B&M place. I'd never buy sheets on
Amazon.

Also, I'll probably never get another calking sized bed.

~~~
rubicon33
Would either you, or the post above you, mind sharing where you ended up
getting your sheets from?

My wife is obsessed with nice sheets, but feels like what we got from Amazon
isn't what they said it was. I didn't even realize until now, how that might
be true. So I'd like to buy some nice sheets from a reputable source. I don't
mind waiting for shipping.

~~~
reaperducer
Ended up getting it from a place that liquidates casino furniture.

In addition to used stuff, you can get some new things because the casinos buy
so much extra and hold it in a warehouse for when it's needed.

When the casinos redecorate or rebrand, the old furnishings, etc... go to the
liquidator. They don't sell old sheets or mattresses, because that's illegal.

I also landed a (used) desk from some suite at Caesars Palace that looks like
it's straight out of a 1960's Elizabeth Taylor movie, with lions on it and
everything. I feel like a king at my computer. Also, a bunch of those folding
wooden luggage racks for a buck a piece. Very useful.

~~~
fosk
Mind sharing how would I find such a reseller? Any links?

------
verelo
Good. Today i called Amazon to complain something i ordered never arrived. No
questions asked refunded. Needed it urgently so went to a brick and mortar
store down the road to buy it. 3x the price, and they took 15 minutes to
process my sale. If anyone wants to match the amazon experience anywhere else
in my life, take my money!

~~~
dmm
Hopefully you don't buy anything that goes on or in your body from Amazon.

Fake Dove Soap:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17217290](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17217290)

Fake Diapers: [https://jenniferlabit.com/2016/07/21/counterfeit-baby-
produc...](https://jenniferlabit.com/2016/07/21/counterfeit-baby-products-
sold-at-amazon/)

Fake Eclipse Glasses: Tons of stories

Amazon has a bad counterfeit problem. The way they co-mingle stock is crazy.
You can't even trust reviews because the review might be describing a
completely different product.

EDIT: Counterfeit books! [http://davidgaughran.com/2017/06/03/amazon-has-a-
fake-book-p...](http://davidgaughran.com/2017/06/03/amazon-has-a-fake-book-
problem/)

~~~
ma2rten
I don't think I ever got a counterfeit item on Amazon. The fact that there are
news stories about specific counterfeit items (and not the problem in
general), indicates to me that it's not as widespread.

~~~
sbov
More often than not, electronics stuff I've bought on Amazon have been
unsatisfactory in some way, such as: counterfeit, was obviously returned by
someone else, parts missing, obviously broken, etc.

Their return policy helps with this, but I don't have anywhere near this level
of problem at Best Buy or Newegg. So I don't buy electronics on Amazon
anymore, even if they're cheaper.

~~~
tracker1
I can't understate how disappointed I am that NewEgg is offering 3rd party
sellers access now...

------
dawhizkid
Amazon search, reviews, product ratings have been completely gamed by third
party sellers.

Type in "wireless headphones" and the top results is completely full of
counterfeit or knockoff goods. It's shocking how little news this makes in
major publications.

~~~
S7012MY
I think when you're buying an expensive item, you should do your research
first on the internet, find the best item for you and then order it.

~~~
germanier
Google search results are absolutely littered with fake review sites that have
never actually have tested the products they claim, usually just reiterating
the Amazon product pages (which is only obvious once you know that this is a
thing). It's extremely hard to find a real review in a product category you
are not an expert in to the point where I have just given up.

~~~
sincerely
Something i've had success with is finding the appropriate subreddit for that
product category - they'll often have a "simple questions / what should i buy
" sticky thread or the sidebar will link to some infographics about the
established best buys at various pricepoints.

------
atonse
When I wanted to buy a Hakko Soldering Iron, I heard that there are
counterfeit ones on Amazon. So instead of getting 2 day shipping, I got the
nearly 1+ week shipping direct from Hakko. But I know it'll be authentic.

Same with Adafruit products, and I'm increasingly noticing that if I want to
make sure something absolutely won't be fake, I buy direct from the retailer.

It sucks. You get spoiled by Amazon's amazing "free" shipping especially if
you're a prime member.

But it's more important to me that a product is genuine. I'll learn to be a
bit more patient.

~~~
m-p-3
Woupd be nice if they had a "Verified" symbol on the seller's name if it
actually comes from that brand, kind of like with Twitter accounts.

~~~
eloff
The problem is worse than that. They mix the inventory from all sellers,
including themselves, for the same product. So all it takes is one counterfeit
seller to poison the whole well.

~~~
toomuchtodo
I’m surprised there hasn’t been a coordinated effort against Amazon by an
attacker using this strategy (poisoning the well at scale). That’d fix their
comingling problem straight away.

~~~
callalex
That sounds like a quick way to end up in prison for a long time.

~~~
toomuchtodo
Amazon flagrantly sells counterfeits due to comingling. Repercussions? Zero.
As long as you're outside of US jurisdiction, the chances of you being
prosecuted are close enough to zero to round down.

------
ur-whale
Is US e-commerce susceptible to 51% attacks?

~~~
mattbeckman
If all other e-commerce outlets banded together, they could double spend at
Amazon.

------
lawrenceyan
A company that Amazon can learn a lot from is JD.com in regards to counterfeit
items and customer trust. When you buy a product using JD backed shipping, you
are guaranteed to get a real product, which is especially important in a
country like China where authenticity is extremely coveted in a world of
frauds/fakes.

It might not be as highly held in people's minds here in the US, but I still
think there's a limit, and Amazon has definitely crossed it at this point.
Continuing to allow the amount of counterfeit goods that currently circulates
throughout their warehouses will permanently stain Amazon's reputation if
something isn't done soon. Trust is difficult build up, and almost impossible
to regain once lost.

~~~
fenwick67
To be fair Amazon also "guarantees" you won't receive conterfeits, you can
return a counterfeit and get your money back.

~~~
rasz
To return something you first have to receive it.

~~~
jopsen
If it doesn't arrive, they'll also refund you...

IMO, the problem with returns is the cost of sending it back, it terms of time
wasted by me.

Back in the good old days some supermarkets would hand you a gift if you
pointed out products that were expired, etc..

Amazon could just pay a 50% reward whenever counterfeit products are returned.
The liability could easily be passed to the responsible seller.

------
jamestimmins
I suspect the defense (whether it's valid or not is for lawyers to debate) is
that if 68% of Amazon's sales are the result of other sellers using their
marketplace, it isn't quite accurate to say that these sales belong to Amazon.

~~~
adventured
They're increasingly nothing more than a platform like eBay or Alibaba (soon
they'll have the ad business to match). However that won't save them from
having to be careful as their dominance continues to increase. If you own the
$200 billion platform, you wield the power, not the little guy selling $100k
or $1m worth of merchandise per year. Regulators will focus on the platform
owner and any broad market abuses that harm consumers. Bezos potentially going
toward $200 billion in personal wealth guarantees they'll perpetually be a
target, it doesn't matter how good they are to consumers, that much
concentrated economic power terrifies a lot of people; his wealth alone will
be taken by many as evidence of wrong doing, it's a lightning rod for
attention. Gates solved that by pledging to give most of his wealth away and
moving to philanthropy as a primary focus. Bezos is going to have a harder
time based on what he has said he plans to do (assuming Amazon's insane
valuation doesn't implode after this round of the asset inflation party ends).

~~~
jpao79
I think what's also interesting is that now that Microsoft is awake with
Nadella at the helm and presenting a viable alternative, will Amazon's cloud
business start losing marketshare.

If I were say, Procter and Gamble/Clorox (Consumer Staples), Macy's (Consumer
Discretionary), Visa/Fedex (E-Commerce), Aetna (Healthcare) if I were going to
look at options for cloud, would I host my enterprise on Amazon who is
actively trying compete with me and provide the end customer with alternatives
to my product/services? Or would I go with a vertical pure play cloud services
provider like Microsoft.

------
foxhop
Does anyone understand just how bad this statistic, if true, is?

It almost seems like there is room for somebody to disrupt Amazon by building
a better e-commerce mousetrap and getting multiple retailers and distributors
to co'operate with it.

~~~
aiyodev
Sears, Roebuck and Company used to own 100% of the market. Look at where they
are today.

~~~
ryanmercer
They had a good chunk of the toilet paper market covered too, their catalogs.
Seriously. My grandfather would regularly tell me about having to wipe his
butt with pages from the Sears catalog when he was a kid on the farm.

------
dredmorbius
The big news here for me is the well-below-forecast growth of ecommerce.

I'd first noted this for years ago[1]. In an earlier, 2010 TechCrunch
piece,[2] Forrester Research predicted a $250 billion e-commerce market, 8% of
all retail, by 2014. We're just barely reaching 10% in 2018.

U.S. census estimated 5.3% in 2013.[3]

The hype's not measuring up. E-commerce has growwth resistance.

________________________________

Notes:

1\.
[https://old.reddit.com/r/dredmorbius/comments/243in1/privacy...](https://old.reddit.com/r/dredmorbius/comments/243in1/privacy_norms_and_confusopoly_where_advertising/)

2\. [https://techcrunch.com/2010/03/08/forrester-forecast-
online-...](https://techcrunch.com/2010/03/08/forrester-forecast-online-
retail-sales-will-grow-to-250-billion-by-2014/)

3\. [https://www.sba.gov/advocacy/analysis-internet-sales-
taxatio...](https://www.sba.gov/advocacy/analysis-internet-sales-taxation-and-
small-seller-exemption)

------
deanCommie
I feel like the current backlash against Amazon fails to consider the
question: What would the alternative be if Amazon never adopted the 3rd party
Marketplace or added the international sellers?

Selection would be significantly smaller. Some percentage of items that are
currently getting overwhelmed with fraud would be available safer, sure, but
likely at a much higher price (competition lowers prices, after all).

Everyone remembers the time they got a crappy knockoff, or had to filter
through fake reviews. But most of the time, people just search for something,
buy it, and are satisfied, never having to consider whether it was only
fulfilled by Amazon.

At least there is a consistent search/shopping experience, and the refunds are
generally instantaneous and there are no questions asked. You can't say that
about dealextreme, or alibaba, or dozens of other sites we'd be forced to use
if Amazon didn't decide to take on the long tail fo sellers and become
responsible for solving the fraud use cases.

~~~
jpao79
Amazon should (and still can while there's still time before some major
negative social media event) split their website, reviews, search and
fulfillment inventory to make it clear what you are getting/who you are buying
from.

amazon.com -> the original trusted amazon, fulfilled by amazon with strict
inventory management

marketplace.amazon.com -> wild west'e-bay style', 'get what you get and don't
get upset' amazon

[Addition based on comment] Or maybe amazon-marketplace.com to further
differentiate it. It'd be similar to how Netflix split into netflix.com and
dvd.com (although I think they should have branded it netflix-dvd.com for
branding purposes).

~~~
em3rgent0rdr
Actually I like having a unified store...helps provide competition between the
marketplace and amazon's own.

Anyway, if you want to avoid marketplace, in the left column, under "Seller",
check the box next to "Amazon". (Maybe they could provide this as a permanent
setting via preferences.)

~~~
Game_Ender
This does not work because amazon commingles inventory. So anyone who ships
that item into your warehouse could end up providing the actual good your are
sold even if the “Seller” is amazon.

------
nafizh
Amazon's customer care experience is second to none. I have been a prime
member for almost 4 years now, and every time I had a problem, it was
instantly resolved, no questions asked. The only company whose customer care
is at par with them is Apple.

~~~
rochak
I think that greatly depends upon the demographics. Here in India, Apple sucks
in customer care. Amazon is ok, not too good. The number of counterfeit
products I've received is baffling.

------
mdev
I can see someone else complete by having a competitive prime product
equivalent for half the cost and remove unnecessary services. When I think
about pricing its not very obvious to tack the $99 fee onto individual orders
but you should since you're paying for it(I used to order 50+ times year from
amazon and now its down to about 10-15 so it's harder to justify). Also, I
rarely use other prime free products.

I'd be willing to move to Walmart or Google Express if they have a good
selection and lower minimums + decent shipping times in return for a small
yearly membership. I can still use amazon for larger purchases or pay a small
premium for shipping as needed.

~~~
Zelphyr
I think Jet.com tried this. If my memory serves, they were trying to be the
Costco of online retailers where they generated a significant portion of their
revenue from membership fees which would allow them to charge lower margins
for their products.

I don't know if their acquisition by Walmart was considered a good exit or not
but it seems to me that they at least didn't grow big enough and fast enough
to be a direct competitor to Amazon. Maybe they are now that they're part of
Walmart? I don't personally buy from them anymore but that's mostly due to my
disdain for Walmart.

~~~
kevin_thibedeau
I buy from them when Amazon pulls their "reserved for Prime" BS.

------
fma
Walmart had been improving but I don't know why, as big as they are, they
don't step up their game.

I ordered somethings last night (Thursday). Walmart and Amazon offered free
two day shipping.

Amazon will arrive Sunday... Walmart Tuesday, with two items arriving Friday.
All Walmart items were sold directly by Walmart and not third party.

The fact I even purchased from Walmart is a testament to their competitive
pricing s d selection... But shipping... Needs some work.

------
kbos87
Amazon is enemy #1 of small business. It blows my mind that people don’t see
this and are so quick to don a badge of how many items they order per week.

~~~
askafriend
It depends on how you define small business.

Under a different definition, Amazon is the best friend of small business
e-commerce: [https://services.amazon.com/fulfillment-by-
amazon/benefits.h...](https://services.amazon.com/fulfillment-by-
amazon/benefits.html)

------
mnm1
It's amazing they have gotten this far but can't even deliver packages
properly. The last few orders, they haven't even tried. Their new delivery
service is manned by idiots who can't even read maps. What's worse is that
they will lie and say they attempted delivery, but they don't leave a note or
anything because they don't even go by the house. I understand the job sucks
big time for the drivers, but this is unacceptable no matter what. 2 day
shipping my ass. The packages delivered with Amazon's service simply never
arrive. Then there's the matter of them closing accounts, lying that there
were some violations of __undisclosed __policy, and stealing the prime
payments. Of course people are going to return an inordinate amount of stuff
when most of the stuff available to buy is fake or shoddy quality. Every time
I go back and give them another chance, I regret it. I guess others are less
sensitive to such issues.

------
mynameishere
I've been using walmart.com occasionally and honestly it reminds me of how
Amazon used to be: A smaller selection but no weird spammy cruft. Amazon makes
a lot of money on sketchy 3rd parties. Also no "premium" membership ripoff (ie
prime). You still have to use amazon for reviews though.

~~~
simonbarker87
I agree on the sketchy third parties but why do you say Prime is a rip-off?
You get TV and movies and free next day delivery (in the UK) on basically
everything - feels like a good deal to me.

~~~
abruzzi
I’m not sure I’d use the term ripoff either, but prime is essentially there to
tie people into using amazon. Once you’ve committed the $x/yr for prime it is
there to compel you to spend more to make sure you get your money’s worth.
Amazon could just as easily lower the prices of what they sell, or the cost of
shipping, and not force people to buy in to a “club” membership. In my case I
buy one or two things from Amazon a year, and have no interest in their
streaming content, so whatever they’re charging these days for prime isn’t
worth it.

------
jaclaz
A curious thing that happened me last month.

I needed one of those kits (the "professional" ones) to try and remove dents
from car bodies with hot glue, dent puller, etc.

A "real" professional kit costs around 400-500 Euros here (Italy) and since I
needed it only for a small experiment (attempting to straighten a collapsed
stainless steel fume pipe) I wasn't going to get one of those.

After finding on e-bay an _el cheapo_ (but not too shabby) Chinese kit with
just the stuff I needed (some have also mirrors and levers I didnt need) for
around 70 euro, I ordered it (and got a valid receipt/invoice from the seller)
and two or three days later the box arrived _directly from Amazon_!

------
mikestew
I'm all set to jump on the Amazon hate bandwagon, and I'm tryin', I really am.
So when I wanted window shadows for our RV, I thought I'd give the non-Amazon
shop a shot. They had what I wanted, order page was tidy, item arrives in
short order, and the shades are better quality than I expected. Happy
customer!

Until two days later and my bank calls, telling me my CC is compromised. Now,
I can't say for sure it was the online vendor's fault. But in summary, I would
hesitate to order from them again.

~~~
d4l3k
I've been using [https://privacy.com/](https://privacy.com/) to prevent this
exact kind of thing.

~~~
pnathan
Huh, never heard of them before. Interesting concept, but the in-browser
replacements worry me. Know of any service that does disposable CCs without
the in-browser hackery?

~~~
knuththetruth
Citbank offers disposable credit card numbers for your account:

[https://www.cardbenefits.citi.com/Products/Virtual-
Account-N...](https://www.cardbenefits.citi.com/Products/Virtual-Account-
Numbers)

~~~
pnathan
I believe you, but I would much _prefer_ not to have another credit cards. I
have a very straightforward system right now, and adding a citi card would not
help that.

------
40acres
Buying stuff on Amazon has just become second nature to me. I've gotten hard
to find hot sauce, books, and laundry detergent despite the fact that I live
literally across the street from a whole foods because of the convenience. My
apartment complex recently installed an Amazon Hub as well. I've never really
had an issue w/ the quality of goods or counterfeits and Prime is a great deal
if only for the 2 day shipping and Prime Video.

------
S7012MY
In Romania shipping takes a lot and prices are higher, so I prefer ordering
from Amazon Italy or Germany and I get the same price even though I also pay
for shipping

------
beauzero
As someone who worked for a used book warehouse. Counterfeits are a huge
problem. A large source of books for us was at a specific auction. We started
getting so many counterfeit textbooks from that auction that we pretty much
had to stop selling textbooks. For a specific textbook that we would get
hundreds of, we would purchase one directly from the publisher and then
compare.

------
Karunamon
How does this degree of influence factor in with their decisions to drop
competitor's proucts? (ex. the Chromecast spat with Google)

------
lainga
I'm honestly surprised it isn't bigger. That's some serious king effect in the
diagram.

------
blunte
Like many other behemoth US companies, Amazon has taken dubious shortcuts to
its position as leader... Anti-employment wage suppression in its distribution
and shipping, wilfully facilitating counterfeit product sales, regional tax
breaks, and perhaps the biggest multiplier - the stock market and its ability
to allow leverage upon leverage.

We are seeing an excellent example of modern American capitalism.

~~~
kolpa
What does "modern" mean?

~~~
tjr225
mod·ern ˈmädərn/ adjective adjective: modern

    
    
        1.
        relating to the present or recent times as opposed to the remote past.
        "the pace of modern life"

------
ggg9990
It’s absolutely nuts that Apple sells as much of their own product as
Walmart.com sells of thousands of products.

~~~
kbenson
_Walmart, the world’s biggest retailer when counting physical stores, has yet
to really hit the right note in e-commerce..._

This is online sales only. Apple sells a slightly higher _value_ of goods
_online_ that Walmart does. Apple's products are generally much more expensive
than Walmart's products.

Extrapolating from Amazon's numbers, every percent of total online sales is
approximately $5.26 billion. That means Apple has online sales of about $20.5
billion, and Walmart has about $19.5 billion in online sales.

Walmart revenue was $318.5 billion in 2018 in the U.S alone (and not including
Sam's Club)[1]. Walmart is still selling significantly more than Amazon
overall.

1: [https://www.statista.com/statistics/269403/net-sales-of-
walm...](https://www.statista.com/statistics/269403/net-sales-of-walmart-
worldwide-by-division/)

~~~
ggg9990
I know that, that’s why I said Walmart.com. It’s still mind blowing

------
pwaai
time for anti-trust suit??

------
paulddraper
On mobile I scroll to the bottom and then I can't get back to the article.

------
crb002
"Free" shipping but the seller pays a 15% stocking fee.

------
tibiapejagala
Meanwhile in my country in Europe I have never heard about anyone buying
anything from Amazon. Not the IT people, not the common folk, not teenagers,
literally no one. Maybe someone bought a Kindle some time back, but I remember
that people were literally reading tutorials how to buy it from amazon. The
same people who had been buying things online for years.

Amazon doesn't even have a polish website, as amazon.pl redirects to amazon.de
They have multipe logistic centres in my country, employing thousands of
people though! I guess it's for Germany so I can buy at amazon.de with
international shipping, lol.

We have Uber, McDonald's, iphones, credit cards, the internet, electricity!
Come on! Almost everyone buys online here, either native polish e-commerce or
directly from China.

Also I think we can't buy any of Google hardware directly. I have given up on
them though.

So much for globalization.

~~~
AnssiH
> Amazon doesn't even have a polish website, as amazon.pl redirects to
> amazon.de They have multipe logistic centres in my country, employing
> thousands of people though! I guess it's for Germany so I can buy at
> amazon.de with international shipping, lol.

Amazon.de does have Polish-language interface, though, and free shipping to
Poland (and 10 other European countries) for orders over €39.

> Also I think we can't buy any of Google hardware directly. I have given up
> on them though.

They seem to have given up as well... a few years ago the Finnish Google Store
sold various Nexus tablets and phones, nowadays it is just Wifi and
Chromecast.

~~~
tibiapejagala
> Amazon.de does have Polish-language interface, though, and free shipping to
> Poland (and 10 other European countries) for orders over €39.

Well, that's something. Some content seems to be machine-translated and prices
are in €, but it indeed works. I wonder why wouldn't they just slap polish
domain on it. And why I haven't heard about that.

> They seem to have given up as well... a few years ago the Finnish Google
> Store sold various Nexus tablets and phones, nowadays it is just Wifi and
> Chromecast.

"We aren’t in your country yet" I guess I'll get Xiaomi or Samsung again.

~~~
DTND
>I wonder why wouldn't they just slap polish domain on it.

Customer service? They probably don't have any call center that speaks Polish.
They won't slap a .country domain if they can't deliver something up to their
standards and not just allow people to buy and then have to speak in English
if there's any issue with the product or delivery.

When amazon really commits to a country they put a decent amount of effort
into it. In France for example you can quickly get someone over the phone to
deal with your issues and they speak French.

