[mindslight]

I'm all for routinely doing the diligence you can. But doing so shouldn't be a de facto requirement either. If Amazon is an "untrustworthy" retailer, so is basically everywhere. And nobody has time to wait around for a package and catch the delivery person, nor interrupt the rest of their day to immediately use the item. And it's going to gall you just as much if Amazon defrauds you over a $20 item or a $700 one.

[kuschku]

I don't care if I lose $20, but $700 is still quite a lot of money and worth fighting over.

And honestly, every other online retailer is more trustworthy than Amazon, because they're not marketplaces, and you can actually reach humans who are allowed to make decisions. Something that Amazon is sorely lacking.

That said, it's not an "Amazon" issue, it's an issue with all marketplaces.

[mindslight]

I'm going to care either way, because I would fight with their phone support and go through the credit card dispute process regardless of the amount, for the principle of the matter. I probably wouldn't take the $20 to small claims court though, unless I had lots of free time. Though ultimately I can understand that your getting defrauded out of $700 stings a lot more than if you were defrauded out of $20.

> because they're not marketplaces

Most online retailers are turning into marketplaces. That's the doubly unfortunate thing about Amazon's shitty business practices - everyone else sees them and feels compelled to adopt them.

Trying to name retailers that sell electronics that aren't marketplaces - B&H, Adorama, Bestbuy. Maybe Monoprice? Although they've expanded their selection so much, it feels like something dodgy is going on.

I'm actually a big fan of eBay because despite being a marketplace, they don't handle inventory themselves so the incentives line up better - they understand sellers will sometimes ship broken items, try to stonewall returns, etc. I understand the fees are a bit high for sellers. But as a buyer, being buyer-friendly is my #1 concern, and eBay understands buyers are the ones with the money.

Then again I could be one ML classification or policy change away from eBay's dispute process not being so favorable to me, too. Although I haven't had to do one in a while - most sellers have made peace with buyers' power and just offer free shipping for returns.