Amazon For Parts...

MonacoMike

MonacoMike

Well-Known Member
Sep 15, 2009
14,721
Indiana lakes and Lake Michigan
Boat Info
2000 Cruisers 3870
8.2 Mercs
Engines
85 Sea Ray Monaco 197
260hp Alpha 1
It is amazing to me all that one can get from Amazon with free shipping. I needed a water valve for my Uline ice maker and called Uline, they would not take my order over the phone, though they helped me determine part number. Went to their site to order and shipping was $21 for a very small $65 part. I called back to ask why shipping so high and was told that was what UPS charged them.

I popped on Amazon and there was the exact part number from a Uline dealer for $45 and free shipping. Another member found the tree plastic clips on Amazon. It is crazy.

MM
 
This is why shopping centers and retail business operations are closing. The days of holding shoppers over a barrel is over!! I ordered two carb rebuild kits for my older 50hp Johnson for $22, the dealer wanted almost $60. Free shipping included and I had them in 5 days. Prices and inflation in general have become profane in today's world, online shopping is a reality check for those who overcharge!!
 
Our Sears store closed a week or so ago, Toys R Us bit the dust last year, Shopko is on the soon to go list. It's almost like an epidemic, and it goes along with what I've always said....

Competition is good for the consumer.

Jeff Bezos has taken an idea and run with it and is going to be the king of the retail world if he isn't already.
 
Gofirstclass said:
Our Sears store closed a week or so ago, Toys R Us bit the dust last year, Shopko is on the soon to go list. It's almost like an epidemic, and it goes along with what I've always said....

Competition is good for the consumer.

Jeff Bezos has taken an idea and run with it and is going to be the king of the retail world if he isn't already.
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Yes, but amazon is heavily subsidized by the taxpayers. And that’s not a good thing for anybody!
 
Gofirstclass said:
Our Sears store closed a week or so ago, Toys R Us bit the dust last year, Shopko is on the soon to go list. It's almost like an epidemic, and it goes along with what I've always said....

Competition is good for the consumer.

Jeff Bezos has taken an idea and run with it and is going to be the king of the retail world if he isn't already.
Click to expand...
Until there's no competition....
 
Woody said:
Until there's no competition....
Click to expand...

For much of the 90's, early 2000's folks were saying the same about Wal-Mart. :)

I am a wicked big fan of Amazon, been a prime member for many years. One thing I've been pretty consistently surprised with in boating is how competitive West Marine can be on certain items. Oil, for example. And some bigger ticket items like electronics.

When two day shipping isn't fast enough (speaking of spoiled) I like to check stock at West Marine. They do price match too but I've never had to...
 
you are right, amazon is great......point, click pay, it is at your house within a matter of a couple of days......but the nice thing is, hold on, walmart has stepped up their game........you can order a lot of stuff there as well, but the best thing is, if it isn't right, or you don't like something, you can take the product back to the local walmart for a refund........to me, that is a big selling point..............that is until they change that policy.............
 
jssearay said:
you are right, amazon is great......point, click pay, it is at your house within a matter of a couple of days......but the nice thing is, hold on, walmart has stepped up their game........you can order a lot of stuff there as well, but the best thing is, if it isn't right, or you don't like something, you can take the product back to the local walmart for a refund........to me, that is a big selling point..............that is until they change that policy.............
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I started buying much more from West Marine when they implemented their price matching policy.

Cashiers had to enter in the source of the matched price. I was told WM HQ was tracking prices and what competitors were charging to eventually have a more competitive every day price. Idk if they actually did that.
 
Interesting to compare Sears with Amazon. When Sears started it was mail-order. A catalog-based analogue to what Amazon is online now. Only later did Sears get into physical stores.

Somewhere along the way Sears favored the stores over mail-order. Oh well.

Amazon is a technology company and Sears could not, or would not, compete online. Eventually, Sears even discontinued what made them what they were -- the catalog.

Sears didn't understand online technology and missed the opportunity to convert to a robust online business.

In a way this is similar to how Kodak didn't understand digital photography and/or digital storage.

In 2000 Toys R Us outsourced to Amazon its order processing (and therefore customers) and paid Amazon a ton of money (~$50 million a year + % of sales) in a deal that over a decade essentially gave the Toys R Us business to Amazon.

Technology presents opportunity and potential for disaster.
 
Tech affects so many facets of so many different types of business sectors these days. And it’s evolving at an astonishingly rapid rate on a daily basis. Companies either evolve along with it, or simply and inevitably, die.
 
brewster16 said:
West Marine vs. Amazon Prime?????? Seriously????? Not in my neck of the woods!
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Check it!

Fusion MAS-RA70N - $289.99 Amazon prime
Fusion MAS-RA70N - $289.99 West Marine

JL speakers are the same

Quicksilver oil is cheaper at West Marine

Man....I am nothing but an Amazon fan. I'm just saying that West Marine can be surprisingly competitive on SOME things. Price check dock lines and obviously the pendulum swings wildly in favor of Amazon....
 
I boycotted Amazon over 3 years ago because of a double credit card charge on a return and a long fight to get it fixed (in the end my credit card company probably ate it) and I get along just fine without them. Like a few have said you can find same prices or cheaper on everything I have ever looked for..
 
Third Edition said:
Sears didn't understand online technology and missed the opportunity to convert to a robust online business.

In a way this is similar to how Kodak didn't understand digital photography and/or digital storage.
Click to expand...
IMHO, one of the best reasons to look at changing the way you do things is this statement: But we've ALWAYS done it that way!
 
Both are classic cases.... I was just in a Lowes the other day and they had Craftsmen everywhere....the guy told me they were giving up Kobalt.. sad to see a company like sears go down like this.... and drag Kmart with them
 
Blueone said:
Both are classic cases.... I was just in a Lowes the other day and they had Craftsmen everywhere....the guy told me they were giving up Kobalt.. sad to see a company like sears go down like this.... and drag Kmart with them
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Craftsman is low grade chinese crap now. The last set of Craftsman tools I bought were just pathetic.
 
I just don’t like it when people shop at brick and mortar, then after finding what they want, go save 50$ on a 1000$ order by shopping online. Pay the extra 50$, if you don’t, you won’t have that brick and mortar to physically hold items in your hands to see if you like it.
I just bought a new radar/GPS from boemarine.com, the combination of free shipping, rebate from Simrad, and 0% interest for 6 months is what swayed me...
 
b_arrington said:
I started buying much more from West Marine when they implemented their price matching policy.

Cashiers had to enter in the source of the matched price. I was told WM HQ was tracking prices and what competitors were charging to eventually have a more competitive every day price. Idk if they actually did that.
Click to expand...

F*** WM price match. I was a loyal local customer who used the price match to buy thousands per year, now nearly nothing. They hired a CEO form the limited and he did away with the price match policy I used almost weekly.

http://clubsearay.com/index.php?threads/west-marine-discontinues-price-match-policy.57658/

Now they want me back. Sorry Charlie...

MM
 
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