Everything's a Marketplace

Haggisman said:
You will do when you need a tool "now", see that B&Q have it "in stock", and then realise that actually they don't, the company they allow to advertise on their website has it in stock, and you can get it in 3 days after you pay for shipping.

Dear B&Q. If I was happy waiting for it, why would I buy it from you to get it in 3 days after paying for shipping, when I can buy it from Amazon (for probably cheaper) and get it delivered tomorrow (or in some cases even tonight) for free?

(Tip for B&Q - filter using the 1 hour click & collect criteria, will show you stuff actually available in your selected store - or just use screwfix {sadly owned by the same company, so don't be surprised if they go the same way soon :( })
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Maybe I should probably prepare myself for the one time in my life that might actually happen I guess.
If I really needed something same day I would have to drive to get it wherever that may be if it was really that important.
 
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Noxia said:
Maybe I should probably prepare myself for the one time in my life that might actually happen I guess.
If I really needed something same day I would have to drive to get it wherever that may be if it was really that important.
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I've been doing up the house & garden recently, so there have been quite a few times over the last few months I've needed various things "now"* - driving to get them isn't the problem, finding the place that has them is becoming more and more difficult.

I guess if you always get a man in then it's not an issue :p

* Yes I could obviously wait and get things delivered, but that would mean putting a job on hold and potentially wasting several hours for the sake of e.g. a £3 drill bit, or a couple of m of twin & earth etc.
 
Haggisman said:
(Tip for B&Q - filter using the 1 hour click & collect criteria, will show you stuff actually available in your selected store - or just use screwfix {sadly owned by the same company, so don't be surprised if they go the same way soon :( })
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There is a filter for this, can't remember what it's called though. Problem is I always forget and end up sticking stuff in my basket and when I go to click and collect I realise and then either have to start again, or simply go elsewhere because I'm so ****** off.

Really, really does my head in this nonsense.
 
Haggisman said:
I've been doing up the house & garden recently, so there have been quite a few times over the last few months I've needed various things "now"* - driving to get them isn't the problem, finding the place that has them is becoming more and more difficult.

I guess if you always get a man in then it's not an issue :p

* Yes I could obviously wait and get things delivered, but that would mean putting a job on hold and potentially wasting several hours for the sake of e.g. a £3 drill bit, or a couple of m of twin & earth etc.
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I'm just being facetious of course. Also yes I generally would rather pay someone to do something that will (hopefully) be to a much higher standard than I could. Plus I just don't feel it's a good use of my time, same with ironing.
 
Jono8 said:
Is anyone else a bit fed up of the growing trend in retailers becoming marketplaces? Everyday, it seems like some other well known retailer is now a front for any Tom Dick or Harry with stuff in a warehouse they need to flog.
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As ever, it is just economics driving everything. I think the marketplace operation of Amazon is one of the most profitable for them. After all, it is just software, and software is relatively cheap, compared to doing the actual fulfilment, which is expensive.
If you ever want to work out what are "good", i.e. highly profitable, businesses, just analyse the amount of effort required to actually take the money. If you have already built an expensive shopping website and have a team of software developers, adding marketplace functionality is not that much more expensive. Then, getting volume through your marketplace is highly profitable, because you just maintain the software, the sellers do everything else, and you take a fee. It is just evolution of profitability in action.
 
Noxia said:
Nope, why would I be buying cheap crap? Easily avoidable problem that..

Edit. Wires crossed maybe, I'm talking about branded products, like if I buy say a Bosch drill, I don't care who supplies it.
Then again look at where most of the stuff in b&q is made. I'm sure you won't be surprised.
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Search Amazon.de for a Bosch drill and the 13th result is a DongCheng 18v drill.

In fact, results 3, 4 and 10 are not even drills, they're electric screwdrivers.

Amazon is great and awful all at the same time.
 
Haggisman said:
The problem being 9 times out of 10 it isn't :(
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Yep. It's very depressing, but i try and do all DIY/light construction stuff myself now, as from experience, most tradesmen are total garbage at their jobs.

This is not to say there are not some very good/skilled people out there, but they are few and far between and hard to find.
 
Jim99 said:
Was driving me crazy today. I was trying to find an unusual item, kept thinking it was for sale at places like B&Q but it turned out to be just another random third party.
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Yeh. I've been doing up my house and B&Q is the nearest hardware/materials place to me (sometimes I need things quickly/delivery cost is too much etc) , and far too many times I've thought they would have what I need but it's actually sold by a third party on there.

It's just frustrating. I find the click and collect filter doesn't work all that well either.
 
20 years ago, you wouldn’t have searched on the Internet to see if it was in stock, you’d have driven around store to store looking. The chances are you might have seen something on a shelf and came out with something that wasn’t initially intended.

I too find the new B&Q model irritating but if they need to adopt it to survive then so be it. The truth is Amazon are killing the high street and we’re all guilty
 
Yeah I bought a big 10 litre tub of paint and wanted a particular type. B&Q were cheapest out of anywhere by far, via a 3rd party seller even with shipping. I was impressed with the price but annoyed it wasn't in stock anywhere in stores as needed it asap.
 
ristac said:
I too find the new B&Q model irritating but if they need to adopt it to survive then so be it. The truth is Amazon are killing the high street and we’re all guilty
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It's not so much we are all "guilty", it's that if you are buying online, you are looking for best price combined with reliability, everyone is forced to compete with everyone else because there is no physical location advantage, and economies of scale dictate that only one company will win. Unfortunately that's not a UK company.
 
Jono8 said:
Yep. It's very depressing, but i try and do all DIY/light construction stuff myself now, as from experience, most tradesmen are total garbage at their jobs.

This is not to say there are not some very good/skilled people out there, but they are few and far between and hard to find.
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Indeed - a good tradesman is worth their weight in gold, but filtering out all the dross who call themselves "tradesmen" because they've bought a 15 year old van off ebay and have a couple of paintbrushes or went to college for 6 months is a job in itself.

If I'm doing the job myself it may take a little longer, but I know it will be done to a standard I'm happy with, and will almost certainly cost me significantly less

The amount of hassle our neighbours have had with the various jobs they've had done is unreal.

They had their windows done and had to have the company back 4 times due to poor fitting, leaks, mismatching trims etc.
They had their drive done, and the drainage was not up to scratch, causing water to pool at the edge of the house causing damp inside.
They had their back fence done and the fitting is awful - gravel boards not flush with the ground in several places meaning gravel pouring onto our lawn - I ended up fitting new gravel boards underneath on our side.

Personally I'd only get someone in if it's legally required (e.g. gas & electrical work), more dangerous than I can be bothered to deal with (e.g. roofing work), or the required tools are prohibitively expensive.
 
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