Commerce Fail...
Jan. 20th, 2018 10:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pheloniusfriarI'm really not sure how to support local businesses some times.
Case in point this week: I needed a replacement for a 9V 600mA AC adapter for a small Ethernet switch. I went to a dozen shops (both large and small) and nobody had anything (the closest was a "universal" adapter with a switchable voltage that they wanted $35 + tax for). Online, the cheapest I found was $9.95, but they wanted $19.70 shipping. Wtf??? I finally gave up and ordered it from AliExpress direct from China (they're all made in China anyway, so I'm not impacting any local manufacturing jobs at least). I ordered 2 adapters for $4.62, shipping included.
Case in point over the last few weeks: I need binder tabs for a project I'm working on. They wanted $25 a set to start. Not a problem at all for me as they would just be for my own use, but I asked for a budgetary quote for qty. 100 and 1000. Crickets. I even followed up. Nothing. They are a local company here in Ottawa that prints custom tabs (not naming names, but there is only one company that does that).
Case in point a couple of months ago: I am looking for a local source of vinyl binders, so I contacted a company in Toronto that manufactured them. They initially answered with questions about what I needed, then silence. I followed up asking if I could get samples of their work (that I said I'd be happy to pay for). Crickets. Followed up again and they said they'd get those right out to me. Silence. Nothing arrived. No followup from them. I am going to try a few other companies (they are, for the most part, in western Canada), but there doesn't seem to be anything more local than that.
I am fully expecting that Canadian companies will fail completely and I will end up going to China or India for the work I need done. And it's not that Canadian companies can't compete with Asian companies (I don't mind paying a premium to support Canadian manufacturers even), it's that Canadian companies are complacent or just shitty at business apparently.
Case in point this week: I needed a replacement for a 9V 600mA AC adapter for a small Ethernet switch. I went to a dozen shops (both large and small) and nobody had anything (the closest was a "universal" adapter with a switchable voltage that they wanted $35 + tax for). Online, the cheapest I found was $9.95, but they wanted $19.70 shipping. Wtf??? I finally gave up and ordered it from AliExpress direct from China (they're all made in China anyway, so I'm not impacting any local manufacturing jobs at least). I ordered 2 adapters for $4.62, shipping included.
Case in point over the last few weeks: I need binder tabs for a project I'm working on. They wanted $25 a set to start. Not a problem at all for me as they would just be for my own use, but I asked for a budgetary quote for qty. 100 and 1000. Crickets. I even followed up. Nothing. They are a local company here in Ottawa that prints custom tabs (not naming names, but there is only one company that does that).
Case in point a couple of months ago: I am looking for a local source of vinyl binders, so I contacted a company in Toronto that manufactured them. They initially answered with questions about what I needed, then silence. I followed up asking if I could get samples of their work (that I said I'd be happy to pay for). Crickets. Followed up again and they said they'd get those right out to me. Silence. Nothing arrived. No followup from them. I am going to try a few other companies (they are, for the most part, in western Canada), but there doesn't seem to be anything more local than that.
I am fully expecting that Canadian companies will fail completely and I will end up going to China or India for the work I need done. And it's not that Canadian companies can't compete with Asian companies (I don't mind paying a premium to support Canadian manufacturers even), it's that Canadian companies are complacent or just shitty at business apparently.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-21 06:39 pm (UTC)This had been driving me to Amazon for just about everything they'd carry, but then I looked up a specific book, and they showed me five others, with the one I asked for buried in the middle of these recommendations. (It turns out I wasn't logged in at the time.) At least Amazon still has a lot more variety than its bricks-and-mortar competition, but apparently they don't want people using it. (I bought the book in question from Barnes & Noble, which charged me about 30% more than Amazon would have.)
In some cases, I think they've decided to carry only a handful of popular things. In others, I think they have a business model where they are paid for shelf space, and the manufacturers of the things I want aren't paying enough, or aren't paying to promote the things I'm eager to buy. In the worst cases, they are pushing things with the highest profit margins, figuring that sufficient advertising (and lack of choice) will convince the "customers" to buy them. And then there are a large number of algorithms, making predictions that may be statistically valid (or not), but are blatantly and obviously incorrect for individual users, at least those not properly programmed.
Only one thing is certain - they all despise the idea that the customer is always right. A customer is just another device to be programmed for their benefit.