I know that I started the last one, but really must come in with a follow on, part 2!
Fed up with the piddly little timer clocks built into pool control boards that just stop working, and equally fed up with these poxy electronic ones that does everything but nothing, and yet another broke last week - I set to to find a good old Intermatic type - big thing in a metal box that I am sure was used in WW2.
A few French sites selling the basic type for an average of 160€ odd.
I go onto Amazon US, same thing for $62. Yes, Amazon will deliver to France, but add on tax and handling, now the total is 84€…
It arrived today, exactly as promised with no extra duty…what is not to like? (well, one thing: girlfriend’s tirade about promting world sales dominance blah blah…)
Amazon-bashing is a well-loved spectator sport, and there is some truth to their being a global monopolist tax-dodging capitalist behemoth (try saying that after a few drinks) - but they do what they do extremely well, and make life (and shopping) very easy for many of us.
On the way back from the tip (aka “Civic Amenity Site”) this morning we called in at the local garden centre so that my mother could buy some small buttons (she knits clothes and blankets for premature babies).
They used to always have them, but no more - lots of other stuff including knitting wool but they no longer sell buttons.
I need spray adhesive to instal insulation in my Vaux. Vivaro. It must specify high temp, the standard used for vehicle headlining, as the steel of the bodywork, esp the roof, gets extremely hot in direct sun.
AMZ.UK : Trim Fix 6x 500ml High Temperature Adhesive Glue Spray for Van Lining Headlining : £23 inc p n p. to UK address.
The best I can find on AMZ.FR is €45 inc p n p but it does not specify that it is high temp.
Amazon.de is excellent for DIY stuff even some quite serious stuff. Many other German suppliers also have extensive selections, products unobtainable here or obtainable only by the trade here, and charge relatively little to ship, and no complications for them to send to France.
I kèep trying to buy off Amazon France but the poor selection seems to be the main problem. There are price differences too quite often - but can outweigh shipping costs from elsewhere if one or two of those products are included in your order. And no customs issues or extra La Poste or deliverer ‘handling charges’ from Germsny or other EU, which are now the issue with orders coming from UK
What bothers me somewhat is that most of these companies are based in the US - it almost seems as though UK or European start-ups have never been able to reach truly global scale. There’s no European Apple, no European Microsoft, no European Google, no European Amazon (as mentioned).
The EU may offer a population of 450 million with a common currency but the US offers more of a monoculture and, importantly, a single language across its 320 million population and the difference seems to show in terms of making innovation work.
Which makes it all the more worrying that they seem to be on the verge of locking up anyone who disagrees with Trump, or has a working brain.
Sure, I, as everybody else revel in the convenience of Amazon. I first used them in 1997 in Dubai for, shock horror, a book.
Problem is Bezos s an arsehole (I’d probably be too with that amount of loot) he’s fiddling in politics and he’s killing local retailers. We are on the cusp of the US being ruled by a handful of billionaires.
I have used hagglezon.com for comparing Amazon prices across Europe. Sometimes buying small items from Amazon in Poland works out cheaper than from local Amazon.fr even allowing for delivery. Its usually worth a look and recognises the links from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.fr at least.
I thought Bezos went long ago?
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On July 5, 2021, Bezos stepped down as the CEO and president of Amazon and took over the role of executive chairman.
Don’t ask me what the differences are, I don’t speak corporate.
None, ideally, but what are the chances?
