this post was submitted on 30 Aug 2023
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No Stupid Questions

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There is no such thing as a Stupid Question!

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submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 11 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 

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[โ€“] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

This is a result of stores trying to dump their excess products on you rather than sell you what you are looking for. We're all treated like rubes everywhere we go now.

[โ€“] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I've got the same problem. my impression is that the recommender systems are built in such a way that they report any match regardless of how far removed it is from the intent of the user. i guess it's the same reason why boolean operator don't work anymore in google etc. makes sense from a business perspective i guess but the user experience is just horrible

[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Very horrible experience indeed. In fact, I usually end up giving up and not buying anything at all when this happens, but it must work since they keep doing it.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

it's sad really. on the other hand it feels like a throwback in time. going to dedicated forums, asking around, something like that. perhaps now it's just becoming more obvious that the "recommended" (ahem amazon) options have always been little more than a scam.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

This is true. I always appreciate recommendations from real humans tbh. There was a period of time when everyone seemed to have the attitude "why not just search it," and I feel now like we're starting to value the human aspect of these exchanges more and more.

[โ€“] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I get some pretty good results even for niche products in amazon if I make my search prompt detailed, like almost a sentence. I also imagine the words the item description will contain and include them in the prompt. You can also try using a search engine instead and adding in:site or just appending the shopping site at the end.

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

You can also try using a search engine instead and adding in:site or just appending the shopping site at the end.

This actually worked! I found an entire category of car magnets this way using Startpage, which is a category I never seemed to be able to navigate to via the app, as hard as I tried!

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I stopped buying on online platforms. I try to find specialised online stores (that aren't dropshipping). Less choice, but much better quality and experience, not even mentioning the ethics :)

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Um, good for you?

Now. About OP's question...