Now that Amazon US no longer delivers to Australia, why do we keep labelling "Amazon AU" for deals from Amazon.com.au? We don't do it for eBay.com.au.
| Deals from | Labelled as |
|---|---|
| Amazon.com | Amazon |
| Amazon.com.au | Amazon AU |
| ebay.com | eBay US |
| ebay.com.au | eBay |
eBay US/AU Vs Amazon US/AU in Title
alvian on 17/09/2018 - 20:06
Comments
This. Amazon AU was only launched late last year so people added the "AU" part to distinguish it from the US counterpart. eBay however has already established itself in Australia before OzBargain was started so we are already used to call it eBay.
It gets complicated when some items sold on Amazon AU were actually overseas delivered by Amazon US.
Can we drop AU from Amazon AU in the future? It uses up 3 precious characters especially when we have to add "+ Delivery (Free with Prime/$49 Spend)" to almost all Amazon AU deals.
I don't think there's any hard rule here, it's just what people are used to. If you think you need that extra 3 characters then feel free to drop it but I am sure others might still continue their habit of adding AU there.
You could save a few more letters by writing something like + Delivery (Free $49+/Prime)
@oz-dave: @alvian: My suggestion is for a shorter standard + Delivery ($0 Prime/$49+) or if shorter is required, use hamza23's idea: + Post ($0 Prime/$49+).
Another idea to avoid the issues with the word "Free" discussed elsewhere, and for better clarity, is the one character longer + Delivery ($0 if Prime/$49+).
@oz-dave: Is it really needed to say '+ Delivery (Free with Prime/ $49 Spend)' in the title at all.
Surely as long as it is mentioned in the listing that should be ok. Most people would be aware of how Amazon works by now.
Especially as there are so many listings that don't mention postage costs at all. (a pet hate of mine)
I would prefer to use all of the title real estate on info about the product being listed.
@xev: Actually, yes.
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/wiki/help:title_guidelines
Titles should state: - Shipping cost. Exact cost if known or approximate range.
I wonder if it is possible, in a future upgrade of OzB, to have the shopping options and costs specified in a box in the deal description, much like ones for coupon codes.
Gadget $20 (Save $5) @ Amazon
+----------+ | Delivery | +----------+-------+----------------------+-----+ | $0 Prime Members | $0 Minimum $49 Order | $10 | +------------------+----------------------+-----+Gadget for sale, etc.
@alvian: I understand what you are saying and respect that it is in the guidelines.
But there is a big difference between having 'Delivery $9' and having to put '+ Delivery (Free with Prime/ $49 Spend)', especially if you have multiple items in the listing like I often do.
As I mentioned, most members would already know how it works with Amazon items and with how many deals are being posted from Amazon now, they don't need to see it constantly.
On my Amazon Posts I have it at the top of the page, which can be seen on the deals page anyway. Perhaps that is something that could be adopted for Amazon listings. Many other Amazon stores have stolen it for their Posts anyway.
@xev: I agree with you and it is becoming tiresome trying to fit delivery info into Amazon deal titles. But even if I don't do it some other PU/Mod will. When I have no success having them drop the AU from Amazon AU, what chance is there having them drop the delivery info?
Changes cannot happen without clear direction from the top and an alternative way to supply the info, like the coupon box, the Cashback button, and the referral randomiser.
@alvian: When you are preparing the listing, as it already detects that it is an Amazon item and provides information. Perhaps if there was a CheckBox, like the one to declare it is Not a Duplicate, which you could click to say it is a Prime Eligible item and it then Automatically provides the information somewhere that is not in the title, perhaps a Subtitle?
Amazon Prime is not going to go anywhere so it may be worth the effort, Ebay Plus may be here to stay as well so the same could be done.
Anyway, just a suggestion for the Powers That Be.
Thanks for your help :)
It was just an example, and not meant to be prescriptive.
But if it saves letters, and people are happy with it, then great :-)
@oz-dave: The first use of the format by another user (the OP of the post I edited). Neat! I hope it catches on. Still can't shake that AU loose though.
@oz-dave: The shorter format didn't stick on this post (moocher edited it) but it did lose the AU tag. There is now a notice on the Deal Submission form that states:
If the deal you are posting is fulfilled by Amazon, please add '+ Delivery (Free with Prime/ $49 Spend)' after the item cost.
It looks like the end of the road for your idea unless it is used in a long title.
@alvian: I have had to use '+Delivery (Free $49+/Prime)' for a listing I am doing tonight. Even then it takes the place of an item in the listing.
That's if they can fix the Amazon posting ban issue.
@xev:
You could do '+ Post (Free $49+/Prime)' to save an extra 4 characters, in case that helps in the future. Delivery does need to be in the title though as alvian mentioned in some form. Note that OzBargain titles are also about 40-50 (guess, don't have the exact amount handy) characters longer than they used to be 2 or 3 years ago, we've maxed them to the limit.
As oz-dave says, as long as the info is there in some form then that is fine. We provide an easy copy paste example in the post notes (that has been there for over a month now):
If the deal you are posting is fulfilled by Amazon, please add '+ Delivery (Free with Prime/ $49 Spend)' after the item cost.
However if you want to write it differently or shorten it if you need more space then that is completely fine of course.
@hamza23: Thank you Hamza, that will give the extra few characters I need for my next post.
As above, I was wondering if the information could be provided at the top of the listing, if you have a look at my deal on the front page you will see that all the info is visible except for the $49, but I could reword. Therefore it would be visible for other members to view.
I am also worried that given the amount of Amazon listings that we are seeing, which may increase, it may seem overly repetetive for some members.
@xev:
The checkbox is a good idea and could be used for a number of things, however in the current format of the deal submission form I don't believe it would not really be possible to implement without being there for every deal, adding to the clutter/confusion that already exists. Not saying it would/can never happen, but probably something to add when we do a redesign of the deal submission form one day, something like a step by step deal submission form where the system will ask specific questions based on the domain and add the relevant information. Something we'll keep in mind for the future.
We aren't so worried about repeating the same information in titles, we want listings to be clear and easy to understand even for someone visiting OzBargain for the first time.
Appreciate the feedback/suggestions.
@hamza23: Thank you for taking my feedback so graciously. I am sure you can appreciate my frustration as I need to post multiple items in the same post.
If I had only one suggestion for the deal submission form, that would be to double the height of the Description box. For those such as myself who puts a lot of formatting in their posts, such a small box can add confusion to what you are trying to achieve.
Thanks again.
@xev:
Yeah we appreciate that. As mentioned earlier, we did increase the title characters dramatically some years ago to give everyone more room in the title for extra info/items but I know more is still better/more desirable.
You can actually already resize the description box to any size you like in the deal submission form, just clicking and drag the bottom right corner (you'll see 2 diagonal lines). You can also do that in comment boxes.
@hamza23: haha, I had no idea you could do that. I have been torturing myself unnecessarily all this time for nothing!
Thank you again :)
old habits die hard?
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