Ask HN: Why don't Amazon, Target, Walmart implement product queueing?

caryd · on July 26, 2020

People would forget and abuse the return policy. Also, they constantly change prices so you would either get screwed or lock into a price the seller doesn't want to offer for a billion orders.

cloudartisans · on July 26, 2020

I'd be ok with the changing prices--I use Amazon's subscribe and save, and the price fluctuations are reasonable. If memory serves, if the price is totally out of whack or the item is out of stock, I get a notification about it.

I've also never had to return a subscribe and save item, but I imagine if the policy was the same with these "pre-orders," there wouldn't be an issue, since subscribe and save has been in place for decades.

PaulHoule · on July 26, 2020

You mean I would go on the web site and say I want product X and then I have dibs on the Nth next one to be available, say three hours or three weeks later?

cloudartisans · on July 26, 2020

Let's say I want this hand sanitizer:

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B01HEUD8YS

I should be able to purchase a quantity of 1-2, even if it's out of stock. I'm completely fine with being number 527,374 in line, but I want to be sure I will get it and only have to do this once. Instead of refreshing this page 20 times a day for a week, in hopes of hitting the several minutes when it becomes available and then inevitably sells out.

This is especially true for masks--impossible to be a good citizen and buy them, when there is no sane way of buying them and you have to jump through the hoops above.

I really don't want to write a scraper because it seems unethical, to get a "leg up" on the non-tech savvy people.

WheelsAtLarge · on July 26, 2020

https://www.nowinstock.net/

This site does something similar to what you want.

cloudartisans · on July 29, 2020

Thank you; for me, it's an ethical issue to use something like this. Some old lady who's not tech-savvy would "lose her spot" to me. I'd like to understand why the ecommerce giants can't institute a "fair for all" system.