I try out a lot of different Amazon sites to see what is available around the globe. Amazon India has stuff simpluy not seen elsewhere, even from companies such as Philips. Why is this? Are they local made lights or something. There isn’t anything cutting edge or really exceptional but it is certainly different items altogether.
It is up to each manufacturer/company to decide whether they are willing to live with Amazon selling fees, and Amazon warehousing fees if it is to be fulfilled with two day shipping —- but way, way, way more importantly, Amazon’s return policies. THAT is the elephant in the room.
Imagine if a company gets 25% returns via Amazon, and 5% returns via their direct store on Ali or stand alone website. The 25% vs. 5% can kill a company. If I order from Ali, or the Wurkkos or Sofirn stand alone stores outside of Ali, and I decide I’ve ordered the wrong light, or wrong CCT, etc., I am not likely to return, given the hassle of communicating with the company, and possibly paying return postage. If I had bought via Amazon Prime, the next day I return it by dropping it off at the UPS store. For free. Without communicating with anyone.
Related story — I once had a client who made Schwinn electric bikes and scooters … .this was around 2005. I was in the COO’s office and saw an electric bike that was mangled, crushed, and appeared to have been run over by a car. It had been purchased at Costco, and the purchaser had backed over it in his driveway. That purchaser took it back to Costco because “it doesn’t work’. And Costco took it back and issued a full refund. Costco then reversed the sale, and charged the company for the return.
That crushed Scooter was there as a reminder that you pay a price when you choose to dance with the devil, that is, do business with Costco. Amazon is just a less onerous version of that.
As a company, do you really want to even sell through Costco or Amazon? Do. you want to dance with the devil?
Can you order something from Amazon India and have it delivered to the USA?
Unsure just yet. It usually will say shipped to United States if that is the case or you can use a person in India to forward the package.
Not sure about India but I’ve ordered several times from Japan, Germany, and UK amazon sites. You have to create a new account in each domain and if you have Prime here, you won’t have it there. Sometimes the exchange rates are pretty favorable even with shipping (and sometimes, as here, there’s just stuff that isn’t available here).
My experiences with Amazon Japan were simply outstanding. They pack everything with ridiculous care and the shipping is very fast, reasonably priced too. Parcels in India, I hear, are a bit slow to move and prone to the same gymnastics that we see within China, but that’s coming from non-amazon stuff.