No surprise it's become as big. (amazon.co.uk)

Member Name: LaptopAcidX

Product:	amazon.co.uk
Date:	27/05/09 (5 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: For books and DVD's nowhere has as much range or is cheaper.

Disadvantages: Not easy to sort and compare products.

I've been using Amazon (.co.uk and .com) for buying all kinds of items including books, dvd's and assorted electrical goods for almost ten years, on occasion I have even sold the odd book. Unusually for a website that has seen considerable cosmetic and back end e-commerce and database upgrades the user experience has remained largely unchanged.

Of particular use is the marketplace which allows the user to purchase items from a third party seller with Amazon handling the financial side of the transaction. This allows a much wider range of products to be available and also provides peace of mind as the transaction is guaranteed by Amazon.

My only real criticism is that Amazon does not allow you to easily sort products you have searched for by specific criteria. For example on an item page it is necessary to got to another page to see a list of possible sellers ordered by the cheapest. In addition it is not easy to compare items of a similar type by specification or price.

Generally if I was after a product I would do my comparisons elsewhere then go to Amazon to make the purchase.

I have lost count of the amount of items I have purchased over the years, and I cannot recall a time when I have had a negative experience. The closest being when a marketplace seller accepted an order and then said they didn't have the product, I eventually found it cheaper elsewhere.

Summary: Do you research then go to Amazon to purchase.