Ask HN: What benefit is there to requiring sign-in before browsing?

2 points by coreyp_1 6y ago ↗ HN

I was just trying to show a student something on aliexpress.com (that I thought would be useful for his project), and the website wouldn't let me browse product categories or search without logging in first.

I suppose LinkedIn does this, as have several other sites that I've noticed.

Why do sites choose this user-hostile approach?

In the case of the student that I was trying to show a part to, I just looked the item up on Amazon instead and Aliexpress lost a sale.

Go figure?

4 comments

[ 3.4 ms ] story [ 18.8 ms ] thread

elmerfud 6y ago ↗

Tracking and marketing to select partners. It's easier to know who you are if you're logged in.

notlukesky 6y ago ↗

I have to agree. There is more sales loss to me than user gains. Of course I don’t have the numbers of these companies at scale. Presumably they did the math and gain more conversions than losses to continue doing this.

hitpointdrew 6y ago ↗

Same bullshit with "Call for pricing".

How about no. How about you be transparent and list the pricing on your page.

mtmail 6y ago ↗

It could be a counter-measure to not get crawled by price comparison engines.