It’s been ages since I’ve really done some deal hunting online with how ubiquitious Amazon is I’ve realized I’m not up to date with the current ecosystem for finding trustworthy online storefronts. Do you have any sources/tips for finding good quality products (especially with all the AI slop that exists nowadays)?
Reminds me of a thread I saw here a while ago on “What if advertising were illegal?”
I’ve found the best method for reducing my need on Amazon is to just buy less crap. Online shopping is simple because you can get stuff immediately, but I don’t think anybody “needs” 3-4 new products per week.
Aside from that, I try and support local: find local shops that sell items similar to my style, or trust word of mouth for online retailers that are good. At the end of the day, as long as you’re buying good-quality stuff (which oddly seems to spend less on advertisements) it doesn’t really matter where exactly you buy from, as it’s all pretty similar in price / quality.
Even though mom and pop stores are mostly dead, Amazon’s market share is thankfully still relatively contained where I live. So it’s still simply a matter of just picking a different “big box store” to order your things from.
aliexpress has most of the same stuff from amazon, just without the sellers nonsensical name slapped on it.
For more important stuff, most brick and mortar shops have an online storefront nowadays.
Idk, Aliexpress has plenty of the nonsensical names still. At least on the product listing, often the name isn’t bothered to be put on the product itself. However, for American’s Trump is wanting to handicap the de minimis for China.
You are right about the names, that was my point.
As someone who needs tall sizes, I long ago gave up on most stores selling anything that fits me. However using their online stores, I’m discovering that many still can have tall sizes, if I’m patient enough
I’ve always considered Amazon a store that mostly Americans use. Personally I’ve always just used eBay and Aliexpress myself.
I used to use eBay as well, before I was scammed, and eBay did absolutely nothing. On top of that it was impossible to reach a human. Ever since I never felt comfortable buying from there, knowing that if the automated service page can’t help me then I’m just fucked.
I once had a problem with amazon, a 100$ item was missing from a package, and after talking to a representative for 10 minutes they completely refunded me.
Amazon is monopolistic, and evil, but in my experience have excellent customer service.
I go rob container ship
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Where are you? I can recommend idealo.de & check24.de to find low prices over all the retailers with online store (e.g. mediamarkt, otto, etc.)
Electronics: We have a local (DACH region) to compare most electronics both in specs and price
Anything else: Search on the web and decide from there.
For example: I bought tea from a local japanese tea farm I got introduced by a youtuber visiting said farm.
Example for other stuff: I will research it and then market research where it’s available.
Is it a pain to get (example: No other payment then SEPA), then I’ll choose a shop that is more expensive but less pain to deal with.But everything is a trial and error. For drinks I am very cautious if I can’t test it while shopping and thus refrain from shopping it online.
Might as well provide the URL for the comparison site: www.geizhals.de
It’s been around forever and is still as good as ever.
As Lemmy is usually US centric (Germany is usually only 2nd or 3rd place) I didnt deem it necessary. And most on
RedditLemmy are so tech focused, they are more or less already aware anyway.
eBay
This! I use eBay very often
Several times I have purchased an item on email only to have it arrive from Amazon. The sellers were using both sites and there was no way to tell from the eBay listings. Big sad.
i feel like it’s important to note that this is against the ebay seller agreement, and though ebay does nothing about it if you report it after the fact, leaving feedback with a statement like “this seller drop shipped the item via amazon” helps other shoppers.
generally, though, it’s getting easier to tell: higher volume (we’re talking 1k or higher, usually) of feedback with less than ~97% positive feedback, is a good first indication of some kind of reseller/dropshipper.
personally, i started shopping on ebay to avoid amazon, so it’s a supreme annoyance to have something drop-shipped or gift-shipped through them. I get why some sellers do it, but that doesn’t make it right.
Is it delivered via Amazon or just in Amazonian packaging? I guess I don’t mind either as much, since I can’t expect a small seller to keep two separate streamlined processes…
I have actually gotten shipping notifications from Amazon when I placed the order on eBay.
Go directly to the manufacturer isn’t the bargain hunt, but it’s the best option. Amazon won’t even send you the right product occasionally. Even if you buy it from Amazon ultimately because the manufacturer uses them, they’ll be alerted to the sale.
A lot of searching. Then I add good alternatives to a “buy Canadian” list I keep at Github. That makes it a lot easier the next time around.
If it’s a public list, feel free to share it on [email protected] :)
Just did!
Care to share that list? I may not be Canadian, but want to support people dealing with America’s bullshit if I can.
Hey, yeah, definitely.
It’s https://github.com/Visiblink/CanadianRetailers
I just started it when all the tariffy-goodness began, so it’s bound to see additions whenever I (or anyone who wants to add to it) shop for things.
You should research regional and local options! This may not help you specifically, but fun thing about Finland and the other Nordic countries is that we seem to have pretty decent local chains selling stuff. I think the last physical book I ordered from Amazon was a mildly obscure out of print one I couldn’t find elsewhere, about 10 years ago. I think the local used book web store situation has gotten better since. All of my recent new physical book purchases have been via AdLibris (a Swedish store). For ebooks it’s been harder, I think Google Play is the most feasible place nowadays when the Finnish ebook store I used to use recently shut down (luckily they were DRM free). We have a couple of good options for stuff like electronics. Even the hypermarket chains have good web stores if I can’t be bothered to visit them in person.
Check gohug.eu/join
I cut out Amazon completely after ordering from them four to five times a week. Heres how I did it:
- Make a list (I use Google Keep) and see if you can get it locally or from thrift stores
(Many people who do buy from Amazon immediately donate it after they’re done.)
-
If you can’t find it used or local, use eBay! They have free shipping, an ethical CEO that doesn’t make their employees piss into jars, and they are MUCH cheaper than Amazon 9/10 (not taking into account the prime membership).
-
Buy directly from the vendor and look for promo codes if 1 or 2 don’t fit your lifestyle.
They have free shipping
… depending on the seller. YMMV, widely.
Free shipping? On eBay? Are you high? Not even local listings have free shipping on that platform. Often they’re even abused to make the listing seem really cheap only to find out that they offset that cheapness by very steep shipping costs.
Also their international shipping hub that they make you use has so little care for your purchases that there have been many reports of stuff being broken in that warehouse, despite careful wrapping around the packaging.
Meaning the seller gets screwed out of the money from the sale (because the buyer wants their money back), and the buyer gets screwed out of the product.Not high just someone that uses eBay and has had good results. There’s no perfect option in capitalism.
“Approximately 71% of eBay purchases come from listings that offer free shipping.”
I’ve had great results and I chose to share them, what’s your suggestion then?
I guess the experience of Ebay in the US is completely different from the experience of Ebay outside the US.
As for alternatives to Amazon, in my country there’s bol.com. Shopping local is also a good idea. Don’t buy groceries at amazon, but instead in grocery stores.
Then there are thrift stores. It’s better to thrift than buy new.
My experience with eBay in the US is also, more often than not, with free shipping. I’m not sure what items you’re looking at but there are tons of options with free shipping
Outside the US?
There’s barely any product with free shipping. It’s also still more the auction site it used to be than a deals site. It’s regular people/organisations selling their wares, and they have to pay shipping costs, so they’ll charge shipping costs.
In fact, some people inflate the shipping costs, to offset the lower sales price that they set in order to show up higher in the listings.
I see, I misunderstood your comment saying “I guess the experience of Ebay in the US is completely different from the experience of Ebay outside the US.” was you saying your experience is from within the US. You didn’t specify which one was your experience, nor did the person you replied to. I was thinking your experience was from within the US, and theirs was from outside the US.
Thank you for the insight, that sounds like a great option!
I never considered the experience could be different based on where you buy from. My apologies for any confusion.
I started out a bit high strung, I guess. My apologies for that
If you can’t find it used or local, use eBay!
About half the time I try that, the seller just buys it from walmart/amazon and has it drop shipped to me. So I’m not sure how much good that does.
How are they making a profit doing that? Unless I sell for very low prices (which I do sometimes) it can be difficult to sell even at market price.
They buy the item for cheaper than they sell it for
I’ve had this too. At least the fees don’t go to Bezos
I will use suck duck go shopping and Google shopping to see other retailers I might not know about.
Google shopping has a function where you can look for items in stock in retail stores near you. That’s helpful.
Be careful how you suck the duck!
That’s how you get the great deals, proficiency in sucking
It isn’t easy, but it’s worth it. I find I’m calling a lot of local stores lately, because I hate shopping in person, and selections are limited. I find I am spending about 10% more per item on average, but I’m also buying fewer things in general. I’m still shopping at chains, like Microcenter, Staples, Dick’s, and Lowes, but I’m trying to be intentional about going to local or thrift stores first.
I also shop on AliExpress more now, when I need some cheap garbage, but I’m trying to stop that, too.
Same for me. Im just trying to buy less.
