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)?

  • ABetterTomorrow@lemm.eeEnglish
    0·
    2 years ago

    Buy directly from the seller. Due to most people using Amazon the past decade, created a modern shipping infrastructure. Everyone has similar shipping pricing and timeframes. Amazon doesn’t provide anything special now. Other big box store just use their stores as shipping hubs like edge computing. There’s a lot of same day delivery.

    • zqps@sh.itjust.works
      0·
      2 years ago

      I’m in Germany and have never used prime. When I used to order stuff from Amazon, it would take 3-7 days to arrive. That’s how much they care about customers that refuse to pay their damn subscription.

      • Bazoogle@lemmy.world
        0·
        2 years ago

        What are you talking about? Amazon started as an online book store in 1994. They were not doing next day delivery, that’s for sure. Amazon had a big push for “Prime 2 day delivery” for a long time, but from my anecdotal experience it’s more than often longer than two days. Sometimes they offer one or two day shipping, but it’s not the norm.

          • Bazoogle@lemmy.world
            0·
            2 years ago

            Yes, they used to, and still do, do next day delivery depending on the item and where you live. It is certainly not the norm. That forum post is also not the evidence you think it is.

            Regardless, you said when Amazon started it was next day delivery. That is simply not true. Perhaps you were talking about when Amazon was first available in your area it had next day deliver, which would be fair, but it’s not when it started.

        • derfunkatron@lemmy.worldEnglish
          0·
          2 years ago

          Ten years ago two-day shipping meant two days from order to delivery. It now means two-day delivery once shipped in one to five business days. Most prime eligible purchases now just mean “free shipping.”

          I got attached to Prime as a student where two-day shipping and a $50 annual student subscription made it a useful service. There are Prime features on parts of the Amazon website I couldn’t find my way back to the same way twice. The site is riddled with dark patterns from customer service to Prime video.

          I haven’t been able to transition my household fully off Amazon, but I have switched to alibris.com as an alternative storefront for books and other media. Used sellers like thriftbooks, half-price books, and goodwill are all Amazon booksellers on alibris for the same price. They’re all shipping via media mail anyway, so Prime is useless on both sites.

  • bassad@jlai.lu
    0·
    2 years ago

    Before searching I am asking myself 10 times “do I really need this” and I compare caracteristics ans prices on various websites (this process can take months), I check references about sellers and items, then I prepare myself to buy it but at this step I forgot I wanted/needed this, or it does not answer my need, in 80% cases.

  • irelephant [he/him]🍭@lemm.ee
    0·
    2 years ago

    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.

    • AA5B@lemmy.world
      0·
      2 years ago

      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

    • Bazoogle@lemmy.world
      0·
      2 years ago

      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.

  • pelespirit@sh.itjust.works
    0·
    2 years ago

    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.

  • DominusOfMegadeus@sh.itjust.works
    0·
    2 years ago

    I like iherb.com for supplements, tea, olive oil, and castile soap. And whatever else you may find there amongst the strange assortment of things they carry. Other than that, I’ve been going right to manufacturers websites, except for mechanical keyboard stuff, where I search a whole bunch of different specialty vendor sites.

    • mycatsays@aussie.zone
      0·
      2 years ago

      Several times I have purchased an item on eBay 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.

      • bignate31@lemmy.world
        0·
        2 years ago

        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…

      • vomitaur@slrpnk.net
        0·
        2 years ago

        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.

  • JailElonMusk@sopuli.xyz
    0·
    2 years ago

    I cut out Amazon completely after ordering from them four to five times a week. Heres how I did it:

    1. 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.)

    1. 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).

    2. Buy directly from the vendor and look for promo codes if 1 or 2 don’t fit your lifestyle.

    • madjo@feddit.nl
      0·
      2 years ago

      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.

      • JailElonMusk@sopuli.xyz
        0·
        2 years ago

        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?

        • madjo@feddit.nl
          0·
          2 years ago

          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.

          • JailElonMusk@sopuli.xyz
            0·
            2 years ago

            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.

          • Bazoogle@lemmy.world
            0·
            2 years ago

            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

            • madjo@feddit.nl
              0·
              2 years ago

              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.

    • seathru@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
      0·
      2 years ago

      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.

  • ERROR: Earth.exe has crashed@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    0·
    2 years ago

    Piracy.

    As in, plunder the ships, get the booty (treasure).

    yaRrr 🏴‍☠️

    I’m something of a Captain Jack Sparrow myself.

    Edit: Serious Answer:

    Boston Harbor. Dump the entire warehouse into it.

  • Ephera@lemmy.mlEnglish
    0·
    2 years ago

    Somewhat depending on your country, local shops may have opened online storefronts during COVID. Them having a physical presence means their products tend to be decent quality (as most customers look at them physically before buying).

  • Skunk@jlai.lu
    0·
    2 years ago

    Amazon used to not deliver in my country so we developed our own, with 24h free delivery, blackjack and hookers.

    Now that Amazon figured out the custom taxes for us, it is too late as we have our own local alternative.

  • Hello_there@fedia.io
    0·
    2 years ago

    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.

  • Rose@slrpnk.net
    0·
    2 years ago

    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.

  • dual_sport_dork 🐧🗡️@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    2 years ago

    Lately (no doubt due to getting back into prosumer photography stuff) I’ve been using B&H Photo and Video. I kinda-sorta forgot I bought my drone from them several years ago and at the time they were cheaper than Amazon and also offered next day shipping for free for an order of that magnitude. Since I’m not using Amazon anymore I’ve been getting my stuff from there again.

    Everything I’ve been interested in has been the same price as on Amazon or cheaper. I think they’re hamstrung by their name by this point since they seem to have a pretty wide swath of general electronics and not just camera gear.

    Just don’t try to order on the Shabbat (i.e. Saturday), because you can’t. Their web site literally disables its checkout during that time.

    If you specifically need yum-cha generic Chinese garbage (for instance, if you have a particular brand related to bizarre knockoff knives you need to maintain) I find going straight to the source and just getting that crap from Aliexpress is the best plan. It’s the same bullshit that litters most of Amazon and sure, maybe you don’t get it quite as fast. But at least they’re broadly honest about the inherent crappiness of what you’re getting, and the same stuff is significantly less expensive.

  • CheeseNoodle@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    2 years ago

    There are some simple steps:

    • Use Amazon as a catalog to find what you want
    • Copy the items name/brand and find it elsewhere
    • Find out you live in a high cost are for deliveries and buying anywhere but on amazon outright doubles the price of the item.
    • Give up and buy on Amazon anyway.