Federated Amazon alternative coming soon?
this post was submitted on 05 Aug 2023
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Only if you love long shipping times. I don’t see how warehouses or in-house logistics could be federated when there is no house, so it’d essentially just be private sellers going through traditional shipping avenues like USPS/UPS/FedEx/DHL, etc
If that’s a trade-off you’re willing to make, though, then let’s fucken go
That would be fine since itd take monopoly power away from amazon. Could possibly even leverage things like uber package delivery if someone in your city buys what you sell
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yeah it's called shopping local
Fun side story. My first job as a developer, I was working in a small porn company in downtown Chicago. We had just hired a few people, so being the only techy in the company it was on me to order a bunch of hardware from NewEgg.
It was supposed to be delivered days later. But no, they had an employee, just like a regular dude, hop in his car and deliver the order on the same day. This was probably 2006, so same day delivery way NOT a normal thing.
I rarely get to tell this story because I don't want people to know I started off my (somewhat long) software engineering career in porn and because who cares about this in today's world.
However, OP mentioned NewEgg, so it fits here.
you can just tell this story without mentioning you worked for a porn company?? lol
Honestly I just order from Target. I know the products are legit, and I can usually do same day pickup.
(Lately I've preferred to shop in person. The stereotype is true -- once you become a mom, getting a Starbies and walking around Target becomes your self-care.)
I'm a 42 y/o dude, not a mom, but I'm right there with you. My friend and I would walk along the aisle by the side of the building to see what kind of junk they have for sale at the endcaps. Then hit up the electronics and nerd stuff, like Funkos and new movie releases. Finally walk down the food section to pick up groceries. All the while with some drinks in hand. We usually avoid the clothing section unless we need something.
I’ve found that Target ships counterfeit items time to time, as well as shoddy returned items. Amazon does the same. I typically buy my electronics from Best Buy because i know they sort those items into Open Box deals instead.
I've been been using Target instead of Amazon Prime. Shipping takes a little longer but 5% off with red card is neat. Where it really lacks is quality control over shipping. With Amazon an item getting damaged during shipping was something like once every few years, if even that. With Target since they don't control that part of the chain it's out of their hands, and it feels like 1 out of every 5 orders had something damaged to some degree. The app make it super easy to get a free replacement though.
idk if it still is since I haven't used Amazons app since, but targets app is so much nicer
Edit: off memory the worst case was some aerosol sunscreen was dented so it was empty on arrival and the the app told me I had to do an exchange in store for it. It's not that bad, but just stuff that doesn't really happen with amazon
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This isn't really an answer to the question, but I just saw a Mastodon post about an online store that's opening this October called Artisans.coop
It seems to be a cooperatively owned Etsy alternative, (and I can only assume it's a response to whatever shenanigans went on between Etsy and Silicon Valley Bank.)
I might check that out. I have a small Etsy shop that used to generate a bit of side income for me, mainly just enough to buy the occasional tool or some materials for personal projects, but Etsy has changed a lot since 2018. It's basically just eBay or Amazon with the veneer of "this is totally handmade." They pushed "free" shipping and decreased lead times, which undermines actual handmade products.
My assumption that this was about SVB sounds totally off the mark now that you've put it this way. From your story, it sounds like this is about an entire culture shift that's been alienating Etsy's original community of artisans for quite some time.
I'm pretty sure the main issue with etsy these days is that they allow/encourage dropshippers so now it's just filled with cheap crap from AliExpress etc
Bingo
I go to Amazon to look at what name brands there are. Or Google. Go and order directly from the company. Their customer service is better and they usually have cheaper options. Plus if you need a modification that you didn't know existed, refer back to the the customer service part.
Plus, if you buy directly from the manufacturer, you know you're getting a legit product with a good warranty. Some brands also have stores that double as service centers. If I order Nikes and they don't fit, I can return them to the local Nike store. Many offer free shipping just like Amazon, easy returns, better color choices and no creepy tracking or crazy knockoffs.
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B&H Photo Video is a decent place but stock is always iffy. More of a consumer electronics store than newegg in my experience.
I'm not an Amazon fan either. But you may want to know that Newegg is owned by a Chinese company these days.
I have heard this and mostly avoid shopping there as a result. Is there a "new" NewEgg that's like old NewEgg?
Closest thing would be MicroCenter. I believe they will ship, but their store locations are rare and spaced out. Closest one to me is almost an hour and a half away, but since the Fry's 10 minutes away closed it's my only other option besides BestBuy (barf).
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A combination of Micro Center, FS.com, and eBay for computer parts. Anything worth researching I'll try and buy direct from the manufacturer.
Dumb cheap stuff still goes to Amazon because if I need a $2 female USB-B to male USB-C adaptor or something like that I'm not willing to go through more than about 5 mins of searching and I know there's some random blob of letters company on the Amazon marketplace that will give me something that functions. I definitely wait until I have something critical or reach $30+ before actually placing the order though.
Have you tried Monoprice? It's been a while since I've had to order anything from them but they were always my goto for cables, adaptors, etc.
I mean, it's still another pretty big company, but the Shopify "Shop" app is actually pretty great as an alternative to Amazon.
Basically, all the businesses using a Shopify online storefront are amalgamated and searchable in one app, and the UI is pretty solid, too. I really like that a business can have their own website with a storefront, but also be there for convenience and still be in the same system.
My small shopify business thanks you!
That's actually such a smart move for Shopify to incentivise use of their platform over others.
Believe it or not I’ve never used Amazon.
I’m old, I never left eBay. I’ve seen things I want a lot cheaper on there though. I just don’t want to give them my money.
I used to shop on Amazon, but now I'm all eBay too. "It just works"and even though I know it's another mega-sized company, at least it's not amazon.
More than once though, I bought something on ebay, only to have it delivered in an Amazon box (because they fulfill for so many companies). Wish I could think of a way to avoid that.
It is against eBay policy for sellers to ship directly from Amazon. Report them and eBay will, after several months, end the offending account. Include pictures of the Amazon packaging. If you want to go the extra mile, go to the vendor's storefront and search for their items on Amazon. If you find a bunch, tell eBay that the vendor's storefront is full of relisted Amazon items.
https://www.ebay.com/help/buying/resolving-issues-sellers/reporting-item-issue-seller?id=4022
You can also leave negative feedback stating that the vendor simply ships from Amazon at a marked up price.
It is also against Amazon's policy for accounts to use Prime shipping perks to sell items. If your package has a gift receipt, the vendor is violating that policy. The receipt will include their account name, and you can report them to Amazon too. If it doesn't have a gift receipt, they're not violating any Amazon policy, and there's nothing you can do on that end.
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For a lot of consumer electronics (and of course camera and video) I go with B&H
B&H has a long history of racist and misogynistic hiring practices and work environments.The owners are ultra conservative religious nuts known for not hiring women, harassing minority employees, paying differently according to race and enforcing segregated bathrooms.They've payed out millions in lawsuits.
It sucks because I used to love wandering around in there browsing.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2016/02/bh-hit-with-discrimination-lawsuit.html
https://nypost.com/2020/10/18/bh-accused-of-discrimination-by-furloughed-workers/
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I use Amazon to shop often times, and ten just buy directly from the vendor. May take a little longer to mail or cost a tiny bit more, but worth it to me
The thing I like Amazon for is finding the vendor and then trying to buy direct from them. Often I've not been able to do that though. But I don't buy anything brand new from Amazon. I buy refurb electronics to keep them out of a landfill. Built myself some decent computers too.
On the opposite end: I recently was looking for a good quality belt and avoided Amazon. Found one the met all of my needs and wants after a bunch of searching. It was ok clearance and so returns were explicitly not allowed. I was nervous about the sizing but I figured I’d take a chance.
When it arrived it was in Amazon packaging.
Turns out they have an Amazon storefront. The belt was also available at the clearance price on there and returns were accepted which meant I could have ordered 2 sizes and keept the one that fit better.
Oh well. The way I see it: the belt was the right size and Amazon didn’t get a cut of the purchase.
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I know it's not feasible for everyone, or even most people, but I just generally avoid shopping online as much as possible.
That's fine if you're not a geek nor a tinkerer (or a musician), but unfortunately my hobbies aren't sold in stores anymore.
I miss RadioShack, Fry's Electronics, and music stores that don't charge a 30% markup.
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In Belgium & Netherlands, we have an alternative called Bol. I use it, but I wonder how much more ethical it is in the end.
For used books.
Abe Books was acquired by Amazon in 2008. Consider Alibris or Thrift books.
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eBay! Craigslist!
Craigslist is more fun but more limited. eBay for the things I can't find on CL. Both really enable you to shop locally too which is excellent
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If it's something I know I want to buy from a specific brand, I'd rather just buy from the vendor directly if that's an option.
For painters, dickblick.com sells Liquitex and Golden paint cheaper than Amazon.
I love Chewy! I also like to buy gifts and handmade items on Etsy.
It depends on what you're trying to buy. For CDs and Vinyl I go with Discogs, usually. There's also Mllusicstack, though I haven't gotten around to trying it yet.
I tend to use price aggregators more than individual websites because we've reached a point with Internet transactions that you can't really get away with being a dodgy ecommerce website. People can just file paypal issues or complain to their credit card company for help, so just go with the cheapest option and see how it goes most of the time.
The ones I use are pricerunner and pricespy. I'm EU, but I know pricespy has a NZ version, so I assume it's global.
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