What websites do you use as an alternative to Amazon?
What websites do you use as an alternative to Amazon?
I've been trying to avoid shopping on Amazon for several years. For computer parts, I look at Newegg. For pet stuff, Chewy.
But what about all the miscellaneous stuff? What other websites do you trust when it comes to shopping online?
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.
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'm not an Amazon fan either. But you may want to know that Newegg is owned by a Chinese company these days.
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.
B&H Photo Video is a decent place but stock is always iffy. More of a consumer electronics store than newegg in my experience.
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.
For a lot of consumer electronics (and of course camera and video) I go with B&H
Bookshop.org for books
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.
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.
I love Chewy! I also like to buy gifts and handmade items on Etsy.
For painters, dickblick.com sells Liquitex and Golden paint cheaper than Amazon.
I have gone to the source and bought off the top 4-5 Chinese sites. Slow, but so far no issues.
Walmart occasionally, but their website is terrible and selection limited.
Microcenter for pc parts.
eBay for a few things.
Adorama and the other big NY camera seller (edit: B&H) often have deals on things like laptops.
Rock auto for car parts. Car-part.com for used car parts when my wife hits yet another deer.
Amazon, still way too much.
I use Ebay as an alternative for some purchases, but I primarily use Amazon.
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.
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.
Target. Best Buy. Walmart, if I have to. The Shop app is pretty good.
Bol.com. Though it only works in The Netherlands and Flanders.
Interestingly Amazon is almost non existent in Switzerland. I think they didn't ship or only with high fees in the first years so it never became famous. We have our own solutions like galaxus.ch or brack.ch. I only ordered twice on Amazon and that just because the products were not available in any other shop.
I really don't like amazon. They are a scummy business that try to exploit their workers as much as possible. But jesus it's hard to find competition.. I sometimes end up using Amazon as it's mostly the less expensive choise unfortunately. My sister buys loads of books from there and I get it. They got better prices for that as well..
Niche category, but Board Game Oracle is great for comparing online prices for board games across sites, and seeing what's on sale
leboncoin.fr I'm in France. It's our local craigslist.
I use Target most, I think. For random household stuff I can’t get through Target I use Meijer (it’s a grocery+ store) or the local Ace Hardware and do same day pickup.
Honestly those cover probably 75% of purchases. Everything else I google until I find what I want, then spend a couple hours trying to decide if the site is legit or if I can find the manufacturer direct.
EBay
If you're a gal, you might like Zulily for clothes, shoes and household items. I've bought more than several things there and been very pleased. Delivery takes forever tho'
I usually order form Amazon for convenience, but sometimes use shopping.google.com. I look up every site before ordering though. Some of the sites that show up in the results are sketchy or deceptive. I also sometimes use Ebay if I'm ok with buying something used, or something very cheap of questionable quality (from people who I'm guessing are just resellers of Alibaba crap).
Wayfair occasionally
There are lots of other marketplace sites (e.g. I was just looking at appliancesconnection.com) - but also generally I either google the name of the thing I'm looking for or look up the name of the seller on amazon and buy it from their site.
You could try checking out Wish, Craigslist, or Ali Express. I've used all three to scrounge for parts to build a server for myself
Local online stuff when I can. National stuff like trademe.co.nz. Then I guess Ebay and Alibaba.
Best Buy for gadgets.
I usually just use walmarts website, you can type in your zip code and find the physical walmart where you live and then filter items there are actually in the store, it tells you the price obviously but also the exact isle its in, so once you find what you need it you can just go get it in like 10-20 minutes based on distance