Ask Lemmy

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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.)

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.

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.

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.

Here in Canada I've started ordering from the Canadian Tire app instead.

I've learned to live with less. I don't need a new gadget or the latest shiny plastic distraction. I buy food, gas, beer. If I just have to have something, Costco or eBay. Closed my amazon, walmart, target accounts. Don't miss them.

I barely buy from Amazon nowadays, quit the subscription 3 years ago. Except for very specific items anywhere else is cheaper, better quality or both. Besides trying to search for something on Amazon has become a nightmare.

I shop at the bin stores where they have a ton of Amazon and WalMart products. Some are returns but I always test them at the store and have found a ton of stuff for $4 or $10. I just bought a wet suit, 7 head electric shaver, fog machine, 4 smart bulbs, 3 USB plugs, hand warmers, queen sized inflatable mattress, ice bath tub (to wash my dog) and a Dirt Devil all for $72.

i look on amazon, and look on local chains, sometimes it cheaper in the stores, but sometimes it more expensive than on amazon.

in germany we have local shop comparing portals like geizhals.de

Posted most of this in another thread but I'm glad to help share my tricks. I have managed to nearly eliminate Amazon entirely from our lives for the past two years. I usually find things by searching what I want to buy on DuckDuckGo and then adding "-amazon", "-etsy", "-walmart", "-temu" and "-pinterest" as search modifiers.

A lot of little shops are perfectly legit, but watch out for:

Things being ridiculous bargains. Small shops will almost always be more expensive due to higher overheads and less bulk

Too much variety in product (unless they're a marketplace with 3rd party vendors). A legit shop will have inventory that makes sense together in its theme. If they sell everything from bubblebath to uranium they're either probably not actually selling it or drop shipping it.

Pictures that look like they come from lots of different sources, or no consistency in images. If they don't have their own pictures of products or standards of presentation that's suspicious

Some general recs:

For anything electronic or computer related: B&H Photo or Microcenter

For music stuff: Sweetwater, but there's a lot of great small music stores, or you can use a marketplace like Reverb

For clothes: if you have any clothes you already enjoy, go directly to their brand website. If you don't, go to local secondhand shops and touch, handle and try on some clothes to see them in person. I've discovered some brands I like by finding something in a thrift store that was well made but not my size or preferred color.

For house repair and DIY stuff: we order from a local building supply store, but there's also hardwareandtools.com, 1stoplighting, Waysource, Lightbulbs.com, Timothy's Toolbox etc.

For food items, local grocery stores often offer online shopping and delivery. If it's a specialty item or imported the import companies sometimes have their own websites. There's also Hive or GroveCo for some granola type B Corp goodness

For tea, coffee and spices, Adagio and its sister websites

For super fast, need it now shipping, Target has a lot of the same things Amazon does and even does same day delivery for an extra fee for certain items.

For something hard to find you can't find another site for, try Ebay.

I do business with all sorts of independent retailers and have only had good experiences with them. These are sites that I've personally bought from but there are a lot of smaller sites just trying to make a place for themselves on the internet

Benelux has Bol, so that's what I use.

1. Search Amazon for product you want.
2. Check reviews
3. Throw out reviews because a) they're for the wrong product or b) they're bot written.
4. Use the product numbers to search for the the same product elsewhere, preferably from the company's own website or brick and mortar.
5. If it's something you actually need and can't find it elsewhere, it's ok to buy Amazon, just don't pay for a Prime account. No one needs shit that quickly.

I use Amazon to find the stuff and then Google the seller. They typically have the same product for sale at the same or similar price on an unaffiliated website. It takes extra effort but it's worth it if you are seriously trying to boycott Amazon.

Lifes basics are often online at Costco for prices much better than big box or Amazon with same shipping times. eBay is potential alternative. For niche items, directly to the manufacturer. No need giving Amazon a share when it could go directly to the engineers, designers and people who made it.

Denmark has Pricerunner. When buying electronics I can find many different types of local dealers and suppliers.

Second hand can be gotten through Den Blå Avis (dba.dk. Essentially translates to "The Blue Pages").

Clothing has various online solutions as well, but it's also easy to just hop onto a bike and cycle to the nearest shopping centre. I live in Copenhagen, so there's also train and metro, but I prefer biking.

When it comes to food, I only ever order food online through Too Good To Go. Recently got a large breakfast cereal box through TGTG.

I use Facebook. I hate that I have to use Facebook, but I feel like using it to buy second hand items (which is most of what I buy anyway) is slightly more ethical.

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.