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Do you folks use Amazon a lot, and if yes, then why? If no, then what alternatives do you prefer?

I’ll start - I don’t shop a lot, but if I had to buy stuff like hardware parts, I do use Amazon sometimes, but if I can, then I try to use Flipkart. Realizing how it has turned into a monopoly, I try to look for alternative websites, and check if they’re trustworthy.

If I remember correctly, the last three items I’ve bought online were hardware parts from some local websites. The chi-fi IEMs were bought through headphonezone.in, and they were super-fast in delivery - I had to wait for only four days.

newerAccountWhoDis ,

Don’t use it at all. If I need something I get it from the store

WraithGear ,
@WraithGear@lemmy.world avatar

So for me, for larger things, i use Amazon to find which products i want and i hunt down the website of the store that makes it. For small stuff, or things that may be from a smaller site, or over seas i order on Amazon. I am sure the smaller sites need the boost even more, but Amazon gives me the extra layer of guarantee of satisfaction.

restingboredface ,

Same. It’s nice to have a way to quickly look through a bunch of options (even if 95% of them are shitty Chinese counterfeits). I’ll even look through the reviews and see if anything glaring jumps out. But I haven’t been a prime member since they put ads in prime video and haven’t really missed it.

yuuunikki ,

I use Amazon pretty often, cause I get shit in 2 days to my house.

foo ,

I’ve been boycotting Amazon (UK) for a few years now. It’s not easy! Sometimes it doesn’t take much longer to source items, but other times it takes way longer. I have limits though, and occasionally I end up caving-in and just using Amazon, but it’s getting rarer all the time. Now I use them once or twice per year. I tried using onbuy for a while, but we got a couple of faulty items from them and their support completely ignored me, so I stopped using them. Generally, here are some of my most common alternatives:

general stuff and gifts: Argos, ebay, etsy
tech: overclockers, ebuyer, scan.co.uk
electronics: John Lewis, AO, Richer Sounds
books/dvds: hive.co.uk, Waterstones, WH Smith
pharma: boots, simpleonlinepharmacy, well
household: Robert Dyas, Dunelm, John Lewis
pets: zooplus
spare parts: buyspares.co.uk

And for a wishlist alternative I use wishlist.com. (edited to fix formatting)

frickineh ,

I haven’t used it for personal stuff in years. My employer uses it for office supplies, so I’ve occasionally ordered work stuff, but even that is as little as possible, and only things where it won’t matter if the quality is just so so, because you can’t trust that you’ll get the real thing anymore. Plus, I don’t want to sift through 10k listings of sweatshop garbage to find the thing I’m looking for.

SeaJ ,

I do a decent amount but it has been less and less. I avoid buying no name stuff that is loaded with fake reviews. If there is something I specifically want and it is cheaper on Amazon, I’ll get it there. Oftentimes it is not cheaper for brand named stuff.

saigot ,

I try my best to avoid it, Although I still end up getting stuff once a month or so. There isn’t just 1 alternative, the fact amazon is a 1 stop shop is kind of the big problem with them. my priorities are: Shop local > shop direct from manufacturer > shop from a specialty store > google the amazon product name > buy amazon.

I actively use audible, there isn’t really any alternatives (spotify’s model for audiobooks is awful, I’m open to other suggestions), it hasn’t enshittified yet, it’s pretty cheap and I don’t feel right pirating something as niche and valuable to me as audible.

I don’t use prime video, even when I have access from getting prime (sometimes it’s cheaper to buy a month of prime than pay for shipping once). The ads on launch are simply unacceptable and I largely would prefer if their studios close so I surf the high seas.

tyrant ,

For audiobooks, Libby is free with a library card. Sometimes you need to wait for a book but its worth the wait.

hushable ,

I actively avoid Amazon, however there’s a brand I really like that only sells through Amazon in my country, so I’ve used it a couple of times when I have no other choice.

I also have an audible account from before it was acquired by Amazon, idk if that counts, but I stopped paying for it over a decade ago

dependencyinjection ,

Not for about 3 years now.

I took a stand against their horrible practices and frequently pay more for goods I could find there cheaper, plus arrive faster.

D61 ,

Not sure what “a lot” means but there’s some animal veterinary stuff that we buy every 6 weeks or so because… well… shit’s expensive and not always easy to find locally. It winds up being either Amazon or Chewie that has the stuff in stock and at prices (even with shipping) that are manageable with our budget.

Tabitha ,

amazon sent my friend a bottle of animal medicine, which was clearly already opened, with the liquid clearly refilled with a mystery fluid, and filled all the way to the cap.

NONE_dc ,
@NONE_dc@lemmy.world avatar

I use Mercado Libre because in my country we no longer have easy access to dollars to buy in Amazon and they don’t accept our currency (I’m Venezuelan)

viking ,
@viking@infosec.pub avatar

There’s no Amazon where I live right now, but if I were to return to an Amazon country, I’d probably use it again. The convenience is hard to beat.

etchinghillside ,

Unfortunately the deliveries to the various pickup boxes is critical. I’ve tried looking into general delivery to a post office or to look at specific (eg Home Depot) pickup options with no success.

DaCrazyJamez ,

I use it as one of several sites…there are some things they are still the best / most convenient for. For cheap chinese crap (which is often all I need for small projects etc) temu and aliexpress now undercut amazon considerably. For quality items that are ok to buy used, ebay.

ANYTHING that costco sells will almost always be the best choice, but they have a very limited selection.

So in short, amazon is very much still in play, but as one of many, not the go-to anymore.

MajorHavoc ,

I do my best not to feed money unnecessarily into Amazon, because they’re well on their way into abusing their near-monopoly advantage.

I can’t change how the world treats a company that shrugs off news of their employees peeing in bottles, and doesn’t seem to care about heat exhaustion in their own staff. But I can control how I react to that news.

I use separate dedicated online retailers for groceries, hardware, and toys. I generally get free or very low cost delivery, directly to my door, within a week. My delivery timing is actually more reliable than it was with Amazon, back when I still ordered a few things from them, after they started enshitifying.

I’m generally always using a retailer who has a presence in my city, so if I need to return something, I just return it at the store.

The quality of the return desk experience is usually what determines which specific retailer I buy from, for each category.

(Which is ironic because I almost never need to return anything. I’m shockingly good at fixing stuff, so if I get something mildly broken, I just fix it and use it. But I really hate it if it’s a hassle on the rare day that I do.)

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