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by Intermernet11 hours ago |
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upvoteby drivers991 hours ago|
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You gave me the idea to buy something I was thinking of ordering from Amazon (a Time Timer) and see how it compares. The timer I got is $24.95 on their site, 15% off welcome discount (-$3.74), +$10.00 shipping, and "orders ship within 3-5 business days." On Amazon they have the one I ordered for $19.95 list price minus 15% = $16.96 and I could have it within 1 hour for $9.99 (lol... I've never seen that option before) or tomorrow for free, although I do have Prime which is why that's an option. I do like to buy a lot of things directly from their original sellers or a specialized store (Loop earplugs, or speed cubes from TheCubicle, electronics from adafruit or jameco or digikey, etc...) but it shows you a big difference in service level.
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upvoteby TFNA11 hours ago|
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What if you want to buy simple Chinese plastic stuff (e.g. someone elsewhere mentioned zip ties)? The manufacturer is somewhere in China with a minimum order of 10,000, so no, you can't go to them. Amazon is often the cheapest source for this, cheaper than any local retail.
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upvoteby Intermernet9 hours ago|
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Honestly? AliExpress wins for this stuff. The shipping is always much more expensive than the actual items, so I batch purchase stuff like this. Funnily enough, sometimes, despite paying only one shipping cost, it arrives in multiple shipments.
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upvoteby bluefirebrand10 hours ago|
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Personally I buy that stuff locally anyways to support my local economy.

Even if it does cost me a bit extra, continuing to have local businesses is worth it to me

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upvoteby mark_something10 hours ago|
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I prefer online retailers because there is a lot more choice there. I can't find an inflatable knee pillow in local stores. The supermarket close to me even stopped selling batteries.
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upvoteby Intermernet9 hours ago|
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This is true. Many "weird" purchases that used to be available from someone local are now impossible to get. Not sure about the supermarket not stocking batteries though... That's just insane.
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upvoteby bix610 hours ago|
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You have a small shop that sells zip ties? The only place I would expect to find something like that is a big box store or a hardware store (which are all chains now).
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upvoteby HelloImSteven6 hours ago|
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Lots of art stores (not just chains) have them. Not as much variety as Amazon, but still.
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upvoteby bluefirebrand9 hours ago|
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Buying from a big box store still does support local jobs though

Like yeah, Walmart isn't really much better than Amazon in the grand scheme of things, but I would rather people be able to get stable employment at a Walmart store than have to fight it out as gig workers delivering for Amazon.

Maybe I'm overthinking it though

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upvoteby bix69 hours ago|
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Walmart employees are historically on food stamps. Neither is sufficiently better than the other imo
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upvoteby bluefirebrand8 hours ago|
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I'm not saying that Walmart is great, but maybe that Walmart+food stamps is better than just food stamps?

It's not like being a delivery gig worker is great income either

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upvoteby reliabilityguy10 hours ago|
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Amazon delivers next day or the same day many of the items if you have Prime.

I tried many times to order something directly, and most of the time it’s the same price and longer shipping. So, for me in terms of convenience Amazon wins.

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upvoteby bix610 hours ago|
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Why would I do that? Now I’m spending time verifying individual random brands all to get the same price (plus shipping)?
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upvoteby Intermernet10 hours ago|
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I'm not sure about where you are from, but in Australia I've recently had just as reliable service, shipping costs and delivery times from individual brands as from Amazon.

Amazon used to be better, and they still have the logistics network to be better, but they've dropped the ball. If this downward trend hasn't hit you yet, it's only a matter of time.

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upvoteby bix69 hours ago|
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I’m in the US and they continue to beat competitors. The logistics network is unparalleled.
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