WigglyBlondeNoodle
39562
1115
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I've been using this method for years: I'll find something I like on Amazon and then look for their website to buy from. It's true that they won't always have a better deal there compared to Amazon, but that small business makes a much better cut and you can always look around or ask the company directly for a discount code.
It's a hard habit to break--relying on Amazon--but it can be done in many circumstances.
LV1BlueSlime
Wanted some toothbrushes from Reach that my grocery store no longer carried. I went to their site to find them and the purchase link just goes to their amazon listing.
PhailRaptor
And then when the product arrives, it comes in... an Amazon box... because the company is too small to handle their own shipping in-house, so they rely on Amazon to do it for them. So you wasted a day hunting their site and a discount code to help the bookstore finance their space program anyway.
wolfrog
Surely someone has a browser extension that does this for me
jacketyjack
I usually just go to the store.
KingYinzer
so i thought i'd try this because i happen to have been given an amazon link by a medical professional for a nutritional supplement they'd like me to try. it is $22.39 on amazon for a 60 day supply with free shipping that will arrive tomorrow. going to the manufacturer's site, they do not have 60 day supply available, only 30, so i'd have to buy two at $17.99 each and it's $5.99 shipping, for a total of $41.97. so to support this business means i have to spend nearly double. so nah.
CookieMonstersCrumbs
I did this once, because I HATE amazon. The makers were this little Amish company so absolutely wanted to give them my money directly. 2 months later, I had my bank account cleaned out (I got it all back because despite being smol, my bank is decent) I thought I got skimmed at a concert. But got an email a month after THAT, that the company that does all the credit card info for the Amish company was the one that had my info stolen. So, yeh. That sucked.
willbo890
I've moved to eBay primarily for this type of garbage, and AliExpress's customer service has actually gotten pretty good, if you don't mind sometimes waiting a month for a thing, but even that has gotten much more predictable. If I need something quick, I just buy local. You'd be amazed what your Ace Hardware (or equivalent) has.
PrincessLeliana
I dont use amazon, but back when i did, whenever id do this, it would show up in an amazon box anyway
MrWobblyHead
I'd order elsewhere but there aren't many online retailers that offer weekend delivery. With Prime I get weekend delivery options at no extra cost.
cosonfused
Or if it's junk, buy it from Ali where the dropshippers bought it from.
kershaw
I buy off eBay. I quit Amazon years ago. Screw Bezos.
davyclam
After wondering for a couple of months what I had bought on Amazon which produced a debit on my bank statement, I realised that I had been click-tricked into signing up to Prime, against my intent. I have ended my account and never click on anything Amazon now, and while it takes some effort I source everything elsewhere.
WigglyBlondeNoodle
That happened to me a few years ago. I clicked one of those "you could pay $0 on this order with Prime, learn more here" links. Turns out it was one click and I had accidentally signed up for Prime when all I wanted to do was read the terms and conditions for a Prime subscription. It took over two hours on the phone with them to cancel. Its enraging how they are able to continue leveraging such predatory practices.
Cytos
False. Amazon actively undercuts small companies to put them out of business while copying their products to sell under their "Amazon Basics" label.
Doso777
Tried that today. That product was not listed on their own shop. It was listed on ebay with the delivery option i wanted.
BobAllen2004
I have a specific shoe I need. $175 on the maker's site, and only available in two colors. I went to Amazon just yesterday to see if they possibly had other colors. They did not AND same the shoes were $329!!!?? Natch, I went back to the maker's site and ordered them again.
ProfessorBanesworth
I've considered this route a few times, but I generally always go with Amazon because I've had some real nightmares trying to return items to the original retailers. Amazon makes it so much easier (and free-r) to return things...
I also hate the idea of creating an account on some other retailers site. And worrying about whether or not their e-com platform is secure or if it's storing my CC info as plain text in a local database.
Grinch01
Just did this endet up paying on top because the product didn't suite me ans i had to refund it and had pay all costs if i had order at Amazon i had at least free return and in another case they send it to me through Amazon but i orderd it at their Page :D
DonkeyGoat
Yeah I tried to buy something for my chinchilla from the manufacturer. I noticed that the price was slightly lower on the website BUT the price difference was EQUAL to the shipping fees on the website. IE Amazon was $29.99 with free shipping and the site was $24.99 with $5 shipping with about the same turnaround time.
Wrenfield
The manufacturer hits me with a shipping fee as well as an additional week of shipping time. Amazon ships free and is 48 hours at worst.
huckyourmeat
I live in Alaska, the free shipping saves me a ton. Broke a leaf spring on my truck. Order two new ones from Amazon. 120lbs of spring steel. Shipped free. Would have been $200 from the cheapest competitor.
n0n53n53
Find it on Amazon $15 will be here tomorrow, find it on the sellers site, $12, $6.99 shipping, will be here in 5-92 days. I do try this often, but usually it's more of a hassle, if the company sells through Amazon it's because they're not interested in doing the hard parts
FartsSmellBad
A lot of this is just kinda wrong though. But worth going through the effort.
geekykeycap
Yeah I buy a lot of very specific, nonstandard products for electronics and craft work. Buying from companies directly is usually cheaper but the shipping costs bring the price back up over Amazon often. When they don't it's often only a couple bucks saved for a lot of extra work. And I'm always a little worried about what the company is gonna do with my credit card info if they don't offer safer purchasing options.
Once I've done it once repeat purchases are less onerous but it's not nothing.
Exousa
Amazon doesn't actually sell everything in my experience, just everything you'd want at home. A lot of work stuff I get at Graingers, Digikey, Mouser, Newark Electronics, etc; for my hobbies, I have to go to specialty leather suppliers
notreallyamorningperson
I’ve proudly never bought anything from Amazon. I hate that vile man so much I’ve made a concerted effort never to support his shitty business.
UncleMeaty
You are supporting his shitty business by using this web site.
bluesnow6
I am not able to find a source where it confirms this - meaning he owns it, not that he is a shitty person.... Are you able to provide any source/documentation regarding this?
UncleMeaty
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Web_Services
PrincessNausicaa
I've started using https://uk.bookshop.org for books. It connects you to your local bookshop and the prices seem to be about the same.
Goddesahpan
Wow amazing! I'd definitely use them, but unfortunately won't deliver outside of UK. Brexit strikes once again :(
TornaydoTornahdo
Bookshop.org exists in the US. I use it a lot
TornaydoTornahdo
I meant to say "in the US too." I didn't mean to imply you are in the US
Goddesahpan
Thanks, I'll check if they are anywhere in the EU
Sorrontis
Not in Canada, unfortunately. International Shipping and all.
TacoPoweredHelicopter
Yup... I am at a point where it's amazon for online or walmart for in person. Good luck finding things anywhere else. If I can order from a company directly I do but it's getting harder and harder.
TacoPoweredHelicopter
Also I use AliExpress for more hard to find things, not sure if it's better from ab ethics point of view but it's been really good.
cosinewave
I do this as often as I can. Remember that Amazon uses taxpayer money to build those enormous distribution centers. Nearly all of them were directly tax funded or given huge tax deferments or exemptions on the promise of thousands of high-paying jobs created. How did that work out? Basically, governments are funding the creation of a monopoly. Yes, it is convenient but at what cost?
req4adream99
Also the part about a lot of high paying jobs is also a lie. Sure there may be 50 very well paying jobs created (management) and hundreds of other jobs created (not management) - the trick is that they always present the average wage. Someone making 100k plus someone making 30k equals an average of 65k (decent wage).
DarkSock
Where are the MAGA red-cappers, screaming about wealth redistribution and socialism? Because the corporate welfare uses your and my tax dollars to subsidize not just these massive distribution centers but also BEZO'S below-livable-wage payrolls, forcing full-time workers into requiring state & federal welfare assistance (also our tax dollars…)... hell, if that ain't "socialism" then what the hell is?💸
DickGenie
The eternal dilemma, especially for a consumerist society like America's. The amount of one-time use products is staggering. We gift the coming generations with a highly polluted Earth fr
hadan8088
We all need to recycle better, save gas, and support small biz. But this admonishment feels like blaming the consumer for the choices of the corporations. Waste companies need to stop lying and recycle as promised. Energy companies need to shift to renewable resources. Amazon needs to pay their fair share in taxes for utilizing infrastructure, pay better wages, shift Prime to 4 days instead of 2 so their employees aren't pressured to stay at work while tornadoes destroy the building around them.
starkeclipse
Those things need to happen, but without financial/political power, they won't.
CHARCHIMUS
We used to sell to Amazon, but they were buying from us, and somehow selling it for less than we were selling it to them for?! They were actively undercutting our prices, essentially costing us business in the process. So we make a small profit per unit, and then lose other business because they can get it on amazon for cheaper? Nahh, that got shut down relatively fast. Often times these sellers are losing money and or business going through amazon. Still dont understand what they were doing
Apollymkatistrafia
I bet any contract has that all buried in the legalese, so the business misses it due to either not having a dedicated person to read thru it and ensure it's a good deal, or just not understanding it and then having it blatantly explained poorly to get them to sign-in on it, only to watch their business tank and having no way to fight back.
HappyMardiGras
I stopped selling on Amazon when a Chinese seller used my pictures of my American made product to create a listing for a Chinese-made look-alike product for half the price, shipped from China, using MY "made in USA" description verbage and graphics and Amazon refused to do anything about it. Fuck em.
KarfinMo
When they did that to us, we just bought it back. Their algorithm saw sales and a need for new stock, so they placed new orders to us
CHARCHIMUS
Lol nice!! That'll work haha
tommiCookieHero
I think they do this all the time. They were trying to drive you out of business.
CHARCHIMUS
which is hilarious, because this company is a very well known standard within our industry, often copied, never duplicated. Luckily, our team here is very good at what we do, and they shut amazon down pretty fast after seeing what they were doing.
chefsoda
I do wish this were true as any sort of general rule. I've tried this so many times, and it is almost always considerably more expensive, and considerably slower. I wouldn't use Amazon if the producers could beat their service
kitnnicole9
Just a question: how many of those products do you really need so quickly? Small businesses have thinner margins. I'd rather pay more and keep them alive. Every small business is a person pursuing a dream or goal. I rarely see the price so much higher that it's worth giving the money to bezos.
Geistbar
My experience generally matches the image. The exceptions are places that never offer free shipping at any threshold.
Usually I want enough stuff from the same manufacturer to hit a $50 threshold. I don't buy things often, and when I do I typically have a backlog of stuff I can toss in all at once. I don't subscribe to prime so I would always be getting Amazon's slowest shipping, which is no better than the free elsewhere in my experience.
If you cannot hit a free shipping then I can see it.
torisenblack
You find a 10% off coupon but to buy direct is +25% cost
The shipping takes 2-8 weeks with no estimate, you just hope it shows up some day
OR
You buy it direct and it arrives in an Amazon box because they use them for logistics anyway.
kaarbaakimgr
Yeah…OP is living in a fantasy world. Small business is just as much a money grab as big business. Local hardware store pays 2 people minimum wage. No benefits. Home Depot and Lowes employ hundreds of hardworking local people. Good pay and benefits.
Boom9001
Yeah I've done this many times trying to support companies I like directly. I've often really struggled following through because it can be massively more expensive.
ThatTransformersDude
Also some companies charge you for shipping or returns making the price on some items stack up
Sensiblyinteresting
Last time I did this the item arrived in an Amazon box anyways
PlusTechSqueezeBox
Same with "buying local". Local electronics stores sell even basic things for 2-3x the price of Amazon.
RaynWisp
Many vendors on Amazon Sellercentral are actually using Amazon's FBA mechanics - so they likely may not require the staff to fulfill large volumes of orders outside of this system. (FBA warehouses and handles fulfillment, merchant handles pricing) If you order directly from the company's external site, you're using their own internal team for all of it. Frankly, there's a lot of reasons why vendors switch to FBA and "not needing to train a fulfillment department" is a common reason.
notreallyamorningperson
Pay more. Just pay more and wait. It’s better for your soul.
chefsoda
The problem is that it's not a trivial difference. I need some small part to fix something and it's $10. With Amazon, that $10 includes the next day delivery. At the manufacturer's site there's $13 of shipping, unless my order goes over $99. I can also group parts from 6 different companies on a single order, target than chasing down each one & having them arrive at random
SIDSOS
If I can't find it somewhere other than Amazon for a decent price I don't really need it. Haven't used Amazon in years
TyrTheTired
Or, worse yet, they have a "Where to buy our products" button and it leads you back to, you guessed it, Amazon.
UWAGAGABLAGABLAGABA
That's because another one of Amazon's services is item warehousing. Companies don't have to pay for their own properties to store inventory anymore. That can just rent from Amazon which saves them tons of money
aducksayswhat
Yep, a lot of companies are "multi-channel" and have the tools to handle that, including their own site, but there's a significant amount that set themselves up around one or two sites that drive most of their business
kinarism
This is basically the current train of business thought. Outsource everything except the IP. Essentially, instead of paying employees, you pay companies to contract the work and handle HR. And as long as your consumers can/will pay an upcharge on what your business costs you to pay someone else to run it, yay. Go start another one. Rinse repeat.
bryst
There is always going to be a cost to promoting smaller businesses and trying to keep monopolies in check. This same logic was applied to Wal-mart, and look where it got families. Ran places like Kmart, Shopko and a handful or other competitors out of business and now all that's left in most cities is Target and Wal-mart. Now their prices arent even that great, and people dont even realize it. Its a very shortsighted view.
WellAckchually
On an individual basis, you know what happens when you avoid using a business with immoral practices? You don't gain the same benefit as everyone else, and the evil keeps happening. Game theory is strongly against volunteer boycotts. The solution is regulation and enforcement.
kitnnicole9
kitnnicole9
This 👆🏽
chefsoda
Except Amazon & Walmart had nothing to do with Kmart & Shopko closing. Both were bought by private equity, had all their valuable parts sold off, then took on insane debt and intentionally collapsed. It's awful, but a whole different problem
bryst
Alot of the time this happens because the company is struggling due to poor sales.
chefsoda
It usually happens when a company has a great deal of value that they're not capitalizing or extracting. In late stage capitalism, that is forbidden and brings the wolves
Richter12x2
I still order direct from them because fuck Amazon. It's worth paying more to not give them money.
jacketyjack
They can't beat Amazon's service because they don't have an army of underpaid workers.
gardengnomeii
For me it does also depend upon how fast I want it. No rush? always the manufacturer site.
Sulexar
"Slavery is ok if it gets me shit faster"
Raikupath
Got into a discussion with some conservatives. They literally said that. They literally said "some people have to have it bad so that we can have the good stuff." without realising how mentally deranged that sounds and how it shoes that conservatives have no emotional intelligence whatsoever.
MeshHatMafia
So they never had to read ‘The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas’ - or they read it and were like ‘Hey! This is great! I’m totally cool with that sacrifice!’
airwoman
They all believe that even the conservatives who seem alright. And too many liberals intrinsically believe that too, we will protest the obvious stuff but not pay attention or think critically about other things or else the mask that this exploitation of the lower class is hidden behind will disappear and that's something that's just 'better not to know'.
Snooj
My problem with Amazon is how easy it is to order and return stuff. If I'm looking for an item, like sweat pants or a waterproof box, I can order several, try them out, and send back the ones I don't like, all from the comfort of my house. It's great. I hate how great it is.
Terella
The worst part is that many returns are just trashed. So much waste.
Adester
That's because amazon has a policy that you can't sell your products cheaper elsewhere.
Zalm
And somehow they are allowed to function, despite anti trust laws
chefsoda
Because the US abandoned the task of policing monopolies after Reagan.
DarkZalgo
They stopped that 5 years ago because they got sued.
FlippedOut
Hmm, interesting if that's true. Because that's the same complaints about Steam at the moment. If there is a precedent, it should be pretty easy to win. I 100% agree it should be illegal. Exclusive contracts need to be illegal or at least limited in scope. Audible has the same issue.
Adester
Steam doesn't have this policy. The lawsuit will fail. Steam has a policy that says "when you sell -->>steam keys<<-- of your game elsewhere, you have to match the steam price", which is actually an amazing thing. You can use the steam distribution system for your game, workshop, communityhub, etc, but you don't have to give steam 30% of the price if you use your own website to sell your game. If you sell on gog and steam, then you are free to choose your prices.
BladeTurMoiL
Thing is: amazon buys them in bulk, gets a discount, resells and takes profit. These companies cant produce and ship in the demand off individual sales and expect to make money of the same volume.
Literally a monopoly example at work.
chefsoda
Amazon often doesn't even do that. They now have those producers drop ship loads of stuff, yet somehow it's cheaper than the same company, shipping you the same item, from the same warehouse
taez555
Amazon Ordering. 1. Find product. 2. Click "buy now" because mailing and CC info is all saved. 3. Flush toilet.
ImgurIsOutOfUsernames
And if something is messed up, you can go to Amazon for recourse, and they handle it.
moreSaucePlease
Online stores implementing GPay, Apple Pay, and the like are making it just as easy to buy from these other vendors. Once you choose these options, the mailing and CC info are provided to the vendor and you’re good to go
Blanks56
It's definitely improving, but the biggest issue still seems to be delivery time.
bryst
4. 10 years from now complain the only way to buy anything at all is Amazon and their prices aren't cheap anymore and Prime cost $45 a month for the cheapest tier.
jasondeslin
Brave of you to assume capitalism won't have imploded by then.
Just remember, everything except guillotining the rich is just hitting the brakes on the downward slide. It doesn't change the direction we are headed towards. The only thing in history that has ever worked to stop the effects of greed is making the greedy afraid.
And they are the ones that say violence isn't the answer, while hiding how many times that was the only thing that worked.
SortaSordid
4. Wash hands!
THESUNISPRAISED
No because im evil.
taez555
Not since I got a bidet.
StarvingGarbage
Of amazon?
taez555
Of course. Gotta get your money's worth with that Amazon prime.
Sparrowdotnet
Your supposed to use the toilet paper... Not your hands... Doesn't matter now anyway, take a shower while you're at it.
n0n53n53
yeaaaah, you still touched things in the bathroom, wash your damn hands