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Comment by blitzar | Hacker News Reader

> I will gladly suffer the inconvenience of buying stuff from other retailers in the future

Tried it and failed. Higher prices, costly 5 day "express" shipping and questionable / non-existent return policies - the time and effort required to wade through is not worth it.

I want to not use Amazon too - but other retailers make it really really hard.

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What are you buying that you experience this? Household goods from target (bonus probably not fake), electronics Best Buy and B&H, Costco for a lot of misc, and clothing from old navy and h&m etc. all have easy returns and often better prices than I see at Amazon (even for books oddly — Target must track Amazon prices to the penny).

It's less about what and more about where. For example, in European countries Amazon pricing and (often) return policies are distinctly better than most.

Between Target, Best Buy, Home Depot, Walmart and even Fleabay, I can build my own Amazon with blackjack and free shipping!

UK, last thing I bought was a pack of AA batteries (I wanted the lithium ones) - £2 cheaper than all the supermarkets, electronics retailers etc. Nearest in price online was £1 more and £3.99 shipping.

Can't speak for the rest of the UK -- would appreciate some knowledge here! -- but in London, Amazon's shipping is rarely faster, and, in fact, overnight shipping from anywhere else is generally only £2-3 -- if it's even required, because often shipping is 1-2 days for free.

Honestly, though, I'll happily pay a few quid extra to Argos just to avoid Amazon. (Is Sainsbury's perfect? No. Are they less detrimental to society than Amazon? Yes.) I recognise not everyone has this privilege, though.

eBay is surprisingly good. I think it's because the reviews are tied to the seller instead of the item.

Yes of late my experience has been that Amazon is pricier or the same cost but rarely better.

Or for non well known branded items, just drop shipped stuff that you could get on aliexpress cheaper…

Only if I could convince my spouse to cancel…

Not my experience at all.

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