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Comment by JKCalhoun | Hacker News Reader

Don't allow 3rd party sellers?

I think that is key. I used to browse Best Buy's website for various electronics and it was typically pretty good. I knew that somewhere, a Best Buy product buyer was evaluating the products with at least a minimum set of expectations. Then they opened their marketplace to 3rd party sellers and it's the same low cost, low quality crap on every other site.

I walked into a Best Buy, last summer, and the prominent retail location (i.e. right when you enter the store) had BBQ Grills for sale... not just one option, there were several sizes and configurations.

And somehow no local retailer had a corded phone (had to order off Amazon, unfortunately... friend's account) – not even the local telco! Exception: expensive fax machines (?!), with attached corded handset – in 2026.

But then how could you skim off the top of other people’s work?

But then how could you compete for customers when they are all visiting the other websites to save a few dollars?

We get NAÏF and other stuff from our kid directly from the brand. Sure, their websites are a bit lame and you gotta make a few accounts, but we end up getting nice promotions and good service.

The alternative is “here’s 450 other matches to your search that are definitely not what you’re looking for, that may be counterfeit, and may or may not give your kid dermatitis.”

I think some companies should lean more into that. We’ll pay for shipping if it spares us from those “skimming off the top”.

This sounds so obvious…Decathlon’s and Leroy Merlin’s 3rd-party sellers made their webshops a nightmare. Why would I go to Decathlon to buy from 3rd parties? We already had, like, 200 marketplaces for that.

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