[mikehollinger]

Best Buy is my secret weapon. For the last couple of years I’ve gotten gifts for people last minute with same day pickup - as small and simple as new earbuds and as large as a color laser printer.

This Christmas I even got an echo show from them when Amazon itself was back ordered past the holidays.

[zucked]

Best Buy has done a pretty admirable job digging out from what seemed like a surefire death sentence. Target and Walmart weren't dead, but Amazon was eating their lunch.

What they are doing much better at now is the hybrid e-commerce/brick and mortar that Amazon is struggling with. Whole Foods helped give them a platform, but Whole Foods are nowhere near as prolific as Target/Walmart/Best Buy.

For all the reasons mentioned throughout this post, Amazon has gone from my first stop to far down on the list when looking to buy something.

[baja_blast]

I have been doing the same, Best Buy/Target/Walmart any big box retailer I know does some quality control. I have purchase way too many products from Amazon that broke immediately, just shockingly terrible quality. And the worst part is Amazon isn't cheap anymore, I have found that they have a 20-30% markup over their competitors and the cheap things just third party fake goods.

IMO buying the cheapest products on Amazon is like using disposable plates and utensils, sure the one time purchase is cheaper than buying dishes and real utensils, but over time it's way more expensive.

Honestly, opening a package from Amazon for a 5 star recommended item that you had high hopes for only to find a cheap piece of garbage is infuriating.

[tekknik]

> And the worst part is Amazon isn't cheap anymore, I have found that they have a 20-30% markup over their competitors and the cheap things just third party fake goods.

I’ve noticed this too, except it’s mostly with health and skin care brands that are trying to use Amazon for free advert / discovery and then push users to their site with lower prices and no Amazon take. I view this as a scumbag move by the vendor myself and find a new product from a vendor not doing this.

[silexia]

Walmart and Amazon both do not quality control vendors. Target and Costco do. Use Costco and Target and Best Buy.

[CapmCrackaWaka]

Yup, best buy is the first place I go for electronics. They don't have nearly the selection as Amazon unfortunately..