[dawnerd]

Been using Target Staples, and Bestbuy more and while they don’t always have the same items, brand names end up being roughly the same price due to auto price matching and contractual minimum prices.

Only times I’m using amazon is for cheap items no one else will ship. They’ve really just turned into AliExpress.

[crocsarecool]

I felt like I had to remember how to shop other places online as I’ve been making my switch to less Amazon. I’m so tired of finding little business cards in all my orders to review the products. I gave a bad review on a vacuum cleaner, and the seller has been contacting me every few weeks to refund me if I take it down. I sympathize with sellers because I know it’s hard to sell anything less than a five star product on there. The whole system feels so broken these days.

[dawnerd]

I don't feel bad, those sellers did it to themselves. They gamed the system too hard and that's where they landed.

[p_j_w]

Not all of the sellers are responsible for the bad behavior, though.

[nerdponx]

Same here, but I wonder if Target warehouse employees have been pissing in bottles all along and the news just never picked up on it.

[slices]

I don't know about the warehouses, but a family member stocked shelves at Target for years, and was paid the minimum wage the whole time. Hours were 1) part time, 2) too inconsistent to allow any other work.

[auiya]

Of course they do. And lots of other awful shit you'll see in this thread - https://twitter.com/BanishedBernie/status/137645587453380198...

[dawnerd]

There really isn't a company at that scale that doesn't have problems. I rank Target over Amazon simply because I know the products are going to be legit. Most of the time I'm doing curbside pickup there anyways.

And don't forget, Apple was also doing shady stuff: https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/3/21419729/apple-california-...

[crooked-v]

> They’ve really just turned into AliExpress.

For a quick and concrete example of this, do a search on Amazon for "dent puller". You'll get pages and pages of obviously identical suction cups and dent removal kits with obviously randomly generated brand names like "LTGABA" and "QGMZZMF".

[heavyset_go]

To cement this example, do a search for a product like this on Amazon, and then do the same search on Alibaba/AliExpress. Most sellers on Amazon don't even bother changing the stock images from the ones on AliExpress.

It really drives the point home that you're paying premiums to unnecessary middlemen by buying on Amazon.

[heavyset_go]

> Only times I’m using amazon is for cheap items no one else will ship. They’ve really just turned into AliExpress.

I've been impressed with what sellers on Etsy offer when it comes to things that can't be found through AliExpress or domestic retailers.

[doktorhladnjak]

And with those companies you actually get the brand name item instead of a knock-off!