Comment by andrenotgiant
2 years ago
Everything on Amazon is shady knock-off garbage.
I made the mistake of buying bandaids from there, they looked like a brand name but slightly off, they gave my kids rashes.
I made the mistake of buying LED light bulbs from there, the brand name was reputable but who knows if what I actually got was the same brand or a copy, they started flickering and randomly going out within a year.
I made the mistake of buying an LED monitor from there. It turned out to be some third party seller with a ridiculous return policy, so even though I had been conditioned to think Amazon had good return policy, now that they let third party sellers set their own policies I had to eat 30% of cost to return it.
No more Amazon for me.
Amazon sells a bunch of knockoff oil filters. I accidentally bought them for a Toyota and luckily noticed. Imagine blowing an engine because you tried to buy an OEM filter.
I've had good luck with https://www.rockauto.com/ though I haven't bought anything big through them.
The website is fun and nostalgic to me.
Light bulbs and batteries, I had to quit. Even if you’re buying name-brand, they’re so often counterfeit, it’s just not worth it.
I've had good luck with the eneloops, not sure how to tell if they're counterfeit but they've lasted multiple use over 3 years (I have a toddler so we use batteries like there's no tomorrow)
Good point, I also have Eneloops from Amazon, and they’re fine. Maybe there isn’t enough demand for NiMH rechargeables to be counterfeited? I also bought mine as part of a charger-included pack, which may reduce the incidence further.
Where else you go for online shopping?
I will give you my list (East Coast USA):
Walmart, Staples, Best Buy, Microcenter, Ace Hardware (there is usually a local one near you that is a Mom & Pop with the affiliation so they can do online orders and inventory management, etc), Walgreens, Lowes/Home Depot, Digikey, Ikea, eBay, or if you don't mind waiting you can just skip the middle man and go right to Ali Express.
Also, it is always a good idea to check the manufacturer's site if you know you want something specific -- they almost always have a 10% - 25% off new customer/newsletter signup deal.
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In a few central european countries, Galaxus is a good alternative. I'm a little afraid to mention it here, because more users means more incentive for sellers to buy fake reviews, and currently one of the best parts about it is that I can trust the reviews. Many of them are well written, too.
But they do quite a few other things I like: If you choose that delivery is not urgent, they will wait for all articles to be available and send them as one package. You can pay a little extra to have the carbon footprint of your order offset. They have their own paid staff that answers questions on products in addition to the community. They pay their own writers to review products and write guides for selecting the correct product in a category, and they seem very genuine, it doesn't read like marketing BS.
So generally, I feel quite good about shopping there. And it seems their style fosters a community of buyers that care about buying the correct product for their needs, and wanting to inform others about their experience.
Home Depot is the best place to buy light bulbs, Walmart will usually do in a pinch, for common light bulbs.
Batteries I get at Costco when they go on sale, Walmart if run out before a Costco sale.
These aren't items I'd usually buy online but all three of those stores have online sites where you can order their merchandise.
For my mentioned items of lightbulbs and batteries, I generally buy them at a physical store (Lowe’s / Home Depot for light bulbs, batteries pretty much anywhere).
If you're in the UK, Argos is quicker and better now, which I find remarkable but extremely pleasing.
No no, sometimes they are simply nearly expired product made for resale in another country. I received a cr2032 that was meant to be sold in Türkiye before, but I’m pretty sure it was actually Duracell.
Back in 2010, in the insurance industry we were warned that imported electrical products were found forging the UL (Underwriters Laboratories) labels. Surge protectors and electrical strips were cited as prone to meltdown at the time.
I don't know if this was ever made public knowledge, but I'm wondering if this is now coming to fruition a decade later with all these e-bike fires.
I figure if I ever need to commit arson I'm just going to charge a Chinese e-bike on a Chinese power strip and feign ignorance.
Wow you did buy one of everything. So you definitely have the authority to say
> Everything on Amazon is shady knock-off garbage.
I have had the opposite experience. Everything I have bought over the past 20 years has been legit, except for one single thing.
I'm honestly confused how many people run into "nothing but counterfeits" and others never see any (or maybe the counterfeits aren't actually worse quality so this goes unnoticed)