Comment by djsumdog | Hacker News Reader

Comment by djsumdog | Hacker News Reader

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I wouldn't know. I stopped shopping on Amazon in 2016. It really irks me when I see a product I'm interested in and only see it on Amazon! I'll often pay the $10~$15 more to buy it straight from the manufacturers website to avoid Amazon (and a lot of times, it's cheaper outside of Amazon).

I miss the days of PriceScan/PriceWatch and other comparison sites.

Recently I bought some new camera parts. I noted the price of the body and lens I wanted on B&H, Adorama, Newegg .. and then went to Google shopping and found a smaller store called TriState Camera out of NY. Their website is old school; but I saved nearly $400 of the big retailers for the exact same parts.

Sorry but this line

> (and a lot of times, it's cheaper outside of Amazon).

is not true. Amazon does not let sellers list products on amazon for a higher price than than what they list on the sellers website. It's 100% against TOS and they will shut down your listing if it's your first offense and will permaban you from selling if you continue to do so.

Your experience differs from mine substantially. Where do you shop that you can regularly find things cheaper than Amazon?

In my experience it depends on how the product is sold, some manufacturers have a very tight supply chain and prices do not very much. You can often find products that sit on a retail shelf on sale at some point. It takes more time/searching - and expect slow shipping. Its not the same as the Amazon experience but cheaper, its hunting down the right deal and waiting for it. Be ready to use some scrappy web sites.

Amazon is hardly “cheap” even for things they sell directly these days. it’s either outrageously overpriced (most often in categories they don’t sell and is all third party sellers) or it’s in line with other retailers.

For groceries I have found that even the most expensive grocery chain around here (QFC, part of Kroger) is cheaper 99% of the time.

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