
Ask HN: Why would you choose to buy good from sites other than Amazon? - kinshiro
Why do people use other online shops&#x2F;retailers other than Amazon, for reasons other than limited access to rare&#x2F;special-interest products where other companies may be better serving those niches? I am curious about what other retailers do better than Amazon, or other reasons people don’t always choose it, considering the convenience and low prices it provides, and other benefits such as Prime etc. Mostly interested in perceived shortcomings with the Amazon sites itself.
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simon_void
How about because you don't want to support Amazon's abysmal work culture:
[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/aug/22/amazon...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/aug/22/amazon-
brutal-work-culture)

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troydavis
Lack of confidence that I’m going to receive an authentic version of the item
I ordered. Background:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17327771](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17327771)

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FiatLuxDave
I find buying clothes on Amazon to be inconvenient, because of how poorly
organized it is. Trying to find the same article of clothing in a different
size or color is essentially a new search from scratch.

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brudgers
I use eBay because the platform is designed to incentivize transparency.
Prices are not generated algorithmically and the reputation of the actual
seller is prominently displayed. Shipping terms and timelines are clearly
stated alongside the item. So is the return policy.

While all marketplaces are _caveat emptor_ , on Amazon I am up against Amazon
with all its staff, scalable computing hardware, and algorithms out to
maximize the amount I pay. I may not trust a particular seller on eBay, but
that's better than not being able to trust Amazon.

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NoOn3
Reasons not to buy from Amazon -
[https://stallman.org/amazon.html](https://stallman.org/amazon.html) .

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CM30
Because what I'm looking for isn't always on Amazon?

I know, it's hard to believe. But there are definitely quite a few niche
pieces of software (and technology) which Amazon doesn't supply.

Outside of that, deals and things help too. I mean, why do people buy games on
Steam or the likes? Because there's always a sale on and it's got a better
selection than Amazon for that market.

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cimmanom
Believing that a monopoly is no better for the customer in ecommerce than for
any other industry. Preferring to support companies with halfway decent
employment practices.

The site itself? Fraud. Awful, useless search/filter results. Fraud. Did I
mention fraud?

And this question reads a bit like an ad.

