@uguisubari

This is one of the reasons ali-express was so exciting. People think it’s like amazon but it’s not. It’s not vertically integrated in the same way. When you buy electronics often you are dealing with the factory in China. If you are adventurous and patient you can email them (write in English and include a translation with an apology) and they are super helpful and will hook you up with the parts you need. It’s closer to early ebay than amazon.

@uguisubari

For customers who don’t speak Chinese it’s more like a directory of where things are made and who to talk to. They don’t even ignore me when I tell them I’m a teacher and not a big company and will only spend a few 100 dollars. US electronics manufacturers block me for being too small potatoes while charging five times as much.

Keep waiting for tariffs to ruin this but not yet.

Are you struggling to buy your favorite headache pills, lotions, makeup or other shelf-stable goods while avoiding using amazon? For some brands it might seem like the only option if you only look at the first three pages of a search. But nearly always the manufacturer will sell to you directly— although their pages are buried. I almost thought ebay was my only option— (items on ebay are often expired)

Nope! The manufacturer will ship to me and it’s a few cents less than amazon. (not much less)

@futurebird That is cool, I will check it out. I wonder how the (eminently dumb) de minimis problems will affect that sort of shipping.

@futurebird

For lotions, I found how to make my own super cheap. There are places like Lotioncrafter that sell the raw active ingredients like peptides and all the other oils that activate the skin proteins desired.

Are you struggling to buy your favorite headache pills, lotions, makeup or other shelf-stable goods while avoiding using amazon? For some brands it might seem like the only option if you only look at the first three pages of a search. But nearly always the manufacturer will sell to you directly— although their pages are buried. I almost thought ebay was my only option— (items on ebay are often expired)

Nope! The manufacturer will ship to me and it’s a few cents less than amazon. (not much less)

@futurebird
I usually do a quick web search to see if the same product is available from someone other than Amazon. A lot of manufacturers will sell you their products from their own web pages.

@tofugolem @futurebird We started doing the same in our household. End result? We spend less money (as it is a barrier now to overcome) and we support the company directly meaning they keep more profit.

Mostly they got refunds but it was like Walmart was trying to shoot itself in the foot— or more likely when walmart tries to ship to NYC there are too many ways that amazon could mess things up for them. Amazon has its own fleet of delivery vehicles and runs half of the post office. I have not encountered this issue with direct sales from manufacturers.

@futurebird And to make it even weirder, Sam's Club is owned by Walmart but seems to have no problems shipping into NYC.