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For expensive stuff I almost never go with Amazon now: too many counterfeit / fly by night sellers. For "prosumer" items a store that serves professionals is l

by ptero 5y ago

For expensive stuff I almost never go with Amazon now: too many counterfeit / fly by night sellers. For "prosumer" items a store that serves professionals is likely to watch their suppliers very carefully and have customer-friendly policies when things hit a snag. For cameras and optics (and flash sticks) B&H is my go-to place. My 2c.

simonsarris 5y ago
Same. After getting clearly-open-box (used? counterfeit? returned?) Makita batteries on Amazon I only buy tools from Home Depot, only buy camera equipment from B&H, etc. No more pricey tools or electronics from Amazon, or food for that matter (years ago, bought box of protein bars, came expired!)
- BostonEnginerd 5y ago
  The rule in our house is to not order anything that goes in or on our bodies from Amazon.
- wyager 5y ago
  I bought an $800 winch from Amazon, shipped and sold by Amazon, in “new” condition. When it arrived, not only was it clearly used, but it had been damaged by improper use and would have been extremely dangerous if I tried to use it. If I hadn’t known what to look for, I probably would have used it and been at risk of serious injury. Amazon is clearly marking returns as “new” if their clueless returns staff thinks they can pass it off.
  - jschwartzi 5y ago
    I wouldn't buy anything I need to trust on Amazon.
  - procombo 5y ago
    Yeah, me too. I imagine it's a process that is difficult to scale without error. I like buying Amazon Warehouse deals when the item makes sense to me. With larger items I think their quality control is higher, and the saving tend be bigger. The box may arrive super beat-up, but item is just fine. My motivation is probably less about overall savings, but more about me feeling like I'm doing Amazon a favor. Weird, isn't it? I'm conditioned. As a tangent: I've also purchased used that ended up being a return of a similar looking, but much less expensive item. So I just re-return it. In this case I assume it was fraud on the original return. With my patterns I doubt Amazon thinks -I- returned them the wrong item. Without customer context their job figuring stuff like that out would be much more difficult.
  - paleotrope 5y ago
    That's not just Amazon though. I bought a band saw from Lowes that once I opened the box had clearly been used and dropped, so much that the base was bent.
- thehours 5y ago
  Generally speaking my personal experiences with Amazon have been good. However, I’ve similarly shifted most of my online purchases elsewhere because (1) I don’t trust the reviews anymore and (2) I don’t trust Amazon’s suppliers. Ironically, my purchases on Amazon these days are almost exclusively books and ebooks.
  - wpietri 5y ago
    Same, but for books I've switched to my local bookstore. Mainly because I would like to continue having a local bookstore. Now that I don't have Prime anymore, cost and speed are about the same. I've been meaning to check out alternative ebook vendors too. Anybody have something they like on Android?
    - salamandersauce 5y ago
      I like Kobo out of the big players. Google feels like they could give up anytime. I've also had issues getting downloadable ePubs from them. If you like SciFi/Fantasy, Baen sells ebooks direct with no DRM on their website in multiple formats and have for like 20 years. Some other publishers do this too like Image comics. Most don't though so you need to go through one of the bigger stores unfortunately.
felixfbecker 5y ago
I just generally avoid Amazon Marketplace (third-party sellers) because returns are always a hassle in some way (shipping not covered, out-of-country return center to mail to, no shipping label, need to contact through email, force you to give reason why you want to return even though that is illegal, ...).
- dhosek 5y ago
  Except that with inventory commingling, you might think you're ordering from amazon (non-marketplace) and get a third-party seller's crap instead.
- adrr 5y ago
  Doesn’t matter with commingling of inventory, you’ll get counterfeit items. I don’t buy certain items off Amazon like SD cards due to issues with counterfeit items. Also food products has issues, you’ll get items a month or two away from expiration. If you watch all the videos on how to make money on Amazon. It involves buying liquidation items from places like TJ Maxx or other retailers selling second quality items. These items are commingled into regular inventory. The consumer ends up buying a second quality item for the “new” price.
sparc24 5y ago
Yes, B&H is always the place to go for things like that. I just bought 15k worth of camera equipment for my dad and with the new store card it's an instant refund on taxes. The 30 day return policy is the cherry on top.
brandonmenc 5y ago
> B&H is my go-to place I will also throw in a vote for B&H. A customer service rep from NYC once called to personally answer some questions I had about a sub-$100 product. This happens often. This week I ordered a display with free shipping that was scheduled to arrive 5 days later. I received it in 24 hours - 4 days earlier than expected. Their return policy is also hassle-free. For music or audio products, I buy from Sweetwater. Same good points as B&H, but you have an assigned "sales engineer" which some people find annoying, but I really like - whenever I have a problem or question, I get the same person on the phone every time. I don't order from Amazon if I'm not comfortable outright losing my money, getting it late, or receiving a counterfeit.
- rhines 5y ago
  The one issue with B&H is that if something isn't in stock, their estimates are nowhere near accurate. Currently been waiting 2 months for an item that was being stocked in "7-10" days. But if it's in stock they're a good option.

by ptero 5y ago

simonsarris 5y ago

Same. After getting clearly-open-box (used? counterfeit? returned?) Makita batteries on Amazon I only buy tools from Home Depot, only buy camera equipment from B&H, etc. No more pricey tools or electronics from Amazon, or food for that matter (years ago, bought box of protein bars, came expired!)

BostonEnginerd 5y ago
The rule in our house is to not order anything that goes in or on our bodies from Amazon.
wyager 5y ago
I bought an $800 winch from Amazon, shipped and sold by Amazon, in “new” condition. When it arrived, not only was it clearly used, but it had been damaged by improper use and would have been extremely dangerous if I tried to use it. If I hadn’t known what to look for, I probably would have used it and been at risk of serious injury. Amazon is clearly marking returns as “new” if their clueless returns staff thinks they can pass it off.
- jschwartzi 5y ago
  I wouldn't buy anything I need to trust on Amazon.
- procombo 5y ago
  Yeah, me too. I imagine it's a process that is difficult to scale without error. I like buying Amazon Warehouse deals when the item makes sense to me. With larger items I think their quality control is higher, and the saving tend be bigger. The box may arrive super beat-up, but item is just fine. My motivation is probably less about overall savings, but more about me feeling like I'm doing Amazon a favor. Weird, isn't it? I'm conditioned. As a tangent: I've also purchased used that ended up being a return of a similar looking, but much less expensive item. So I just re-return it. In this case I assume it was fraud on the original return. With my patterns I doubt Amazon thinks -I- returned them the wrong item. Without customer context their job figuring stuff like that out would be much more difficult.
- paleotrope 5y ago
  That's not just Amazon though. I bought a band saw from Lowes that once I opened the box had clearly been used and dropped, so much that the base was bent.
thehours 5y ago
Generally speaking my personal experiences with Amazon have been good. However, I’ve similarly shifted most of my online purchases elsewhere because (1) I don’t trust the reviews anymore and (2) I don’t trust Amazon’s suppliers. Ironically, my purchases on Amazon these days are almost exclusively books and ebooks.
- wpietri 5y ago
  Same, but for books I've switched to my local bookstore. Mainly because I would like to continue having a local bookstore. Now that I don't have Prime anymore, cost and speed are about the same. I've been meaning to check out alternative ebook vendors too. Anybody have something they like on Android?
  - salamandersauce 5y ago
    I like Kobo out of the big players. Google feels like they could give up anytime. I've also had issues getting downloadable ePubs from them. If you like SciFi/Fantasy, Baen sells ebooks direct with no DRM on their website in multiple formats and have for like 20 years. Some other publishers do this too like Image comics. Most don't though so you need to go through one of the bigger stores unfortunately.

felixfbecker 5y ago

I just generally avoid Amazon Marketplace (third-party sellers) because returns are always a hassle in some way (shipping not covered, out-of-country return center to mail to, no shipping label, need to contact through email, force you to give reason why you want to return even though that is illegal, ...).

dhosek 5y ago
Except that with inventory commingling, you might think you're ordering from amazon (non-marketplace) and get a third-party seller's crap instead.
adrr 5y ago
Doesn’t matter with commingling of inventory, you’ll get counterfeit items. I don’t buy certain items off Amazon like SD cards due to issues with counterfeit items. Also food products has issues, you’ll get items a month or two away from expiration. If you watch all the videos on how to make money on Amazon. It involves buying liquidation items from places like TJ Maxx or other retailers selling second quality items. These items are commingled into regular inventory. The consumer ends up buying a second quality item for the “new” price.

sparc24 5y ago

Yes, B&H is always the place to go for things like that. I just bought 15k worth of camera equipment for my dad and with the new store card it's an instant refund on taxes. The 30 day return policy is the cherry on top.

brandonmenc 5y ago

> B&H is my go-to place I will also throw in a vote for B&H. A customer service rep from NYC once called to personally answer some questions I had about a sub-$100 product. This happens often. This week I ordered a display with free shipping that was scheduled to arrive 5 days later. I received it in 24 hours - 4 days earlier than expected. Their return policy is also hassle-free. For music or audio products, I buy from Sweetwater. Same good points as B&H, but you have an assigned "sales engineer" which some people find annoying, but I really like - whenever I have a problem or question, I get the same person on the phone every time. I don't order from Amazon if I'm not comfortable outright losing my money, getting it late, or receiving a counterfeit.

rhines 5y ago
The one issue with B&H is that if something isn't in stock, their estimates are nowhere near accurate. Currently been waiting 2 months for an item that was being stocked in "7-10" days. But if it's in stock they're a good option.