The marketplace. If I wanted to deal with a bunch of randos on the internet, I'd use eBay. In the last few years, I've had more issues with Amazon than the pr

The marketplace. If I wanted to deal with a bunch of randos on the internet, I'd use eBay. In the last few years, I've had more issues with Amazon than the prior two decades. Almost all of these issues included a marketplace seller that blamed Amazon for the issue, and Amazon blamed them. I appreciate that Amazon spoiled us with great prices and prompt shipping (10 days was a normal wait in 2000), but the marketplace is terribly inconsistent and this isn't what I want from my shopping experience. Purchased a bad HDD? Amazon 1st-party would ship me a replacement before the return was even verified shipped back. Shipped by marketplace? Everyone has their own policy, and it can take a month or longer to resolve an issue that Amazon made painless. So I feel like there's been a bait-and-switch. If I can't find a Sold/Fulfilled by Amazon product, I'll look elsewhere no problem now. The hassle wasn't worth it five years ago. Same for NewEgg. Last year I purchased five Mellanox MCX311A-XCAT... the prices on NewEgg vary from $70-$300, and I was seeing the same variance on Amazon. From sellers with 1-star or no reviews. I ended up buying five on eBay for $150, from a seller with 4k+ reviews. Arrived in a week. Marketplaces are great for company margins, but proving not-so-great for customers.