> Switching from globalized giants like Amazon to small specialized shops might be hard 5 years ago I would have considered it near impossible, nowadays I look

> Switching from globalized giants like Amazon to small specialized shops might be hard 5 years ago I would have considered it near impossible, nowadays I look everywhere else first. Specialized shops put more thought into their product selection than "anything I can dropship" and compared to modern Amazon it's far easier to find something resembling quality. They may be more expensive but in my experience paying 70 bucks once to a trustworthy vendor ends far better than paying $20-30 three times on Amazon because in reality it's always the same $5 Aliexpress stuff. The downside is that small shops sometimes have a bit more friction in the ordering process or higher delivery costs. About a year ago I didn't even have a choice: dozens of USB-C adapters I looked at on Amazon were obviously lying about the specs in their product description, I couldn't find a single one that was even worth trying. They all just go for the lowest common denominator and hope 99% of the customers don't actually check (and are probably right, sadly). A local shop meanwhile had exactly one adapter of that kind with datasheets on the manufacturer's website and it worked.