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For a lot of random things, like... say, a suction cup thingy that mounts my smartphone to a car dashboard, I have no idea which stores are likely to sell such
by mitthrowaway2 1y ago
For a lot of random things, like... say, a suction cup thingy that mounts my smartphone to a car dashboard, I have no idea which stores are likely to sell such things, and they could have a wide discrepancy in prices. I can type into Amazon and see a list of products and prices, but if I want to buy one at a local retailer I might have to call three or four stores before finding someone who carries the thing I'm looking for. It would be really nice to have a search engine that can search products across brick-and-mortar retailers.
- jjulius 1y ago>... a suction cup thingy that mounts my smartphone to a car dashboard. Try your local phone store. Most carriers have brick and mortar locations.
- mitthrowaway2 1y agoSo for another example, I wanted to get a stainless steel pasta strainer. I checked four different kitchen/cooking stores and the ones that had them them only had ones that were too deep, and they were all priced as ridiculously luxurious items, over $90. Then I checked a local hardware store and they had exactly what I wanted and it was only $12. I only thought of that place because I passed it on the way home and was desperate.
- jjulius 1y agoSure, sometimes things take a bit of work and might not be instantaneous or easy. It all boils down to whether or not one values immense convenience over not supporting Amazon.
- mitthrowaway2 1y agoRight, this is why I'm suggesting it would be awesome if someone were to make a retail search engine, so we could have both at the same time.
- tptacek 1y agoHow is patronizing your "local phone store" better than just going to Amazon?
- 9283409232 1y agoMy hardware store is locally own and carries phone mounts. I realize this is an outlier though.
- jjulius 1y agoSimilar to the other response, I have locally-owned options in my area that sell them. I'd imagine many areas do. Beyond that, if it's a national carrier brick-and-mortar spot, it could be argued that it's a case of the lesser of two evils.