For Germany, this webpage lists a bunch of online retailers, sorted into product categories: https://lmaa.space/
this post was submitted on 21 May 2026
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I just buy most things in person. If that fails I do a web search and buy from another platform. So I'm not sure how much there is to talk about but maybe I'm missing something.
If you have questions or ideas/resources it probably makes the most sense to just post on the existing de-Amazon com, since the audience there is likely to be interested. With the size of Lemmy it's important not to separate our communities that are too niche, or they won't really fire.
No idea, but it's great that many of y'all and us are doing this. Buy local, buy from worker co-ops, buy from ethical countries!
I'd recommend to also use Buybeaver & No Thanks, to boycot the US and the like. Generally I exclude Russia & Belarus, most of the Middle East (Israel included), and North & Middle Africa.
I want more on this too. Amazon's monopoly has made it so hard to find alternative online stores to buy a lot of stuff, particularly if I don't already know the name of a trusted manufacturer off the top of my head. Even competitor companies like Target and Walmart often offer less selection with higher prices and slower shipping. Also why is it that online retailers seem so scammy these days? Most brands seem to be new/disposable Chinese company names I've never heard of and reviews seem inflated/bot generated.
It seems like my local thrift store has the best quality to price for a lot of stuff, but they don't always have something I'm looking for
Drop shipping has become a really big thing online. I just watched a video about people creating fake sad stories to push "handmade products". All cheap mass manufactured shit from China.
Hard to find legit businesses right off the rip since it seems everyone is trying to scam these days.
I see it on social media all the time, some sob story about how “we are closing our store of handmade stuff due to personal circumstances, please buy our stuff at 90% off!” And it’s mass produced Chinese crap that is way overpriced even at supposedly “90% off”. People fall for it all the time.
Amazon’s monopoly has made it so hard to find alternative online stores to buy a lot of stuff
Where in the world do you live? Don't you have price comparison websites with a lot of different online stores? We do for my country.
Gonna guess Idealo and Geizhals. They don't cover everything, but they're pretty decent, yeah.
I was thinking of geizhals.at which is usually where I go first when I need to buy anything online. Sometimes Amazon is the cheapest option, and then I buy from Amazon, but many times something else is!
There was, but it's shipped by Amazon. The site just redirects to an Amazon store.
That would be great! I cancelled my subscription and have been trying to buy direct for a while now.
Some businesses won't sell direct, like 3M or most tool brands. But yes, you can often find things on the brand sites.
Amazon and Walmart are for things you can’t find anywhere else, but neither need the membership to make it happen. Strangely, Walmart is better quality lately.
In the case of tools I'll shop at a hardware store, usually Ace, either in person or on their online store.
Would Grainger or McMaster Carr fill in the 3M/tool gap?
You can have a good laugh at Grainger's prices on just about everything. They exist purely to rip off other businesses with large expense accounts, in the "don't care, it ain't my money" tradition.
Nice! Thanks for updating us. Joined!
Unsure how much better ebay and etsy are but I often use amazon to research products and either find a way to direct order or use ebay instead.
One of my hobbies is fucking amazon over. Often I'll order from both amazon and ebay (or direct from manufacturer), the item comes from amazon in two days and start using it, when the same item comes from ebay I'll return the used one back to amazon and keep the ebay bought one.
edit: another way to fuck amazon over is to find the item used (cheaper) on ebay, buy it and order same one new from amazon, hold onto for few weeks and send the used one back to amazon. Fuck them entirely.
I only do these with items shipping from amazon warehouses, not private sellers.
Fuck amazon (and fuck ebay amazon dropshippers too). But you're that impatient you need to waste time and energy shipping something back and forth? (and likely having that product end up in an amazon discard bin anyway)
Their price already accounts for returns. You are just fucking over the delivery drivers who have quotas to meet.
Thank you for pointing out the obvious, that apparently has not come to that guys mind.
Amazon will drop customers who return too many items. They have to protect themselves from ongoing fraud just like every retailer.
Etsy has been more or less swamped with TEMU crap that can be shipped for free. If you don’t offer free shipping TEMU, I mean Etsy, wont show people your stuff. It’s like having the word dead in a YouTube vid, the Algorithm doesn’t like it.
Of course you can bake shipping into the price, but then you’re $5-$20 more expensive than the TEMU with better images section of Etsy.
Sure, there are real people, but they’re hard to find or be.
eBay is a mixed bag, and shipping is often $10-20.