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A little while ago I was trying to get into Airsoft (paintball with plastic bullets as opposed to color) to have a reason to spend more time with my brother. Th

A little while ago I was trying to get into Airsoft (paintball with plastic bullets as opposed to color) to have a reason to spend more time with my brother. The little bullets have quite decent momentum and can penetrate normal low-grade safety glasses, and so I was browsing around for glasses with a certain rating. Found the exact pair I wanted for a good price on amazon, but I just couldn't run the risk of getting fakes from China. Needless to say, I haven't played any Airsoft yet..

bencollier49 7y ago
This seems to imply that Amazon is literally the only place that you can buy these glasses. Has it got that bad?
- nordsieck 7y ago
  > This seems to imply that Amazon is literally the only place that you can buy these glasses. Has it got that bad? They're everywhere. Amazon is just convenient. If you want to see for yourself, well... http://www.google.com/search?q=z87+glasses http://www.google.com/search?q=z87+glasses
- carlmr 7y ago
  I face this conundrum quite often. Amazon has such a vast selection of stuff you can't commonly get in other places, but I just don't trust them.
- marapuru 7y ago
  If nobody goes to retail stores to _ask_ for a specific type of security glasses, how will they ever know to stock it? We, the consumers making Amazon's monopoly.
  - vetinari 7y ago
    While security glasses are something that you will hardly find in a typical mall retail shop, it is something, that shops with tactical gear do stock. They also haveh a clerk, who can give you an advice for your specific needs.
- skribbj 7y ago
  I can't remember the specifics, but with the certain model I wanted, at a reasonable price, and with shipping to Sweden I'd like to remember that Amazon was the best option. Regardless, although my last sentence might've been a bit dramatic, the point of the anecdote was to share how Amazon lost me as a customer because of their counterfeit problem.
  - tapland 7y ago
    In Sweden, which has a very limited market, German or UK Amazon is often the only easy way to browse niche goods you want to buy.
    - Symbiote 7y ago
      The first search result for "airsoft safety glasses" is [1], which shows me Danish prices and a delivery cost to Denmark. Amazon might be easy, but knowing their products may be counterfeit, the company pays next to no tax, and has underpaid staff on awful contracts, I've not bought anything from them for years. [1] https://www.patrolbase.co.uk/dk/airsoft-glasses-and-goggles https://www.patrolbase.co.uk/dk/airsoft-glasses-and-goggles
      - tapland 7y ago
        I must qualify what I said by saying that I've found this much harder the more specific I need to be. I could find 0 results for short M3 screws when I searched domestic sellers a few weeks ago. No hardware- or electronic stores carried them. One had them listed with a 3 month delivery and at about $3 each. After that hour+ you Amazon it, without putting hours into finding it in other countries who's languages you don't speak. Airsoft glasses is something I can find in any mall here.
        mauvehaus 7y ago
        We're pretty well of the beaten path of Amazon here, but I had a similar need (#1 slotted flat-head brass wood screws) that McMaster-Carr didn't sell a little while ago and found them on microfasteners.com. It looks like they stock metric machine screws as well.
- Cthulhu_ 7y ago
  They have secured a place in the minds of people as being the only place you can get anything - or, get anything conveniently, I guess. I hope there's still physical stores out there that do e.g. airsoft goods. The real "problem" is of course that consumers are then faced with real consumer prices, where they have to pay $15 for a good pair of safety glasses instead of $1.50.
  - jessaustin 7y ago
    Doesn't Walmart carry that airsoft stuff?
    - dsfyu404ed 7y ago
      In the handful of nanny-states you're reduced to buying online for that kind of thing. You can't even buy a slingshot at Walmart in my state.
      - sergiotapia 7y ago
        This is true unfortunately.
      - ryanmercer 7y ago
        I'm unaware of a state where Walmart can not sell safety glasses, they're used for a lot more than airsoft/paintball.
        dsfyu404ed 7y ago
        The comment I replied to said airsoft stuff, not safety glasses specifically and that's what I'm addressing. Stop being obtuse.
- naravara 7y ago
  They've gotten good enough at SEO that it's honestly hard to Google for alternative or niche vendors. Unless you're plugged into the community for the activity enough to know the reputations of big online vendors, you've got the same problem of low quality, counterfeits, poor fulfillment, payment processing, etc.

bencollier49 7y ago

This seems to imply that Amazon is literally the only place that you can buy these glasses. Has it got that bad?

nordsieck 7y ago
> This seems to imply that Amazon is literally the only place that you can buy these glasses. Has it got that bad? They're everywhere. Amazon is just convenient. If you want to see for yourself, well... http://www.google.com/search?q=z87+glasses http://www.google.com/search?q=z87+glasses
carlmr 7y ago
I face this conundrum quite often. Amazon has such a vast selection of stuff you can't commonly get in other places, but I just don't trust them.
marapuru 7y ago
If nobody goes to retail stores to _ask_ for a specific type of security glasses, how will they ever know to stock it? We, the consumers making Amazon's monopoly.
- vetinari 7y ago
  While security glasses are something that you will hardly find in a typical mall retail shop, it is something, that shops with tactical gear do stock. They also haveh a clerk, who can give you an advice for your specific needs.
skribbj 7y ago
I can't remember the specifics, but with the certain model I wanted, at a reasonable price, and with shipping to Sweden I'd like to remember that Amazon was the best option. Regardless, although my last sentence might've been a bit dramatic, the point of the anecdote was to share how Amazon lost me as a customer because of their counterfeit problem.
- tapland 7y ago
  In Sweden, which has a very limited market, German or UK Amazon is often the only easy way to browse niche goods you want to buy.
  - Symbiote 7y ago
    The first search result for "airsoft safety glasses" is [1], which shows me Danish prices and a delivery cost to Denmark. Amazon might be easy, but knowing their products may be counterfeit, the company pays next to no tax, and has underpaid staff on awful contracts, I've not bought anything from them for years. [1] https://www.patrolbase.co.uk/dk/airsoft-glasses-and-goggles https://www.patrolbase.co.uk/dk/airsoft-glasses-and-goggles
    - tapland 7y ago
      I must qualify what I said by saying that I've found this much harder the more specific I need to be. I could find 0 results for short M3 screws when I searched domestic sellers a few weeks ago. No hardware- or electronic stores carried them. One had them listed with a 3 month delivery and at about $3 each. After that hour+ you Amazon it, without putting hours into finding it in other countries who's languages you don't speak. Airsoft glasses is something I can find in any mall here.
      - mauvehaus 7y ago
        We're pretty well of the beaten path of Amazon here, but I had a similar need (#1 slotted flat-head brass wood screws) that McMaster-Carr didn't sell a little while ago and found them on microfasteners.com. It looks like they stock metric machine screws as well.
Cthulhu_ 7y ago
They have secured a place in the minds of people as being the only place you can get anything - or, get anything conveniently, I guess. I hope there's still physical stores out there that do e.g. airsoft goods. The real "problem" is of course that consumers are then faced with real consumer prices, where they have to pay $15 for a good pair of safety glasses instead of $1.50.
- jessaustin 7y ago
  Doesn't Walmart carry that airsoft stuff?
  - dsfyu404ed 7y ago
    In the handful of nanny-states you're reduced to buying online for that kind of thing. You can't even buy a slingshot at Walmart in my state.
    - sergiotapia 7y ago
      This is true unfortunately.
    - ryanmercer 7y ago
      I'm unaware of a state where Walmart can not sell safety glasses, they're used for a lot more than airsoft/paintball.
      - dsfyu404ed 7y ago
        The comment I replied to said airsoft stuff, not safety glasses specifically and that's what I'm addressing. Stop being obtuse.
naravara 7y ago
They've gotten good enough at SEO that it's honestly hard to Google for alternative or niche vendors. Unless you're plugged into the community for the activity enough to know the reputations of big online vendors, you've got the same problem of low quality, counterfeits, poor fulfillment, payment processing, etc.