5 ms·

Amazon, Walmart, Etsy... my kingdom for a marketplace that doesn't become just a dumping ground for shady fly-by-night dropshippers.

JKCalhoun 3mo ago
Don't allow 3rd party sellers?
- jonhohle 3mo ago
  But then how could you skim off the top of other people’s work?
  - lotsofpulp 3mo ago
    But then how could you compete for customers when they are all visiting the other websites to save a few dollars?
    - port11 3mo ago
      We get NAÏF and other stuff from our kid directly from the brand. Sure, their websites are a bit lame and you gotta make a few accounts, but we end up getting nice promotions and good service. The alternative is “here’s 450 other matches to your search that are definitely not what you’re looking for, that may be counterfeit, and may or may not give your kid dermatitis.” I think some companies should lean more into that. We’ll pay for shipping if it spares us from those “skimming off the top”.
- giarc 3mo ago
  I think that is key. I used to browse Best Buy's website for various electronics and it was typically pretty good. I knew that somewhere, a Best Buy product buyer was evaluating the products with at least a minimum set of expectations. Then they opened their marketplace to 3rd party sellers and it's the same low cost, low quality crap on every other site.
  - ProllyInfamous 3mo ago
    I walked into a Best Buy, last summer, and the prominent retail location (i.e. right when you enter the store) had BBQ Grills for sale... not just one option, there were several sizes and configurations. And somehow no local retailer had a corded phone (had to order off Amazon, unfortunately... friend's account) – not even the local telco! Exception: expensive fax machines (?!), with attached corded handset – in 2026.
- port11 3mo ago
  This sounds so obvious…Decathlon’s and Leroy Merlin’s 3rd-party sellers made their webshops a nightmare. Why would I go to Decathlon to buy from 3rd parties? We already had, like, 200 marketplaces for that.
geraldcombs 3mo ago
It depends on the brand, but a lot of the stuff I buy is available directly from the manufacturer's site, usually via Shop Pay.
topgrain2 3mo ago
This has pushed me to high levels of brand loyalty with direct ordering from the brands I like and trust, plus a lot of buying used… also mostly products from a handful of trusted brands (this is largely clothes, nearly all of which I buy used except socks, underwear, and most sweaters)
- alexpotato 3mo ago
  Thermoworks (which makes excellent thermometers) no longer sells on Amazon b/c there were too many counterfeits/people selling broken items etc. You can now only order from their website which I am more than happy to do as their customer service is excellent. https://www.thermoworks.com https://www.thermoworks.com
  - grogenaut 3mo ago
    https://www.amazon.com/stores/ThermoWorks https://www.amazon.com/stores/ThermoWorks actually... they gave up a while ago and have an amazon store.. it's been a few years IIRC
    - Henchman21 3mo ago
      That is a 404 for me, in the US.
      - grogenaut 3mo ago
        https://www.amazon.com/stores/ThermoWorks/page/4D6BCE63-39FE-4BDA-B556-8F30501A20A1 https://www.amazon.com/stores/ThermoWorks/page/4D6BCE63-39FE... apparently... sorry I didn't re click but you can also just search the brand and go to the brand store on amazon.
- account42 3mo ago
  To bad that the actual buying experience (once you have selected what to buy) is still so much better with Amazon. * One cart for everything you need to order * Fairly predictable shipping and tracking, especially for FBA stuff vs. the random shipping companies vs random shippers you have never heard about or weird shipping options selected by the seller (i.e. ID checks required where that makes no sense at all, preventing the carrier from just dropping the package at the door when you're not home) * Global shipping with tariffs/fees included in the checkout price - brand stores often don't even ship at all outside their operational area * The ability to get your money back with high confidence when there are problems vs. smaller sellers that just ghost you. Amazon has been doing their best to reduce these advantages by making it harder to report problems with orders and also having more sellers that do their own unpredictable shipping.
fehu22 3mo ago
Most of the amazon sellers package trash and send to many people broken items ETC amazon is losing its name in India
Poacher5 3mo ago
B&Q in the UK went exactly the same way - used to be pretty reliable, and I didn't mind paying the extra to have all the things a home DIYer might need without going to half a dozen different builder's merchants and trade suppliers. Then they opened their store page up to anyone who wanted to list anything even tangentially related to home improvements and predictably it's a huge heap of drop-shipped rubbish and it's all been SEO'ed to the Nth degree to appear higher in the search rankings than anything actually sold by B&Q.

JKCalhoun 3mo ago

Don't allow 3rd party sellers?

jonhohle 3mo ago
But then how could you skim off the top of other people’s work?
- lotsofpulp 3mo ago
  But then how could you compete for customers when they are all visiting the other websites to save a few dollars?
  - port11 3mo ago
    We get NAÏF and other stuff from our kid directly from the brand. Sure, their websites are a bit lame and you gotta make a few accounts, but we end up getting nice promotions and good service. The alternative is “here’s 450 other matches to your search that are definitely not what you’re looking for, that may be counterfeit, and may or may not give your kid dermatitis.” I think some companies should lean more into that. We’ll pay for shipping if it spares us from those “skimming off the top”.
giarc 3mo ago
I think that is key. I used to browse Best Buy's website for various electronics and it was typically pretty good. I knew that somewhere, a Best Buy product buyer was evaluating the products with at least a minimum set of expectations. Then they opened their marketplace to 3rd party sellers and it's the same low cost, low quality crap on every other site.
- ProllyInfamous 3mo ago
  I walked into a Best Buy, last summer, and the prominent retail location (i.e. right when you enter the store) had BBQ Grills for sale... not just one option, there were several sizes and configurations. And somehow no local retailer had a corded phone (had to order off Amazon, unfortunately... friend's account) – not even the local telco! Exception: expensive fax machines (?!), with attached corded handset – in 2026.
port11 3mo ago
This sounds so obvious…Decathlon’s and Leroy Merlin’s 3rd-party sellers made their webshops a nightmare. Why would I go to Decathlon to buy from 3rd parties? We already had, like, 200 marketplaces for that.

geraldcombs 3mo ago

It depends on the brand, but a lot of the stuff I buy is available directly from the manufacturer's site, usually via Shop Pay.

topgrain2 3mo ago

This has pushed me to high levels of brand loyalty with direct ordering from the brands I like and trust, plus a lot of buying used… also mostly products from a handful of trusted brands (this is largely clothes, nearly all of which I buy used except socks, underwear, and most sweaters)

alexpotato 3mo ago
Thermoworks (which makes excellent thermometers) no longer sells on Amazon b/c there were too many counterfeits/people selling broken items etc. You can now only order from their website which I am more than happy to do as their customer service is excellent. https://www.thermoworks.com https://www.thermoworks.com
- grogenaut 3mo ago
  https://www.amazon.com/stores/ThermoWorks https://www.amazon.com/stores/ThermoWorks actually... they gave up a while ago and have an amazon store.. it's been a few years IIRC
  - Henchman21 3mo ago
    That is a 404 for me, in the US.
    - grogenaut 3mo ago
      https://www.amazon.com/stores/ThermoWorks/page/4D6BCE63-39FE-4BDA-B556-8F30501A20A1 https://www.amazon.com/stores/ThermoWorks/page/4D6BCE63-39FE... apparently... sorry I didn't re click but you can also just search the brand and go to the brand store on amazon.
account42 3mo ago
To bad that the actual buying experience (once you have selected what to buy) is still so much better with Amazon. * One cart for everything you need to order * Fairly predictable shipping and tracking, especially for FBA stuff vs. the random shipping companies vs random shippers you have never heard about or weird shipping options selected by the seller (i.e. ID checks required where that makes no sense at all, preventing the carrier from just dropping the package at the door when you're not home) * Global shipping with tariffs/fees included in the checkout price - brand stores often don't even ship at all outside their operational area * The ability to get your money back with high confidence when there are problems vs. smaller sellers that just ghost you. Amazon has been doing their best to reduce these advantages by making it harder to report problems with orders and also having more sellers that do their own unpredictable shipping.

fehu22 3mo ago

Most of the amazon sellers package trash and send to many people broken items ETC amazon is losing its name in India

Poacher5 3mo ago

B&Q in the UK went exactly the same way - used to be pretty reliable, and I didn't mind paying the extra to have all the things a home DIYer might need without going to half a dozen different builder's merchants and trade suppliers. Then they opened their store page up to anyone who wanted to list anything even tangentially related to home improvements and predictably it's a huge heap of drop-shipped rubbish and it's all been SEO'ed to the Nth degree to appear higher in the search rankings than anything actually sold by B&Q.