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You have to be aware...

Posted by AbeCollins (A) on May 1, 2025 at 09:17:58

In Reply to: Amazon... Shmamazon... posted by Victor Khomenko on April 30, 2025 at 15:17:08:

There are many sellers on Amazon besides Amazon. Some items are sold by and shipped by those sellers. They just happen to have their products up on Amazon. And those sellers will have their own return policies that you need to be aware of. And then there are items that are stocked by and shipped by Amazon but the seller might not be Amazon.

Some sellers will jack up their prices slightly when they make their product available on Amazon, probably to cover Amazon's stocking and shipping fees. I have a few good examples of this with Ham Radio gear. Buying the exact same $300 radio from GigaParts via Amazon could be $40 more expensive vs visiting the GigaParts website and buying direct from the merchant. You might pay a shipping fee and have to wait longer but the net price could be lower.

Other sellers will offer hard to get items, sometimes new, sometimes discontinued, and sometimes used. These might have ridiculously high prices. I was shopping for a discontinued Nest security camera to match the other older ones that I currently have around my home. The prices were ridiculously high.

When shopping Amazon you want to know who the item is being sold by and shipped by and if the merchant is not Amazon you want to know the return policy.

In many cases where you see several merchants selling the same thing, it's almost like a reverse bidding system. Some merchants will offer lower prices but the delivery time might be longer. I usually buy things that are offered under Amazon Prime shipping where the price is fair and the delivery time is usually within two days (sometimes overnight) but rarely more than 3 or 4 days.... and the return policy is simple. Items that I buy via Amazon Prime can usually be returned within 30-day by simply dropping it off at the local Kohl's or UPS Store. I don't even have to box it or provide a label. Just show the clerk the QR code (return code) on my phone.

If you're looking for absolute lowest price Amazon is not it. I think they offer fair prices, broad choices on most items, super easy returns, and fast delivery. And on many items they ARE cheaper than my local brick and mortar store.

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