Also mostly using AliExpress, sometimes Ebay. AliExpress has good shops; check the other stuff they sell and the reviews to get an idea. Official company stores are great, but there are also fake company stores. And customer service on those rare occasions when it’s just that bad, sucks.
I got a decent CPAP machine for cheap on Wish, but otherwise the stuff just seems flimsier and more expensive.
Anecdotal, I’ve not actually had a lot of instances (if any) of Spotify having something but Tidal not, usually find albums that I’m interested in from band camp no problem and if it’s missing its missing on both. Sound quality is noticeably higher which is the reason I tend to prefer, the app has gotten better in my experience
I have all my digital copies on my NAS with jellyfin to stream them as well, sometimes it’s just easier to stream off tidal or Spotify though
AliExpress is a rock solid platform. You just need to know official Chinese brand accounts there. It’s just like Amazon - you order random shit there, you get shit in the mailbox. You order from a reputable branded shop there and you get a high quality item.
Find an official Chinese brand web site and they usually have a link to their shop on Ali. For example, you want to buy some eSun filament for your 3D printer. You go to their web site www.esun3d.com/pla-pro-product/ and BOOM! Ali link!
Sometimes they don’t have a link on their web site, so you search for a brand on Ali directly and search for a gold rated shop with loads of followers and a properly maintained product catalogue. Here’s an example m.aliexpress.com/store/5793617?trace=store2mobile…
Honestly, if you consider amazon on the same level of shit as the ones mentioned especially with it being overrun by cheap knockoffs and chinese brands, they probably have the widest and most reliable delivery network. The return/exchange is also very easy as long as the product is shipped by them.
Seconded. Amazon has been a cheap shitty online shop for the better part of a decade now but they‘re still the best cheap shitty shop. Especially if you shop in central Europe. I‘ve tried many available competitors to avoid them completely but the direct competition is just so damn abysmal. You can complain about Amazon a lot as it has many problems, but any complaint against them is a general complaint against online shopping as a whole and they‘re becoming worse because everyone else is just so bad. At least Amazon refunds the garbage sellers send me no questions asked. That has always been a huge pain with other crappy shops.
Often there is a small company based in the us that has real reviews because they have used the things. ThingYouWant.com or some variation. They don't have everything, but they have a good selection ofithat one thitg for prices not much worse than amazon - and useful advice about what is quality. Find and support them.
Just wanted to point out that Etsy isn’t really in the same category as the other shops you listed. Think handmade crafts and souvenir store compared to Walmart.
Edit: I’m apparently reminiscing on the Etsy of yesteryear. I guess it’s shit now.
It’s such a shame really, because there are really cool independent sellers with some awesome handmade / hard to find vintage stuff, but they’re drowned out by drop shippers (who wouldn’t even be able to sell anything on there if people knew that same item was available through aliexpress without the 100x markup)
My success rate with Aliexpress has been only slightly worse than with Amazon. I've gotten screwed over on a few lost shipments, but never had a problem getting a refund. Shipping times are much longer though, considering where it's coming from. But often I'll get items much faster than their estimates, so it's not completely terrible. And you can always look at the shipping options to see if a few dollars more can get it to you faster or with a better carrier. As for quality, I find it's not much different from Amazon since half the stuff there was made in China and just sits in a warehouse in North America.
Don't bother with Wish or Temu, which is just Wish with warehouses in North America.
With any of them, make sure you read the descriptions fully and check reviews. Also, go through the purchase options. Sometimes you run into situations where you think you are ordering a pair of something and it’ll only be the right or left one.
I’ve ordered a bunch from wish and AliExpress. Gotten plenty of good products from both and really only got burned once in wish.
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