I think you're over-exaggerating the case against Amazon here. Does any savvy user just blindly type "headphones" into Amazon without knowing any of the brands, models, etc? No matter where I'm buying, the first step is always to do at least a few minutes of research. From that point I generally have very little trouble finding either the same brand name as the B&M, or a functional cheapo version. It really doesn't seem that hard to navigate (again, this assumes a somewhat savvy user, I can understand how someone like my mom could be confused/overwhelmed).

So for me, Amazon still offers a wide range of items and selection, many of which I would be hard pressed to find in a nearby B&M, and usually for cheaper (at least there are more price points to choose from). A recent example is some gold chainette fringe. I was actually in the fabric store and they had some but not enough, and I found a suitable replacement on Amazon for about 1/3 the price.

...but the ones on Amazon are counterfeit.

Again, if you know what you're doing, it's pretty easy to tell tell the difference. I followed the link in the article about the Elevation Lab headphone mount. The counterfeit listing is actually more convincing than most, but wait, "sold by suiningdonghanjiaju Co Ltd?" Hmm.

I'm not saying it's great that Amazon is allowing this stuff, my point was just that, even with the presence of some noise, it's still a quite useful service and it seems silly to act like it's "over."

> Again, if you know what you're doing, it's pretty easy to tell tell the difference. ... The counterfeit listing is actually more convincing than most, but wait, "sold by suiningdonghanjiaju Co Ltd?" Hmm.

What you apparently don't understand is that Amazon co-mingles inventory from everyone who ships them a particular product.

It doesn't matter if you buy an "Apple USB Power Adapter" from Amazon, Apple, or Shady McCounterfeiters. You get a random sample from the same pool of goods. And that pool of goods often contains counterfeit products (in this particular case, about 90% are counterfeit).

What do you mean by "curtailed products"?

curated.

Yes, thank you, autocomplete fail.

Basically, Best Buy doesn't just sell anything JoeBlow45 who created their account yesterday decides to dump on their site, they have real suppliers and they know what they are selling.

And the listings don't end up like this: https://www.amazon.com/Paper-Illusions-Hearthstone-Colored-W... it's a listing for wallpaper but the pictures are for a Grateful Dead plush and another picture is a Grateful Dead poster.

>Best Buy doesn't just sell anything JoeBlow45 who created their account yesterday

You might be surprised. Many big box sellers now include third party listings from anyone and everyone. I believe Best Buy discontinued this last year or so. But many still do. Newegg, Walmart, Sears, to name a few.

I agree that I don't like seeing marketplace sellers on Walmart, etc. either. However, right now it's not a problem because they are clearly marked and easily filtered out as well as few and far between.