I've switched to other independent online shops as I can usually find what I want. I just search for "buy 'something' uk" on duckduckgo and can always find a few good non-Amazon sellers.

I avoid Amazon as much as possible now since it's no longer possible to rely on their reviews and there are way too many results to be able to find one that's not fake or of extremely poor quality.

I'm starting to appreciate going to brick-and-mortar shops again and having the choice between only a dozen of good quality products, instead of thousands cheap barely usable ones.

Try "r:uk" instead of "uk" to set the region.

Same here. I either go to eBay or B&H. In eBay I can see at least quickly the seller rating. Amazon has just turned into a big mess.

Just so you know, B&H was years ahead of Amazon on warehouse worker abuse: http://www.boycottbnh.com/#a11y-abuse

Any tips for buying on eBay?

Filter by "New" and "Buy It Now" and eBay effectively becomes an Amazon clone. A better one, I think.

Also, the "daily deals" page is hand-filtered by eBay staff to guarantee no shady sellers.

B&H has been around forever. I bought a good pair of binoculars from them when I was a kid. My mom had to drive me to the store to get a money order so I could mail my order form to them. She thought I was crazy.

Yes, I still have and use the binoculars.

What's B&H?

An electronics store in NYC that delivers nationally and has a strong reputation for reliability and competitive pricing.

Electronics and photography mainly. https://www.bhphotovideo.com.

B&H or Adorama are really the only two places on the internet worth buying camera gear on. Any other place I have used I have gotten fake gear or gear that is not what was advertised (like the cheaper version of a lens for example).

Thank you so much for the shout-out, And for ongoing business.

Helen Oster Adorama Camera [email protected]

bhphotovideo.com

I've started to cross check my purchases with Ebay. Recently, I bought a case for my Kindle. A 3rd party company was selling the case on Amazon FBA for $5 more than they were selling it for on Ebay (free shipping, same company name, same product pictures).

...as someone that worked in and out of the used/remaindered book industry over the last 15 years as a developer. For a larger scale seller that is automated, has ship forwarding (bulk carrier to nearest BMC), it is significantly cheaper to sell on ebay now. You will pay $1 less on ebay for the same used book from us.