Unfortunately Newegg also seems to have gone downhill. Allowing third party sellers is a good way to boost revenues quickly but it also quickly makes the buying experience worse. I now prefer stores where they have the same item only once and not from dozens of sellers. Or I go to eBay.

When NewEgg started the 3rd-party sellers, I quit buying from them. I don't buy from Sears for the same reason. If I wanted a flea market, I'd go find an shut-down drive-in theater.

And that's the trick: I'd buy from NewEgg based on their reputation, not the reputation of some company I've never heard of. Back in the day, if I bought from Amazon I assumed (probably incorrectly) that it was somewhat curated. With 3rd-parties, NewEgg is no longer a trusted vendor, they're just a big ol' barrel of random shit that I have to try and fish through to find what I want. Amazon is just a big ol' barrel of random shit where I hope to not get tricked. Is that really the reputation you want, Amazon? That I wander down your virtual aisles constantly looking over my shoulder?

I "prefer" a vendor because they have demonstrated that they "carry good stuff". These days, hell, even they don't know what they carry.

You know you can filter out non-NewEgg results?

To me it doesn't matter. Newegg used to be my trusted vendor and now they aren't anymore. They should decide if they are a vendor or a marketplace like eBay or Craigslist. Don't do both.

No, I did not; thanks for the tip. Did NewEgg go out of their way to make that obvious before I said, "WTF is this shit?" and closed the tab? No.

Thought people were exaggerating but I recently purchased a cheap USB keyboard and the third party company sent me a CAT 5 network cable. I am now going to Fry's from now on.

My last PC was built in 2016 from Amazon, but you'd be crazy to do that now. All the parts were sold by Amazon besides the case. I'd ordered a 6600K, the box said it was a K processor, but it wasn't (reported itself as a 6600). Amazon was good about the return, and as far as I can tell the replacement was genuine, but that was too much money to risk on getting counterfeit parts. I've had poor luck with anything electronic in the last 2 years, trying to get a USB-C cable that meets specs might actually be easier on AliExpress. I'm needing some new spinning rust drives for the Nas, and I haven't even considered purchasing from Amazon. Even if they were cheaper, I'll gladly pay 5-10% more from micro center to ensure my backup drives are legitimate.