I wanted to get printer photo paper for my printer, a Canon. I went to Walmart, They had nothing. Went to Target, they had one pack of photo paper and it was crazy expensive, so I went to micro center. That one was just as expensive. So finally I went back to Amazon, which I was trying to avoid, and saw the price 25 to 40% lower than anywhere I had been. Literally everything that I was looking for, I could find within seconds. Not even Best buy has even close to the amount of inventory or variety, even when you’re shopping online…
Therefore, I think Amazon has a literal monopoly in the tech industry right now, you’re literally forced to buy from them, because unless you have the money and financial fortitude to protest with your wallet, you’re going to be buying from them. There’s no other choice. They have so aggressively and dominantly taken over the supply chain market that no other tech company can currently compete with them in any aspect at all. You will be paying 40 to 50% more on everything by cutting out Amazon, and no one has the money for that anymore unless you’re upper middle class or above
There are plenty of things to complain about with Amazon but, in my opinion, this ain’t it.
Amazon typically has prices the same as any other retail store. Your experience is an exception. You can’t make a huge accusation like that based on a single product.
You can’t compare a local brick and mortar store to Amazon. A vast array of hundreds of giant warehouses is never going to have the same variety of products as a handful of retail stores.
In addition, they leverage their warehouses to decrease shipping costs and local emissions. Which do you think costs more and causes more carbon emissions, a hundred people in old giant SUV beaters driving to and from a B&M location to shop for a single product or a single (often electric) delivery vehicle delivering a vast array of products to a hundred locations and are probably going to drive right by your house whether you order something or not?
Also Walgreens carries lots of different printing services and supplies and are pretty ubiquitous in large cities, so maybe give them a try.
I want to show some love to B&H Photo. They’re one of my go to’s specifically for tech stuff.
I feel like people give up on in store if they can’t find it at a big box store and go to the online equivalent of a big box store (Amazon).
Anybody who puts in a little effort should be able to find a specialty store either in person or online.
I got beat up on here for stating that Amazon delivery was greener for the exact reasons you said. Plus, some of my Amazon comes via USPS, which is driving by my house every day.
Reliable and fast delivery services also means less space devoted to parking lots and can generally be a really good way to transition communities away from car centric infrastructure. People just hate because cynicism is way easier than thinking critically.
Agreed as to Walgreens. Walgreens has surprised me with their photo and printing options. They are also located in the burbs, so that is nice.