Bonus point is I don't end up with fake sd cards from Amazon's comingling (so no, being vigilant in which seller you buy from on Amazon didn't help anyways)
For boutique things, luxury goods, or things I am very familiar with brand reputation of, I do what you do. But for ordinary low-cost consumer goods (e.g. computer peripherals, drugstore stuff, guest linens), I struggle to identify retailers that aren’t selling low-quality crap.
Don't forget reviews.
Decoupling these (in a trusted way) from the seller's storefront is probably not impossible, but still hard enough to add to Amazon's moat.
These days I make it a general rule to find AMZ alternatives particularly for highend items.
- Electronics: B&H
- Music Equipment: Sweetwater
- Computer related: Local Microcenter
It looks exactly like the same amount of centralization to me (if not more), only now it's openai and not amazon then one at the center of things.
What Amazon really nailed, and the reason I buy like 90% of things from them, is the easy and known shipping and return policy.
But the second reason I buy from Amazon is laziness. I am too lazy to look up the (often confusing) product on their company store, I'd rather just buy that product through amazon. To compound my laziness, I don't like having to once again fill out my email, home address, and credit card for the thousandth time when I go to their site.
But if I don't have to find and navigate to their site and I don't have to fill in my information for the thousandth time. Now, we are talking about me realistically considering a direct purchase.
This is likely good for the consumer, and largely good for the world (less centralization).