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
Agreed, but if you really do want to find a good deal, there are options. If everyone bought second hand, then second hand inventory wouldn’t exist. So I’m grateful for the consumers who buy new and resell second hand for less than half the price (with more than twice the life left).
If you’re the type where looking at something other than the two biggest retailers in your area is unreasonable, then yeah, second hand isn’t going to be your cup of tea. That just means more good deals on the second hand market for the rest of us (e.g. I see photo paper for like 1/4 price of retail on my local classifieds).