The "where to buy stuff" thread redux

[nrc]

There was an old "where to buy stuff" thread here from back before we were all required by law to buy everything from Amazon. Now the rumor is that when Lord Bezos steps down as Amazon CEO he will free the serfs and allow us to shop where we please.

My first experiment in this department I decided to try a little mom & pop outfit called Walmart. Just start checking anything I think about impulsively buying from Amazon at Walmart. Their web site is about a six out of ten compared to the Amazon benchmark. The biggest downside is that they suck at consolidating listings for identical items from multiple sellers.

Comparing the same products it's a toss-up on which is cheaper when both retailers stock the same products. Amazon seems to stock more and they generally crush the price of items that you would have to get from sellers through Walmart.

Ordering was smooth and painless. Shipping was quick but free shipping is glacial when you're accustomed to 2-day with Prime. Walmart+ could fix that but I won't consider that until they offer an option to share with family.

So not ideal, but a viable option. Certainly worth cross-shopping.

Next challenge: Music.

[WickerBill]

I realized I had become far to addicted to Amazon when, at the beginning of the pandemic, Amazon Prime Now went food-only (Whole Foods) and it legitimately ruined my week. :eek:

However, in Indiana, and especially with a mildly compromised immune system (autoimmune disease), I'm not yet keen on going shopping with the masses unless I have to, so I still use Amazon, but did my best to do curbside pickup for my Christmas shopping whenever I could. That was the biggest effort I could put forth against Mr. Bezos. :)

[nrc]

For groceries Missy uses Shipt (https://www.shipt.com). They have multiple options for shopping and she prefers Meijer.

I have only used Amazon Fresh for emergency palettes of Diet Coke.

[SteveH]

New online platform 'Nearby' wants to help small businesses compete with Amazon (https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/new-online-platform-nearby-wants-help-small-businesses-compete-amazon-n1256790)


Since there was no website where locals could "buy things from the shops in your own local hometown, and get them delivered to your doorstep," one woman founded a company that does just that.

I really like the concept. Market reach beyond Oakland and execution will determine how viable this will be.

[nrc]

New online platform 'Nearby' wants to help small businesses compete with Amazon (https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/new-online-platform-nearby-wants-help-small-businesses-compete-amazon-n1256790)



I really like the concept. Market reach beyond Oakland and execution will determine how viable this will be.

Seems brilliant. There are many shops with inventory nearby and local delivery services have emerged to meet such a need.

[nrc]

My home network router failed on Sunday. This was a serious impediment to working from home on Monday.

Of course as a certifiable nerd my home network is excessively complicated. So I wanted a small business router rather than your typical wifi router. Naturally I check Amazon to set pricing expectations. Neither my first or second choice were in stock, seven day expected delivery. So much for Prime Next Day.

I check OfficeDepot and they have my second choice at the Amazon price. I check MicroCenter, a locally based chain with stores scattered across the country. First through fifth choices in stock at or near Amazon prices. This is a chain I used to go to for computer stuff regularly before I got into the habit of buying from Amazon and just waiting on things to arrive.

Bonus feature: while I was there I picked up a network switch. Because you can never have enough network switches. As soon as I went to configure it I discovered that it was a bad choice for my home network. It turns out that if you don't like something they'll just let you bring it back. No packing, shipping, UPS or USPS involved. This is the kind of radical innovation that I think is really making brick and mortar the future or retail. :gomer:

[gjc2]

I have a Micro Center nearby, it's my go-to place for everything tech. They also have a knowledgeable staff. I had been thinking of getting a backup router and cable modem just to be safe.

[nrc]

And now: Music.

I prefer to buy my music rather than rent it through a streaming service or "acquire" it through other means. Buying music means that the artist gets a bigger cut than with streaming services and I have it forever to do with as I please.

So where can you buy digital music downloads that isn't captive to one of the big tech monopolies? Right now I'm trying out 7digitial (https://us.7digital.com). They sell high quality digital downloads at a decent price. It looks like the company is really focused on providing a backend for companies can use for music services. I suppose that means they could go away as a consumer service at any time but since I have the music downloaded it's not a big concern.

Their catalog is a bit harder to search than Amazon. They mix in similar artist names and some titles are mysteriously absent even though they can be found with a specific search. Their catalog is extensive and so far I they've had everything I've searched for.

Purchasing and downloading is simple and the music is reasonably well tagged.

Comparing sound quality was interesting. They provide high quality ?320kbps MP3 along with 16 and 24 bit 44.1kHz FLAC. Bit rate isn't everything with modern codecs and I haven't spent the money to do an actual A/B comparison yet.

In the process of comparing I did discover that Amazon's encoding rate has declined over the years. When I first started buying downloads from Amazon they encoded at 128kbps. The latest downloads have generally been at 56kbps. I'm not sure of if this has changed for economy, because they figure the codecs have improved, or to encourage adoption of their "HD Music" streaming service.

Verdict: A good alternative to Amazon if you care about quality and don't rely on Amazon's other services to access your music.

[SteveH]

Here’s an interesting analysis of Amazon and Walmart from an investment POV

Better Buy: Amazon.com vs. Walmart (https://www.fool.com/investing/2021/02/20/better-buy-amazoncom-vs-walmart/)

TIL:
With more than 90% of Americans living within 10 miles of a Walmart, the company was uniquely positioned to make this work.

[nrc]

Here’s an interesting analysis of Amazon and Walmart from an investment POV

Better Buy: Amazon.com vs. Walmart (https://www.fool.com/investing/2021/02/20/better-buy-amazoncom-vs-walmart/)

TIL:

They really could be a viable alternative for many people. They just need to really double down on cleaning up the web experience and removing all the friction from online shopping, shipping, and pickup.

Lowes is a similar circumstance. They've made progress cleaning up their online experience but when you show up at the store for pickup it's like nobody knows what's going on.

[TravelGal]

Lowes is a similar circumstance. They've made progress cleaning up their online experience but when you show up at the store for pickup it's like nobody knows what's going on.

I find this with Staples. To the point that I refuse to buy anything online from them. Best Buy is #1 with a bullet for curbside pick up. At least the one near me is.

[WickerBill]

Sad news here that Fry's is closing down nationwide. Their stores were always a paradise for the computer nerd in me, but were horribly disorganized and they basically made zero attempt to be relevant in the pandemic, instead just trying to wait it out. They lost.

[SteveH]

I’ve only been in one Fry’s in Fishers Indiana probably 15 years ago. It was memorable due to its vast selection.

[nrc]

And now: Music.

I prefer to buy my music rather than rent it through a streaming service or "acquire" it through other means. Buying music means that the artist gets a bigger cut than with streaming services and I have it forever to do with as I please.

So where can you buy digital music downloads that isn't captive to one of the big tech monopolies? Right now I'm trying out 7digitial (https://us.7digital.com). They sell high quality digital downloads at a decent price. It looks like the company is really focused on providing a backend for companies can use for music services. I suppose that means they could go away as a consumer service at any time but since I have the music downloaded it's not a big concern.

Their catalog is a bit harder to search than Amazon. They mix in similar artist names and some titles are mysteriously absent even though they can be found with a specific search. Their catalog is extensive and so far I they've had everything I've searched for.

Purchasing and downloading is simple and the music is reasonably well tagged.

Comparing sound quality was interesting. They provide high quality ?320kbps MP3 along with 16 and 24 bit 44.1kHz FLAC. Bit rate isn't everything with modern codecs and I haven't spent the money to do an actual A/B comparison yet.

In the process of comparing I did discover that Amazon's encoding rate has declined over the years. When I first started buying downloads from Amazon they encoded at 128kbps. The latest downloads have generally been at 56kbps. I'm not sure of if this has changed for economy, because they figure the codecs have improved, or to encourage adoption of their "HD Music" streaming service.

Verdict: A good alternative to Amazon if you care about quality and don't rely on Amazon's other services to access your music.

I'm not sure if I just didn't look closely enough at 7digital initially or if something is going on over there. They've only had about half the items I've checked lately. Some old, some new. Darn.

The probably means I'll go back to buying CDs and ripping them myself. Deep Discount looks promising. https://www.deepdiscount.com

[WickerBill]

That's a completely different kettle of fish. Rip with what? At what rate? Into what format? :)

[nrc]

That's a completely different kettle of fish. Rip with what? At what rate? Into what format? :)

I'm regressing to the early 2000s tech so I pretty much just use the same tools. cdparanoia does a great job of ripping with error correction. Lame has always worked fine for MPEG encoding. I've started using max quality settings which are CBR at 320kbps. There's really not that much difference in file size vs the 160kbps I was using before. I may start saving a FLAC copy just to have a lossless copy available.

This is all Linux command line stuff so probably not of much use to anyone else. I have a custom script that rips, encodes and tags files to my particular preferences.

Speaking of audio quality. Has anyone tried a "Super Audio CD?" Any detectable difference?

[WickerBill]

Speaking of audio quality. Has anyone tried a "Super Audio CD?" Any detectable difference?


I heard a demo of this a few years ago now - it was a Pops orchestra and it was multi-channel, which is a key feature of SACD I guess. It worked fine, but I didn't notice a specific quality difference, just a quantity of channels difference.