Back when I was in college, Amazon stock was about $2.40 per share and a great way to get overpriced textbooks for a good price. The following years saw the popularity of the site explode and become the premier online retail store. Unfortunately, like most heroes, it lived long enough to become the villain. Amazon is no longer what it used to be and here’s why.
Amazon is Full of Junk (and Ads for More Junk)
You used to be able to search for stuff on Amazon and find exactly what you needed. Now it’s a nightmare scavenger hunt through sponsored listings, fake brands, and knockoff garbage. Want a phone charger? Prepare to scroll through 30 identical listings that look exactly the same and have a bunch of fake reviews. An example of something to never buy on Amazon are SSD cards; that 256GB card you ordered might end up beging a 4GB card.
eBay on the other hand? It still looks like it was designed by a highschooler in the early 2000’s and there is a lot of junk o it, but at least it feels authentic. You can find legit cables, refurbished gear, or vintage stuff you can’t get anywhere else. It’s even becoming useful for buying brand new stuff too. For example, I wouldn’t have second thoughts about buying a brand new MacBook Air on eBay. The retail price for a MacBook Air 13″ M4 10-Core GPU 16GB RAM 512GB SSD is about $1200 and you can get a brand new one on eBay for $1050.
Amazon Hates Small Sellers
The evil corporation’s playbook is a tale as old as time: let small sellers thrive, then completely undercut them by copying them. If you’re a small seller on Amazon, if they ever decide you’re competition, consider your days numbered.
eBay is still a place where small sellers can actually win. Whether you’re flipping sneakers, trying to get rid of an old iPhone, eBay gives the little guy a shot. It’s a marketplace, not a monopoly. Somewhere below the polished, corporate Amazon look but definitely light years ahead of the “I’m totally purchasing a stolen bike” Craigslist.
The Takeaway
Amazon was great back in the day; it’s still good… just a little bit of a sellout. Rigged search results, fake products, sponsored products; it doesn’t feel as authentic as it used to. Its basically Walmart with faster shipping.
eBay, with an unforgivably bad UI reminiscent of the MySpace days, at least feels human and feels better for both buyers and sellers. On eBay, you can score real deals, find unique stuff, and support actual people instead of padding Jeff Bezos’ next space joyride.
So next time you’re about to buy something on Amazon, maybe stop and check out eBay first. Your wallet, and maybe your conscience, will thank you.