Microcenter price matches amazon, you could've bought it for the same price at microcenter. Also, you can try ebay, I've been buying more stuff from ebay and the experience is pretty good.

Not just tech, all over the product spectrum. They started by selling books.

A large problem is payment system and accounts. I hate going to a new shop and create a new account, a new password, bla bla bla. I hate it. And wiring with online banking is still a pain the ass, you have to enter some password into your shitty phone keyboard and then wait for an SMS... paypal and amazon payment make shopping convenient.

So part of the problem is banks who have been sleeping on the job for decades. At least here in Europe. You finally can wire money so it arrives immediately from your bank account at a shop! (without having to waste some tax on a payment provider either). But 2 factor authentication is still a pita. Where is my online bank with easy to use FIDO2?

There are now alternative popping up because amazon has become so enshittified (high prices for many smaller items and reviews etc). And of course I'm a fan of aliexpress but shipping from China is stupid too.

We definitely need to avoid a monopoly by a corporation like amazon.

Amazon most times has name brand stuff that isn't electronics that you can have delivered very quickly. But seriously, any device, anything with an expiration, shoes, anything that might break in transit, off brand plastic crap, and any other of the useless items amazon carries, just buy a name brand directly from the manufacturers website. You will most likely get a tested product, and when something goes wrong you can talk directly to the manufacturer support. Not amazon. Also, purely anecdotal right now, but check your bank account for amazon purchase totals that don't match you order history... I got 3 charges for $24~ in 3 days when I hadn't ordered for a week, and now I have to fight thru automation to get it fixed.

Amazon has very good deals OR very bad ones. I find Microcenter often equal to or even better than Amazon in most tech stuff.

Your experience is exactly why you shouldn't make sweeping judgement on one data point.

1. Photo paper isn't really tech. It's a supply.

2. It's a low volume niche item.

3. People that are buying it are less likely to care about cost (older) or want it right now. So Microcenter feels they can charge more. (IMO)

I was thinking about this recently after a frustrating trip to a brick and mortar store that was missing the specific item I wanted to purchase which should have been easily available.

Has it always been this bad and we just accepted it until Amazon came around and carried most everything, or have stores significantly reduced the inventory they carry to the point where they have become practically useless except as a showroom? It extends to things I only want to purchase in store. Why do clothing and shoe stores never have my size in stock of the item I want? Clothing has become so poor in quality (even expensive stuff) and I'm hard enough to fit that unless it is an item I already have and need to replace I only want to buy stuff I can try on first.

As much as I'd like to avoid Amazon, the lack of inventory at other retailers really pushes me towards them. Why would I pay more for slow shipping from the East coast because the local store doesn't carry anything when Amazon delivers in 1-2 days for free?

I've also been really struggling recently when trying to buy items that are less than $15. Amazon often charges double what it should cost for the items, but at the same time, local stores don't carry what I'm looking for. I can find it for the right price online, but then the shipping cost makes it more expensive than Amazon.

Have you tried buying from aliexpress? It's the same products as on Amazon, but directly from the supplier. Imagine Amazon, but everything's 50% off.

Source: I'm cheap as heck and buy random trash from them

Walmart online is eating Amazon they don't have a monopoly

You’re listing all of the reasons it’s not a monopoly - you can go almost anywhere else and buy the same good.

Therefore, I think Amazon has a literal monopoly in the tech industry right now, you're literally forced to buy from them

You literally weren’t and literally aren’t, so they’re literally not.

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.

If nobody was in competition with them, they’d be raising their prices.

Remember that time like 10 years ago, when some local news station was doing a story about Amazon having all the best tech deals, and then the one co-host butts in and says "You know why they have a monopoly, right? RIGHT??? SHE KNOWS WHAT I'M TALKIN ABOUT!!!"

And everybody was giving blank looks, like "Uh....no? What ARE you talking about?"

And he's like "Because they sell all the sex toys, and deliver it right to your house! Ladies? Right???? IT'S CONVIENENT!!!"

And everybody just had their mouth open in shock like "WTF ARE YOU DOING???"

and then he goes on and on about dildos, as his cohost continually tries to move on, but he keeps talking about dildos. And she's looking like she wants to strangle him.

Amazon's pricing I not deterministic. You were likely tracked and information collected to know this was a key item for you. Amazon will market loss leaders to you in an attempt to get you to default to buying on Amazon.

As a former Buyer for a chain of retail stores, the loss leader is effective marketing. I sell you a popular item at or below my typical cost because statistically, a large percentage of customers are making a special trip to my store to buy that product and will make additional purchases at margin. On the wholesale Buying side, these are tools to get past bulk buying tier discounts for seasonal ordering with smaller scale retail.

Amazon is using a convoluted front end system of overlapping product categories and a supposed multi seller listings (despite collectivized logistics and warehousing) on the website you see. This is how they perform price fixing where you do not see honest or straight forward determinism. When you repurchase that same item later without making comparisons, the seller will shuffle so that a higher price is presented.

If you have a well isolated network where device history for social media and internet browsing is totally partitioned from e-commerce you'll likely see even more of the scam. If you see anyone online show the search results and pricing on Amazon, then try to replicate those search results and product price on a device that is totally partitioned from your viewing of the item/price elsewhere, you're likely to find it is not possible. If you then go back to the original device and do the same, you'll magically find the same product and lower price. It is a scam market. This is why they are collecting and paying for all that data about you. We are in an age when automated individual targeting and manipulation is possible and happening. This is why data mining stalkerware is insidious. Scam markets are only the tip of the iceberg and what can be uncovered if you go looking for it. Anyone that has done database or logistics management should have major red flags flying when looking at how Amazon's website is setup. The front end is absolutely untenable garbage for effective logistics. The only reason it is convoluted and search results are terrible is because it is a price fixing scam. The logistical efficiency proves that there is no connection between the front and back end of the site.

I put some of the blame on retailers as well. Retail stores just don't want to carry inventory anymore, especially tech-focused ones with many of those just turning into glorified showrooms. I don't know how many times I've heard some version of: "Sorry, we don't have that in stock but we can bring it in for you."

We needed a short length of garden hose here for the house so I went to two hardware stores and one garden centre looking for one. Nothing. Not even in their dedicated gardening sections. I had to order it off Amazon. A goddamn garden hose.

Amazon has done a lot of damage for sure but retail is suffering from several self-inflicted wounds too. Home Depot, for example, is a multi-billion dollar corporation and even they have a weaker retail presence now. That's not Amazon's fault.