There are lots of reasons to look beyond Amazon for your online shopping. Perhaps you want to support the “shop small” movement and avoid big retailers in favor of independently owned stores…or you are looking for better deals…or you want natural and organic products, so you patronize shops like Thrive Market…or seek cool unique items at Uncommon Goods. Bottom Line Personal asked consumer advocate Edgar Dworsky, publisher of ConsumerWorld.org, about Amazon competitors that offer great online deals.
Amazon’s Prime membership program secured its place as the world’s number-one online marketplace. But since the advent of Prime, plenty of competitors have boosted their services to provide many of the same offerings, including reduced or eliminated shipping costs, generous return policies and more.
While many buyers still default to Amazon to make purchases, just as they default to Google to make searches, you might want to consider some of these alternatives…
The brick-and-mortar’s direct response to Amazon Prime is its own membership program, called Walmart+. Membership costs $98/year or $12.95/month, but there are frequent opportunities to join for half-price. Membership offers free shipping with no minimum purchase, free same-day grocery delivery from the nearest store on orders of $35 or more, and a 10-cents-per-gallon discount on gasoline at Walmart, Sam’s Club, Exxon, Mobil and Murphy stations. Walmart+ membership also includes a free Paramount+ Essential subscription.
Even if you don’t join Walmart+, simply ordering on Walmart.com gets you free two-day shipping on some items and five-day shipping on all others, with a $35 minimum purchase.
Before purchasing a Walmart+ membership: Ask yourself whether it makes sense for you. Examples: Free same-day grocery delivery is an enormous benefit…if and only if you like buying groceries from Walmart. Similarly, savings on gasoline could quickly pay for your membership…if you’re not already getting discounted gas from Costco or elsewhere.
This membership club costs $99/year or $10.99/month. As with Walmart+, you can watch for promotional pricing and join for half that amount. Target Circle 360 membership gives you unlimited same-day delivery for orders over $35, free standard shipping on most items, free two-day shipping on hundreds of thousands of qualifying items, and an additional 30 days for returns.
Before purchasing a Target Circle 360 membership: Don’t overlook what Target offers for free. Take out a Target Circle prepaid, debit or credit card, and you can get $50 worth of free merchandise. When you use the card to buy from Target, you get 5% off purchases and the same enhanced return terms as 360 members. Plus, having a Target Circle Card allows you to buy a 360 membership for half price.
Also: Make sure that Target’s benefits fit your needs. How often do you order products on such an urgent basis that you need them the same day? If the answer is “a lot,” then the benefit of unlimited same-day delivery will quickly pay for itself. If the answer is “hardly ever,” it might not be worthwhile.
These China-based online platforms provide astonishingly low prices with surprisingly quick shipping. Temu offers free standard shipping (five to 12 business days) and free express shipping (four to 10 business days) on items over $129, as well as a 90-day return window on most items. Shipping on AliExpress is free for “Choice” items (as long as the purchase is more than $10), and the company offers free returns and refunds in case of lost, damaged or late items. Quality from both Temu and AliExpress can be spotty, but so can quality on Amazon. In fact, you often can find the exact same products on these platforms as on Amazon but at lower prices.
Reminder: Tariffs on imports from China may curtail these sites’ ability to provide fire-sale pricing. Time will tell whether they will continue to offer items at such low cost.
Remember eBay? It’s still there, and it is still a great place to find all kinds of everyday and unusual merchandise. If it’s been many years since you shopped on eBay, you may associate the buying experience there with the uncertainty and delay of auction-style bidding on mostly used items. But while eBay auctions still exist, they now account for less than 15% of the site’s sales. Most items feature fixed, buy-it-now pricing. Nearly 90% of items sold on eBay these days are brand new. Because the site is a platform for millions of vendors who put up hundreds of thousands of stores, shipping and return policies are not site-wide and vary depending on the vendor.
