Bezos delenda est

September 26, 2022 6:02 AM

Where do you buy household and hardware items online these days? Things like a carpet sweeper, wastebasket, or garden clippers? In addition to being horrible for all mankind, Amazon is also rife with counterfeit garbage.
posted by MetaFilter World Peace to Home & Garden (17 answers total)

Target has worked for us in the past couple of years. (In US) Customer service is ok, too, when necessary.
posted by xaryts at 6:10 AM on September 26, 2022 [4 favorites]

All of the big box stores have websites and delivery. Some have third party sellers on the same site (ahem Walmart), so be careful to only buy from the actual retailer. As a bonus, some will offer same day pickup at nearby locations and/or free shipping to a local store if you can go pick it up there.
posted by soelo at 6:15 AM on September 26, 2022 [1 favorite]

Lowes and Home Depot. Staples is also good for indoor stuff like that.
posted by mskyle at 6:20 AM on September 26, 2022 [1 favorite]

If you have an Ace Hardware nearby, they may deliver to your home. IME their delivery radius is pretty small, though.
posted by humbug at 6:21 AM on September 26, 2022 [4 favorites]

In addition to Ace, we have a couple of local garden/feed stores that sell products like these.
posted by 10ch at 6:57 AM on September 26, 2022 [1 favorite]

Container Store for a fairly well curated selection of storage and organizing things. Target for much less curated but much more volume. World Market for seasonal and/or cute decoration things, sometimes reasonably priced furniture made of actual wood. Bed Bath and Beyond for linens and some kitchen specific stuff. Macy’s for linens also, plus some household appliances. Home Depot for repair stuff, hardware, gardening tools, though Target is also pretty good at having gardening basics.

I try to utilize local stores if they have online sites. I’ve got a great fabric store, plant nursery, yarn store, and a drug store (that alas was just bought out by rite aid) with sites I can order from. You might have a few, too.
posted by Mizu at 6:58 AM on September 26, 2022 [3 favorites]

Ace Hardware and Do It Best are nice bc they are structured as co-op's of local businesses, in contrast to the corporate/centralized model of Home Depot/Lowes etc, which frankly aren't much meaningfully better in terms of ethics than Amazon imo.

They have extensive delivery/shipping/pick-up options, and also usually much better in-store expertise if you want to ask for some help.
posted by SaltySalticid at 7:00 AM on September 26, 2022 [12 favorites]

Costco/Costco.com, local stores, Target.
posted by wintersweet at 7:20 AM on September 26, 2022

There are still specialist retailers that have been around since the mail-order days. For gardening tools and seeds, Johnny’s Selected Seeds is great. Another good choice is Gardener’s Supply.
posted by rockindata at 7:27 AM on September 26, 2022

For household goods Vermont Country Store has a lot of good stuff.
posted by rockindata at 7:33 AM on September 26, 2022

I was also going to suggest your friendly local hardware store. We have both Ace and Do-It Best (my preference) in town, and their websites are pretty okay. Because they're local stores, they're also super helpful on the phone, and happy to give advice or recommendations on products and related DIY skills.

While neither of our stores has delivery options that can compete with Amazon, they both do offer curbside pickup, which is nice.
posted by xedrik at 7:38 AM on September 26, 2022 [1 favorite]

I have a local Ace Hardware that I use for small household stuff which is great. Home Depot for larger "I have a big house project" (i.e. bathroom ceiling light/fan) types of things. Small fiddly nonsense I will still get from Amazon (got some tiny trash baskets for my bathroom for example). Sometimes Walmart for big garden/outside stuff (birdseed).
posted by jessamyn at 7:38 AM on September 26, 2022 [1 favorite]

I get great deals on open box items from eBay.
posted by mezzanayne at 9:30 AM on September 26, 2022

Kohl's is another option.

What country/countries are you shipping to?
posted by brainwane at 9:40 AM on September 26, 2022

For a wastebasket I'll keep an eye out on the local free piles. Or use a free 5-gallon bucket. For garden clippers, I'd go to my local tool library.

Actual hardware (such as a replacement O-ring) comes from Ace.
posted by aniola at 10:10 AM on September 26, 2022

Maybe check out Grainger if you want a really good easy to navigate online catalog? More geared towards businesses but that means most stuff is solid and functional.
posted by 12%juicepulp at 10:37 AM on September 26, 2022 [1 favorite]

Fante's is a fabulous kitchen store with a great website. They're also really helpful if you need anything.
posted by sepviva at 4:29 PM on September 26, 2022 [1 favorite]